I am ordering some of those fancy new echinacea at the end of season. Four inch pots. How can I winter them over? I have the pink and whites that come back each year but have never been able to get these hybrids to survive. I was thinking of wrapping the pots in bubble wrap and keeping in my (unheated) greenhouse. Or, burying the pots in a raised bed that's empty for the winter. But I've also read that these young plants need to be kept dry the first winter. Anyone have some experienced advice.?
hybrid echinacea hardiness
I grow thousands of echinaceas every year.
plant them out in your garden. mother nature will take care of them for you as long as you give them a well drained location. do not dig a hole and amend the soil, then plant as that tends to create an area between the amended and un-amended part where moisture will pool. just find a nice, well-drained sunny spot, plant, water, mulch and let them be. fertilize when your days have at least 12 hours of daylight (maybe late April in your area?)
if you keep them in pots, they will be a challenge as you must give them 14 hours of light per day, pH between 6.8 and 7 and near perfect dry/moist cycling.
more gardeners kill plants with over-tending and too much TLC. this is true especially for echies who thrive on benign neglect.
Don't order them! Ask here first! Some of them won't survive no matter what you do.
Flame Thrower and Hot Summer will and a few others.
Have any of you have seen "Pineapple Sundae' or 'Summer cocktail' in the stores/nuseries?
No. Not yet.
I bought quite a few late last year. Rather than dig up a new bed, I planted them pot and all in the old veggie garden and piled dead leaves/grass clippings around them. This year, I removed them and put them into the raised beds. They did great and I'm still seeing blooms.
Diane
I have not been able to keep any of my hybrids going for long. I didn't realize they need good drainage and neglect. Do you think they would grow better in my iris bed where I do not water or mulch? I have a new green one this year and I would rather keep it alive if possible!
I'm going to buy mostly seed varieties from now on.They perform much better than the tissue cultured plants. Check out 'Magic Box' and 'Cheyenne Spirit.' The colors are great and it is much cheaper so if they don't make it they can easily be replaced.
I love cone flowers, in general. I find these all American beauties very attractive, exuberant and unique looking. I had never seen this daisy looking flower in Europe.
This year, I got a couple of Cheyenne Spirit Cone flowers. They are absolutely gorgeous! I was wondering if anyone has ever had any luck growing these for more than a year. If so, do they require any special type of overwintering? I have them in planters. I am afraid these are just not as hardy as they were advertised. Mine have been plagued with mold.