Can anyone tell me when coneflowers usually go to seed?
And when they do, what does it look like? Will it be obvious to a newbie like me? ;)
Pictures would be helpful.
Thanks!!!
Coneflower questions
So I don't have any pictures but I generally let mine stay on the dried up stems till late fall. The tops will drop their "petals" (which I learned in Botany class are actually each sterile flowers - each little prickly "seed" is a fertile flowers). They will dry up completely and you will see Goldfinches feeding off of them. I would assume since you are in WI, yours will dry up earier then mine. As I said, I leave mine and let them reseed themselves, then cut them down in last fall (November-ish).
Very informative!!!
Thank you :)
Here is a photo of some of mine in July. I try and keep them deadheaded so they don't go to seed, but had way too many come up this year and with some health problems have not kept any deadheading done like normal! You can see the New blooms, older blooms and seed heads in this shot I think. I usually start to leave them, not deadhead, around September and the birds eat on them in the winter. However, since I have let so many go to seed this year the birds have been enjoying them all summer! Hope this helps you out. BTW, I don't gather the seeds unless I want them planted somewhere else. I just let them fall and then pull the seedlings I don't want in the spring. edited to add that the seed heads are quite sticky!
This message was edited Aug 11, 2007 11:26 AM
Cactuspatch,
Your flowers are beautiful, but those look like blanketflowers instead of coneflowers.
Duh! it is a photo of blanket flowers! LOL! Sorry now I can't find that coneflower photo.
I can say that they coneflowers are even more sticky than the blanket flowers!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/26/
Here you go!
All you have to do is look over the images....you should be able to compare with yours and get seeds.
Thanks for the link Melody. Exactly what I needed to see. :)
Cactuspatch, I love your blanket flowers. It's such a job to keep them dead-headed, but I like them because they bloom non-stop -- and in my zone until the freeze gets them.
My blanket flowers died over this past winter.
They were very pretty but I'm hesitant to replace them....
:(
Be sure to join in on the coneflower forum!
Bubbeez, that's interesting. I lost the one I had in the front yard. I thought I had lost the ones in back, but two remain due to reseeding. The original mother plant is gone. In my experience this seems to be a short-lived perennial that reseeds itself.