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Echinacea

Marina1Marina1 Posts: 16
in Problem solving
last autumn I purchased about £80 worth of different colours of Echinacea.
i planted them around the garden but not one has come back. 
Do you think it’s too late now and are they most likely dead? 
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Posts

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Some of mine are just peeking through but I think I have lost some as well. Whereabouts are you and what is your soil like?
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Oh that’s a shame, Marina, quite probably the Beast got them if there are no signs of growth at all, not even a teeny bit of green? Some of the more colourful cultivars are not as strong as the original E. Purpurea and they all hate damp, cold weather. A lot of nurseries refuse to guarantee them on the basis the UK climate is not ideal, unless you live in the drier parts. If the plants you bought were in 9cm pots, say, rather than 2 litre more mature plants, you would have been better growing them on for a year or at least cutting off the flowers to concentrate growth in the roots.

    I am absolutely no expert, but I found all this out researching which ones to buy last year. My winter weather is not that different to the UK (down to -7 and snow) but last year I bought 2L pots to plant out directly and this year they are growing away very strongly and already producing flower buds, likely because my spring is milder.


    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    As they pop up the slugs will chew them off. I have resorted to putting a few slug pellets in mine, you only need about 4 grains, that’s enough to keep them away. Renew then after a little while, but don’t use too many.
    they will self seed,  I have lots of little ones appearing despite the cold wet weather. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Bright starBright star Posts: 1,153
    I thought mine had died as well but noticed today some green shoots poking out of the ground. 
    Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Do watch out for slugs, they can eat the lot in one night.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    I put homemade copper rings round their positions before they appear, otherwise I'm not sure they ever would - as Lyn says, they get chewed before they get a chance to get anywhere, otherwise. The copper gives them enough of a chance to get going - once they're a few inches tall I remove it.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • Valley GardenerValley Gardener Posts: 2,851
    I can't see any sign of mine,must get out the magnifying glass!
    The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
  • Marina1Marina1 Posts: 16
    ThankYou all so much for what appears to be very wise words. I will go looking again today. Problem now is remembering where I planted them. 
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Ah yes, slugs! So far I haven’t seen a single one here, but as I type I am thinking I’m tempting fate...but then I haven’t see a single Spanish bluebell here either!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Valley GardenerValley Gardener Posts: 2,851
    I know what you mean Nollie,I never saw one slug when I lived in Spain,or a Spanish bluebell,but have seen loads of both here!
    The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
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