I would like to plant some purple coneflowers in an open field next to my house. I bought some seeds but my main question is if I should let nature take its course and plant them directly in the ground or start them in jiffy pots first. This is not an area that I will be able to keep a constant eye on and it will depend mainly on rain water. I know these "wild" flowers are supposed to be drought tolerant but I have never grown them. Any advice?
purple coneflower
I planted a couple of purple coneflowers in my field, first I planted in a couple of small pots and when they were about 6" high I planted, only watered a couple of times and they took off (this was 2004 no new babies yet), in about three years they will multiply like crazy, I have them on a hill by the house and they took over so the field is a good place for them.
I don't have much luck casting seeds, but if you try casting them in the spring when the rains come they might come up, they don't really need the cold spell to germ. I don't know how your weather is in Al. I have a few extra I can let you have if you want to try this and plant some too, I don't know how many seeds you have ;-)
Yes they are drought tolerant. If you use plants and are in a hurry to have plants I would plant 5 or 6 at least (depending how many you want and how fast you want them), it does take a while for them to spread, they are perennials and they don't 'jump' until the third year.
Hope this helps.
Lea
They sometimes like winter stratification...esp. if they aren't a hybrid variety.
I guess that I would recommend to start them before hand and try to transplant them in a less stressful time - Spring or Fall. I have seen 'new' prairies seeded with wildflowers and grasses and the wildflowers come up sparse.
Al
I think I may get some of the little jiffy pots that swell up when they get put in water. Then I can just put the whole thing in the ground.
I have so much purple coneflower that I have been known to pull them up to make room for other plants and just compost them. This past year, however, I was sad to see them affected with some...virus, perhaps...that caused most of the petals to be deformed, really very ugly looking. If I see the same thing this year I will really have to take them all out. It is too depressing.
Take note on the jiffy pellets...they have a net like coating on them that you have to tear off before you plant out...they are hard to keep properly hydrated also...tops dry out and the bottoms mold.
I think I'd use about anything before I'd plant in another jiffy pellet...and I've started tons of seeds in my lifetime.
I may use some of the little black plastic trays.
Those are much better...remember to water from the bottom.
escambiaguy ~ Finally something I know alittle about!! I have several areas of
my property that I have naturalized into wildflower areas. This includes the
purple coneflowers. Each year I visit a place in Fredricksburge, Texas where
they grow and sell their own wildflowers and I stock up on them. This is there
website and a neat site to browse. www.wildseedfarms.com
In the fall of 2004 I broadcasted nearly 3 pounds of wildflower seeds and last
spring and summer had beautiful stand of flowers. Even though the flowers
re-seed themselves I broadcasted another 3 pounds the fall of 2005 and
can't wait to see what I have this year. Because of my area it is recommended
that I sow my seeds in the fall, you will have to find out for your area. I also
in the fall of 2005 tossed a pound and half of bluebonnet seeds and they are
about 3 inches tall now.
The only thing I really did was make sure that I kept the area misted (moistened)
until the seeds germinated. I hope this helps you in some way and if I can
help more please let me know.
Angela
I have winter sown mine. I'm doing more this year because I love them so.
I grow purple coneflowers with my daylilies and they reseed by the hundreds here! I give away 'lots' each year and still have to hoe up hundreds in order to thin them out. They are wonderful plants for our summer heat !
My 'Magnus' got that awful deformity last year, in my first attempt at gardening here. :-(
It's called the "aster yellows" which is caused by a tiny organism known as a phytoplasma that is spread from plant to plant by leafhopper feeding. Dandelions and plantain are also susceptible and can serve as sources of the disease in home gardens. In warm weather, symptoms are more severe, and appear more quickly. Control weeds which may harbor the pathogen. Insecticides are generally not recommended for control of leafhoppers in the home garden. Once infected, there is no cure. Diseased plants should be promptly removed and discarded to reduce further spread.
Does anyone have Kim's Knee High white coneflower? Mine didn't bloom the first year and I was wondering if that is normal.
I often see really impressive big stands of echinacea, and I love them. So I got some starts from friends with a big patch and put them into my garden. Well, year after year it was pretty much that same plant, and no new volunteers! That's not how it was supposed to be.
Then this last summer I started asking people about coneflowers, and why mine wouldn't spread, and several people told me that purple coneflowers didn't like competition. They'll give up if there's something that's more aggressive close to them. So I gave them a little space to themselves, and we'll see what kind of results I get this year.
I thought that was an interesting piece of info. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Here is a pic of one of my coneflowers. A few were real "frilly".
