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| Now that we're in the midst of summer, I'm wondering what everyone's earliest blooming coneflowers are. Also, do you find that your earliest varieties are the longest blooming in past years? I also had a question about seed. I'm looking to save some seeds to try my hand at winter sowing. I got a coneflower from a woman this spring who said it was a purple variety, although now that it's bloomed, it's a lovely light pink. If I save the seeds from this flower, is it likely I'll have similar colored child plants? I have this one next to some Becky shasta daisies, which really highlights the different shade (the color doesn't show up that nicely in the pic, but it's really pretty). |
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| I say just try the seeds and see what you get. There is no way to know if it comes true unless you know what you have there. The hybrids don't come true from seed, but the older "original" coneflowers do. Without knowing exactly what that guy is, though, you'll just have to test it out and see if it will come true from seed. It's worth a try, it's a lovely color! |
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- Posted by linlily z5/6PA (jakey915@comcast.net) on Sun, Jul 7, 13 at 19:53
| I hope you have better luck with your "light pink" Echinacea staying light pink than I did. I had a volunteer bloom two years with very light pink flowers and thought that I had something really different. Both years it was growing and blooming under the branches of an un-pruned butterfly bush. So it was blooming in some shade. This year, we pruned the butterfly bush way back in the spring and the same cone flower is now blooming the regular dark pink/puple that you would expect from a volunteer from Magnus or Bright Star. The coneflowers in that bed are not the purple ones, but are Tiki Torch, Sundown, and White Swan. Go figure that one. Linda |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 1:54
| Whether or not your Echinacea/coneflower comes true from seed, it's always an experiment and you may or may not be pleased with the visual results. I've grown so many Echinacea cultivars from seed via winter sowing and after a few years have decided to just plant whatever seedlings sprout, let them grow and allow the critters that enjoy the nectar take it from there. They seem to know how to go on from that point. My goal has never been what's only pleasing to my eye but what sustains wildlife. If the view also gives me pleasure, I consider that a side benefit. The older I get, the more easily I'm pleased with my garden. |
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| Of all the seed strains and misc Echinacea I am growing, the earliest bloomers this year were Pow Wow Wild Berry and Primadonna White. However, now many other Echs are coming along. Echinacea cross-pollinates a lot so the seedlings of your light pink plant probably will not seed true, but you might get something similar. The seedlings I've gotten from assorted hybrids (like Summer Sky and Sunrise) did not seed true, and generally get quite a bit a variation in the seedlings that reseed in the gardens. The seedlings I get from the seed strains bought at Swallowtail seem to seed true and I assume they are developed for more consistent results. I like that because I can plant them where they're shown off to their best, hopefully. Right now I've got 3 or 4 Echinacea 'Primadonna White' seedlings (3rd year "seedlings" that is), in the front of a bed where they are taller than the perennials behind them. They ended up being taller than expected, so I'll move and replace them with the new 'Baby Swan' seedlings, which are supposed to be a short white at < 2 ft. |
This post was edited by terrene on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 21:11
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