This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 9:09 PM
echinacea in phoenix arizaona
This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 9:10 PM
Hi - how ya doing?
Maybe Debbie can advise you on your hot zone plantings. It is possible I guess that they might not even sell them there for your zone.
Seeds would be easier to get, but no flowers for this year.
Al
Al--its hot here in Houston...that's for sure, but we have a daily average humidity of about 85%. Nothing like Arizona. Closer to Florida...actually they may even be cooler than us today....lol
Debbie
No one's making you live there you know - there are houses for sale all around me LOL. I do have friends in Phoenix - it's a dry heat(that's what I call 80 here!)
I can handle living here...but just can't give any advice for Arizona. lol
Ok then - here's my advice - don't invest too much in plants until you know how well they make it. Rudbeckia or heliopsis might work better - but not purple.
I would think the native would grow there--thought it grew most places. Are you in the desert or up near Tucson? Big variable differences even in Arizona I think.
Echinacea generally rated from 3-10
They also flower best with a few weeks in the 40's at least.
Desert weather will provide that plus the good drainage.
so...
I wouldn't hesitate to plant it there and as long as I can dig in the ground, I'll transplant something. If it's in the heat, just be prepared to keep it watered and a littel shade till it's settled in.
Find a link to your local county extension. They'll have plenty of information specific to your location and usually have some master gardeners who will answer questions.
A few weeks in the 40's...well that might explain why a lot of my Magnus did not come back. We had next to no winter here--only freeze was late in February. But White Swan came back with a vengence...
Debbie
I'm jealous!!!! White Swan has been such a temperamental girl for me. Maybe I'm not giving her good enough drainage. Generally I tell all of the plants, deal with what we've got or take a hike. :) You gotta make a few exceptions though.... sigh..
Actually she's in a rather poor draining area for me--a fairly new bed. But down here the heat and humidity has really set in so we shall see how she holds up to that!
wahhhhh!! I don't know if any of mine are coming back this year. White Swan that is. Both would be due to my own midsdeeds in the bed this spring.
BUT on my first official 'maintenance mode' weeding tour yesterday I said 'oh, what are those long slender sun yellow petals? too early for rude becky .' Ah Ha!! It's bed I overhauled under the influence last fall and forgot what all I planted. Then my larkspur took off, loving the compost and I've had to weed them to the back for a 4-5' fence. The yellow was a Paradoxa I'd started from seed last year and tucked in this bed. The larkspur had her covered and she's a little spindly from being in the shade but there's my first glorious cone bloom. Oh yeah... a section of the larkspur forest was snatched - quick, fast and in a hurry. :)
Paradoxa is a great variety...I got enough white swan there to save seeds.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 10:00 PM