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Too late to divide Echinops and Canterbury bells?

ThankthecatThankthecat Posts: 421
in Plants
I've had an injury that meant I relied on help in the garden for the last year. My gardener let me down (not her fault) and has hardly been here this spring. I'm now getting fit again and desperately want to carry out some renovations I had planned. Is it too late to lift and divide Echinops bannaticus and Campanula medium? We're in Devon and both have taken me by surprise, going from 0 to 60 in the last three weeks! Campanula has buds forming, Echinops just tons of new growth. 
I know we're about to have a sunny week but I can commit to regular watering. What do you reckon?  

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    You can divide but you would need to cut them back to make it work, and that will delay flowering or potentially postpone until next year. Not familiar with C. medium, but internet says it's a biennial, which doesn't sound like a good candidate for dividing. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Canterbury Bells are usually biennial, so die after flowering.

    I would say it is too late to divide Echinops, if you want it to flower this year.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • ThankthecatThankthecat Posts: 421
    I must have got the canterbury bells type wrong as I've had them three years now and they've flowered and the clump grown bigger every year... Unless they have self-sown in a VERY small area around the originals? Thanks for your advice re the echinops. I will have to wait until autumn to do my redesign then as I don't want to lose flowers this year. Cue shopping trip to buy annuals to fill in all the gaps I made ready for them! 

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Every cloud 😀
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
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