It has been a very busy year! Between a bathroom remodel, garden redesign and endless weeding of the gardens (due to lots of rain), I have been working on lots of projects. Time flies when you are having fun! I just went outside and started weeding a garden when it started to rain. Rain was not in the forecast for today. Since everything is wet, I decided to write a blog post and allow the garden to dry before starting to weed again. My post for today is on Echinacea or coneflowers, which is an old garden favorite for many of us and a plant that is looking great in my garden this year.
Coneflowers produce very pretty flowers that bloom for a long period of time in the garden. It is a plant that is hardy, drought resistant and now comes in many different colors like pink, yellow, peach, and white to name a few. Coneflowers grow to about 39 inches tall and look wonderful when planted in a mass planting. Blooming is from mid-summer into fall.
Coneflowers prefer full sun and should be sheltered from strong winds to protect their flowers. They prefer well-drained, rich soil to grow in. Propagation is by division of the plant or from seed. These plants are great for borders, cut flowers and the birds love the seed heads in the fall.
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| Small birds enjoy feeding on the seed heads of Echinacea. |
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| One of the many new colors of Echinacea. |
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| A new variety of Echinacea |
If you do not have coneflowers in your garden, you may want to grow a few. I hope everyone is having a great year in the garden and ........ Happy Gardening!
Debbie