If you’ve ever wondered how beneficial these trees are, or what trees make great street trees, this podcast will answer your questions. “Street trees” is what they call the urban or neighborhood trees that often line the road or the sidewalk. Pruning coneflowers is not necessary for winter. But have no fear The root system is alive and well beneath the soil, doing the important work of soaking up moisture and nutrients, and expanding for future growth. The In Defense of Plants podcast had a great episode about street trees a few weeks ago. Purple Coneflower Many gardeners are brightening their landscapes with purple coneflower, a beautiful perennial that isnt always purple. Coneflowers go dormant in the winter, which means they will appear to die back above ground. I think mine originally came from Wal-Mart, so like coneflower seeds, they are not hard to find! Elsewhere It’s honestly as simple as that.Ī seed starting greenhouse and grow light are a good investment. By then, the weather is nice and I can move them to a sheltered spot on the porch to let them acclimate for a few days before I plant them in the ground. I use a Jiffy “greenhouse” to keep everything warm and moist until they sprout, then I uncover them and put them under a grow light until they have produced a few leaves. You can start seeds in a little bit of seed starting soil or you can buy little biodegradable peat pellets. ![]() Now that I’ve shared what doesn’t work, here’s what works for me.Ī few weeks before the last frost (last frost is May 10-15 in Pennsylvania), start the seeds indoors. Possibly because birds find the seeds tasty, or I mistake the seedlings for weeds. So, if you weren’t thinking ahead, it’ll be fine! However, what I haven’t had success with is directly sowing the seed in the ground in the spring. While you could cold-start coneflowers in the fall or do the milk jug greenhouse thing I mentioned last week, I’ve had success skipping this step. If you’re a zealous weeder, you will be missing out on this plant’s longevity! If you leave the seed heads all winter, the plants will naturalize and create new first-year foliage-free plants and continue the circle of life. In their second year, they will produce flowers. You see, they do not produce flowers the first year. The only bummer about coneflowers is that they may make you feel like a failure if you don’t know their secret. They support a wide range of pollinators including bees and butterflies, and they also feed birds. ![]() If only every native was this easy to acquire! One $2 packet of seeds will give you more than enough plants for your own garden, plus some to give away. By easy, I mean you can walk into just about any store that sells seeds, big box or not, and buy a pack of these natives. It’s a beautiful time of year, and also the right time to start flower seeds indoors, our topic for this week.Īn easy native to start from seed is the purple coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea). And, I spotted a few Zizia sprouts popping up in their milk jug greenhouse. In my front yard, the redbud tree is blossoming and every day there are new tulips blooming. ![]() The great weather continued this week despite a few spring showers.
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