Meet Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Coneflower
Color outside the lines with the intense orange, pink, and raspberry blooms of this unique echinacea!
Looking to add a burst of color and pollinator power to your garden? Meet the Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower, a dazzling little dynamo from the Butterfly™ echinacea series. This compact cultivar of echinacea grows just 15–18 inches tall and 18 inches wide!
It’s the perfect size for the front of garden borders, or tucking into containers in zones 4–9. Don’t know your zone? Look it up on the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
True to its name, the Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower is a magnet for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. From early summer through early fall, it puts on a vibrant floral show with single blooms that shift in color as the season unfolds - starting in juicy shades of orange, raspberry, coral, and pink, and deepening into richer pink hues as summer rolls on.
Once blooming wraps up, the spent flowers dry on the stems, offering a welcome snack for birds through the colder months, so don’t cut the flowers off and let them dry in place!
This herbaceous perennial thrives in full sun and moist, well-draining soil, and while it starts off needing moisture to get established, it becomes more drought-tolerant as it settles in. It looks best in full sun; in partial shade, color performance fades and flowering can slow down.
Like many of the echinacea cultivars, Rainbow Marcella tends to be somewhat short-lived, lasting fewer than 10 years. Enjoy it for several seasons, then refresh your planting with something new to keep the show going strong.
Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower has intense, orange-pink blooms.
How to Grow Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Coneflower
Sunlight: Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower thrives in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day); any less than this reduces the amount of flowers and cause the colors to wash out. If you are looking for a coneflower for partial shade, choose the original straight species of coneflower, Echinacea purpurea.
Soil: Plant in moist, well-draining soil. Good drainage is crucial to prevent root rot. Coneflower is adaptable to most soil types, but will not tolerate wet, soggy soil.
Watering: Keep the soil consistently moist during the first growing season to help establish the plants. Once established, they are relatively drought-tolerant, but regular watering may still be needed (for watering guidance, see “How to Water your Plants”).
Spacing: Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflowers should be spaced 18 to 24 inches on center (18-24 inches from the center of one plant to the center of the next plant).
Mulching: Apply a layer of organic mulch around the plants to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and moderate soil temperature.
Fertilizing: Coneflowers generally do not require fertilization. In fact, overly rich soil can cause these plants to flop over. Applying a thin layer of compost around the plants each spring is sufficient, and will enrich the soil structure, improve drainage, and support plant health.
A Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly sips nectar from a Butterfly Rainbow Marcella flower.
Landscaping Ideas for Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Coneflower
Mixed Perennial Border: Create a mixed border using Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower alongside other perennial flowers, such as creeping phlox, salvia, and stonecrop. This design offers a dynamic and ever-changing display throughout the seasons.
Butterfly and Pollinator Garden: Design a garden specifically to attract butterflies and pollinators by planting Butterfly Rainbow Marcella coneflower with other nectar-rich plants like bee balm (Monarda), Joe Pye Weed, and summersweet clethra. For more information about planning a butterfly garden, read our articles about nectar plants and host plants.
Stylized Meadow or Prairie Garden: Create a naturalized look by massing Rainbow Marcella coneflowers with grasses like switchgrass (Panicum species) or blue fescue, and other flowers like the large coneflower.
Container Planting: Place potted Rainbow Marcella coneflowers on sunny front porches, patios, decks, or along pathways for a burst of color.
Companion Planting with Shrubs: Pair Rainbow Marcella coneflowers with evergreen shrubs like boxwoods (Buxus species), cherry laurels (Prunus laurocerasus cultivars), or dwarf Japanese cedar for a sophisticated style with year round visual interest and structure.
Planting Companions for Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Coneflower
Moonshine Yarrow (Achillea x ‘Moonshine’)
Firefly Peach Sky Yarrow (Achillea x ‘Firefly Peach Sky’)
Hubricht’s Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)
Heavy Metal Blue Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’)
Autumn Fire Stonecrop (Sedum telephium ‘Autumn Fire’)
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Hummelo Betony (Stachys officianalis ‘Hummelo’)
Hidcote English Lavender (Lavandula ‘Hidcote Blue’)
Peachie Keen Anise Hyssop (Agastache ‘Peachie Keen’)
Rainbow Butterfly Marcella coneflower flowers in a range of colors, from tangerine to pink.
What is Wrong with My Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Coneflower Plant?
Japanese beetles feed on coneflower leaves and leave behind a lacy pattern of holes, with only the leaf veins remaining. Knocking the beetles off the plant, into a soapy container of water, is an effective solution for getting rid of these unwelcome pests.
Bacterial leaf spot causes brownish-black spots and wilted flowers, and can be prevented by avoiding overcrowded plantings and aiming hose spray towards the roots and soil underneath the plants, not the leaves.
Purple coneflower can also fall victim to the aster yellows disease, a plant pathogen that affects members of the Aster family (Asteraceae) and is transmitted by leafhopper insects. This fungal infection causes distorted flowers and stunted growth, and the plant becomes weak and frail. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for plants with aster yellows and infected plants should be removed immediately.
Coneflower rosette mite is a new and emerging problem for coneflowers, and the symptoms can look similar to the aster yellows. Mites living deep inside the plant feed on flowers and stems, causing stunted and distorted growth. Affected flowers should be cut off and disposed of immediately, taking care not to spread the mites to other parts of the plant or garden.
Is Butterfly Rainbow Marcella Deer-Resistant?
Yes, Butterfly Rainbow Marcella is considered deer-resistant. Its flowers and foliage are not a preferred food source for deer.
However, like most plants, it’s not entirely deer-proof! 😕 Hungry deer will eat almost anything if their preferred food sources are scarce.
In areas with heavy deer pressure, protect young plants with fencing or chicken wire until they’re larger and well established.