I do love Echinaceas but I usually just refer to them by their common name of Purple Cone Flowers. Guess I have to drop the purple part from now on as they come in hot, hot new colors.
I have had old standby Magnus for years. Also unnamed coneflower patches and some named varieties whose tags I lost and eventually died out. Just left with Magnus and Kims Knee High lately.
Well, that is about to change. Last year I had a garden area I wanted to make more Cottage garden after moving two really large rose shrubs. I never could quite figgure how to manage but I made a start. I ended up putting in some rows of daylilies though as I was moving stuff around. Then I just left it. This spring I moved out some daylilies there so I have more room and ordered some really hot, hot, hot Echinaceas.
I ordered them from a grower that was very highly recommended on another forum. I had not known of them before or I surely would have had these in my garden already. They have almost nothing else but Echinaceas, don't let the perennials part of the name fool you, this is a specialist in Cone Flowers. What a selection! If its available in commerce you can buy it here.
I bought more Kim's Knee High to add to my planting. Then I bought Red Knee High, a sport of Kims which is a vivid deeper color than Kims.
For my new Hot Colors I bought Tomato Soup and Hot Lava. Also Tangerine Dream.
Go take a look at the selection at McGaulfins. I bet you will be wishing for some of these gorgeous flowers.
http://mcgperennials.com/index.php?osCsid=ec41efaf44b726cbd8ce9e12a0b6b6f6
Hurray for the Hot New Echinaceas- Not Just Purple Anymore
Thanks for the link and the recommendation...
I'm not as keen on some of the new colors because I'm not a big fan of orange... but there are a few I'd like to get my hands on! 'Red Knee High' sounds scrumptious, and I've wanted 'Envy' since seeing photos of how its blooms change color as they mature. :-)
urk! I guess I haven't priced some of these new ones... $8 or more seems high for a plug, especially since they don't guarantee their plants will arrive in good condition (as they "have no control" over the postal service).
Critter, if you have good a good nursery in your area check there. I found several of the new ones here locally at a large nursery..There are running about about $9-10 a small plant. I am going to wait and see how they do. I got bit by the Big Sky Series and they are all dead now.
I'll be keeping my eye out! Oh, and the one that I mentioned is actually called "Green Envy" I think... I know I'll find one eventually while I'm poking around. :-)
Here is were I am going to plant most of them. Behind the daylilies in drifts.
Where I was they had Green Envy...I almost got it!
The plants came. They are just marvelous. So very pleased. I don't have time to post pictures because so much to do today but I will take pictures of them before I plant so you can see what came out of the box and after I have them inground.
hooray! they'll be great in your reworked bed. :-)
I planted all the Echinaceas, I knew I had to get that done today. Watered them too. Many of the Red Knee High have flower buds just showing so they will be blooming here way out of sync for our zone. My coneflowers here are just out of the ground. But these are greenhouse grown so are way ahead of our cycle here.
I still have lots to do so will take the inground pics tomorrow. I did take pics of them just out of the box.
I am so pleased with the looks of the area planted. Last year I wanted to go more cottage garden in this area but couldn't get a vision. This year it just came to me like a flash. I could see the Echinaceas in drifts there in my mind. Now they are actually there in person.
You might want to put some row cover (or just an old sheet) over them until they get used to the chilly nights, just in case they haven't been hardened off...
I checked out tonights weather and its not going to go down to 50 even. So they should be fine. Will watch for the next few days.
Thanks for the link to buy Echinaceas, love the unusual colors! We are working (slowly) for the Cottage Garden look in our front yard. This site will be a help!
Sylvia
And here are the pictures of the new Echinaceas right after I unpacked them from the box. Remember that I bought PLUGS so the plants are small.
But they are really lovely. I needed lots of plants to make my drifts and this was the only way it could work for me.
I thought I had taken pictures of them after I planted but when I downloaded the camera no such pictures were there. So I guess I forgot to. Will take them asap and post so you can see how great they look planted.
Rita
Did you order those from McGaufin's? I have some Coconut Lime coming 6 plugs. I emailed to see when they would be shipped as I am going to Savannah week after next and he said he would ship them when I could be home to get them. I am excited about getting them and am really pleased at the way yours look.
Veronica
Yes, they are the ones from McGaufin's. They are truly really nice plants. I just wanted to make sure people inderstood I bought plugs, which naturally are not going to be the size of potted plants.
But they grow fast and I needed lots to do what I had in mind. It looks great planted. I really need to get a picture.
I finially got pictures of the Echinaceas planted. We had rain for a couple of days so they really settled in well. Remember these are PLUGS I bought. There they are behind the daylilies.
Different angle.
Wonderful! They look great.. hopefully you'll be able to divide them in a couple of years and make more drifts! :-)
How far apart did you plant? I have some coming and some to plant out that I ordered from Bluestone. Just wondering how close to put them.
If I had ordered pot size plants I would have put them further apart. But I needed lots of plants to do the drift effect that I needed for this very oddly shaped area. So I planted them close together. I can always divide later if I need too.
ultimately, you may want them on 18 or 24 inch centers... but like you said, once they get going you can always move some or divide them. :-)
I can't put them on 18 or 24 inch centers and get the drift effect. Its a really oddly shaped area. One reason I did nothing about it last year. I could have put rows, but I didn't want rows. I wanted drifts. I am not that good at drifts, very good at rows. Plus the area that needed to be planted (now is planted) starts out wide and then narrows as it goes along. But if it gets crowded I can take out some of the plants if I have too. That should be my biggest problem, right? I just want them to thrive.
I understand why you placed them closer, and I think you're right... as you said, you can "edit" your drift as needed as the plants mature. I was suggesting the larger spacing for Indygal, depending on her garden situation.
I don't generally do rows.. I do "clumps" or drifts. :-)
I was just over in the section of garden that has the Echinaceas and they are all looking good. Settled in and starting new growth. I have high hopes for this area to be a blaze of color during Echinacea bloom season.
Then I have plans in my mind of adding to the cottage garden look there by adding blackeyed susans along in that same area. That is just in the thinking stages and should be a project for next spring. I don't want Goldstrum, I have had it and don't care for it.
I started growing Ox-eye entirely by accident one year (from mislabeled seed), and I like it way more than black-eyed susans. The color is more lemon-yellow than golden, and it blooms absolutely nonstop from early summer until frost. That's Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra -- and better yet, it will bloom the first year from winter sown seed. Very nice companion to the echies next to it!
Critter I have some Heliopsis helianthoides but don't know the variety. I love it. I moved my 3 plants this spring and found a piece still growing where i had dug them up. You have given me the idea to move it into my front bed along with my new Coconut Lime Echies when they get here. I only have on of it and there will be 3 of them. Need to get my head around how it is going to look.
Veronica
I ordered from Mc whats-his-name too. They arrived in good shape. I will plant them next week when they have hardened off. I bought ten. I am like you, ny, I can't do anything half way. When they bloom, I will plant the seeds and see what I get too.
I found a pink poodle seeding just now when I checked my pots. I did grow Pink
Parasol from seeds in '08. last year they bloomed and I will try to grow the seeds from last year too. I did grow Double
Decker; this is the year they are supposed to start being double, we'll see!
Mine from McGaulfins are looking good. I guess they hardened off already because we had that really cold spell up this way.
critter- I looked at the ox eyes and they were nice but I decided to go for black eyed susans varieties Rudbeckia hirta CHEROKEE SUNSET. I was actually looking at them on line but found small pots of them at our local nursery Saturday. I mean small pots. So I bought 8 and planted them today.
I am really pleased with the way that entire bed section turned out.
I hope it's not rude to ask,but I didn't see an option for "plugs" on their website? What is the difference in price for plugs vs. plants? I'm not against starting small if it saves money. Thanks!
Here you go click on one scroll down at the bottom it says that it is a plug these are single plugs.
http://mcgperennials.com/index.php?cPath=25&osCsid=ec41efaf44b726cbd8ce9e12a0b6b6f6
This message was edited May 22, 2010 8:05 PM
On the left is a list of options. Click on Quantity Pricing. In that section they sell the plug size plants in groupings of 6 or 12
Thanks! I think I missunderstood. It looks like all they sell are plugs, aka starter plants. Thanks for pointing that out. I can't wait to see photos of yours as they grow!
No, that is not all they sell. The pugs are in that section I just pointed you towards. The regular sized plants are in the sections more to the top. Look around there, you will see.
Thanks, daylily. I was beginning to think I was crazy... looking at that site over and over! So, for example -- one All that Jazz plant/plug is $5.99, and 6 would be $32.94 (saving you $0.50 per plant). Their description says "Size available - starter plants - plug size." Makes one think maybe it should be SIZES available... it's a bit confusing. Thank you for clearing things up for me.
AwShucks not sure if you are familar with the pricing on echinaceas but the plants usually run from around ten to close to twenty dollars per plant depending on which variety you are considering. Making the plugs with their lower price more affordable when you would like to purchase more variety. Plus it gives you the option to try a variety or however many you want in Texas and see how it does without investing a lot of money. There is also an echinacea forum here that will give you more insight on the different varieties.
Thanks. No, I'm not familiar with the cost of echinaceas. I had no idea. I've only bought plants at local nurseries, and then, they weren't particularly "special" varieties. What is it that makes them so costly? Is it the newness of the variety? Or, are they hard to start from seed or cutting? I can see that these plugs would be the way to go to fill a large space. I'll check out that other forum. Thank you so much for your patience with my questions.