The Garden At Rock Cottage by Lance Brilliantine

A Garden Must
Daisies have always been a garden favorite across the U.S. These flowers add interest and a sense of belonging to the garden and also attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Among the daisies that are displayed at Rock Cottage, the perennial daisy known as Echinacea (also called "Conehead") is a yearly participant in the landscape. This easy to grow and resilient plant produces stately, daisy-like flowers that are a magnet for both insects and humans alike.

Widespread in North American prairies, Echinacea is one of the more important members of the daisy family, called Asteracea. It is part of a group of flowers called Compositae. It produces a stiff flower that has been used by Native Americans and others as medicine for colds and the flu - and is still used for medicinal purposes today.

Flowers are produced in a variety of colors such as rose, red, purple, white, pink, and even green. Some of the newest varieties to look for include Green Envy, which produces a jade-green bloom that fades to magenta pink as it ages; Merlot, which delivers an extra-large five-inch flower in a wine color and a pleasant fragrance; Alaska, which is covered in creamy white flowers surrounding a dark golden center and Pink, a sturdy, compact plant with large, unusual pom-pom flowers (the center is frilled with traditional coneflower petals around the edge).

Echinacea is probably one of the easier garden flowers to grow, provided there is full sun and well-drained soil. It is also easy to grow from seed and May is a good time to sow seeds. Sowing seeds at this time will produce plants that may bloom at the end of the summer and certainly by next season. If you decide to grow this daisy, purchase seeds from a store, as they typically germinate better than seeds that are gathered from the garden. Store-bought seeds will also be true to color and type.

To start seeds, sow them just beneath the surface of sterilized soil in a sunny location in the garden. Keep the seeds evenly moist. Seeds typically germinate in ten to 21 days' time. If you prefer, many of the local nurseries and garden centers on Long Island carry this variety of daisy. Store-bought plants and seedlings are more likely to bloom this season.

When seedlings have produced a second set of leaves, thin the plants to achieve a final spacing of six inches between the plants. Plants do best in full sun but will tolerate partial sun, though they will be less lush. Coneheads are best suited for mass displays in the garden, though single plants will be successful as the odd specimen.

While Echinacea is an adaptive plant, it will be a prolific producer of large flowers if the soil is sandy and slightly alkaline. Therefore, garden soil should be amended with additives such as sand, peat, and lime. Because this plant is best suited to well-drained soil, locating the plants in raised beds seems to provide an ideal location for success.

Keep the area in which you plant Echinacea very well weeded. Seedlings are not competitive and succumb to weeds easily. Apply a mulch of peat moss to help retain moisture and fend off the weeds.

Seedlings started this year will produce clusters of large, ovate leaves and one or more flowering stems that will grow as tall as 48 inches next season. Each stem will bear large, two to five-inch flowers that last several weeks. The seed heads will remain attractive even after they have dropped their petals.

Flower stems and most of the leaves die back during the winter. However, the plants continue to grow beneath the surface and will produce numerous short, lateral rhizomes from the base of their stems. A fall sprinkling of lime, as well as moderate mulching before winter, will help the plants over winter successfully. Rhizomes sent out by the host plant develop into more flowering stems in subsequent years, so strategic planting and care of this plant will produce armfuls of flowers in few seasons. A single plant can fill an entire bed over the course of multiple years.

Echinacea is one of the most loved and beautiful garden flowers to grow. The plant's classic beauty is an ideal backdrop in borders and looks quite excellent in mass plantings. It can serve as a signal for late summer in the garden. We believe every garden ought to have at least one of these wonderful plants!

You can contact Lance Brilliantine with any questions or comments at GardenLance@yahoo.com

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