It’s about 110 degrees in the shade (literally) today but still I keep finding more Echinacea babies. You’d think that with this intense heat the self-sown seedlings would shrivel up and die, but no – they’re going strong. I’m not sure if it’s purple coneflower, yellow or the White Swan. I found clusters of seedlings under the snowball bush, under the crepe myrtle, and daring the blazing sunlight. They’re in a garden bed that gets baking hot sun all day long, no water unless nature provides it, and lousy soil.
Then you have the Echinacea I tenderly nurtured from seeds under the grow lights in the basement. Ten weeks of pampering. Transplanted it in the morning, watered, mulched it, and planted it among the other perennials so it would have some shade. I practically sang this thing a lullaby. And what do I find today? Bare dirt.
Moral of the story: the more I neglect my plants and just follow the leader – the plants – taking my cue from what grows, the better my garden will be!
~Gardener on Sherlock Street
Been there. Crazy isn’t it.
I have a white echinacea in my garden. I try to ignore it.