• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • Gardening Basics
    • Home Garden Tips
    • Month-by-Month Gardening Tips
    • Seed Starting
    • Compost and Fertilizer
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Tools & Equipment
  • Raised Bed Gardens
  • Plants
    • Plant Profiles
    • Herbs
    • Fruit
    • Vegetables
    • Flowers
    • House Plants
    • Trees and Shrubs
  • Pests, Weed & Problems
    • Plant Diseases
    • Weeds & Invasive Plants
  • Birds and Wildlife
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books by Jeanne Grunert
    • Privacy Policy

The Echinacea and Its Offspring

June 21, 2010 by Jeanne

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!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Turtles, Turtles Everywhere
Next Post: Perennial Combinations for Sunny Borders – Grow Gorgeous Flowers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. ~Gardener on Sherlock Street

    June 21, 2010 at

    Been there. Crazy isn’t it.
    I have a white echinacea in my garden. I try to ignore it.

Trackbacks

  1. Perennial Combinations: The Sunny Border | Home and Garden Joy says:
    August 12, 2014 at

    […] planted them outside and crossed my fingers.  Today, not only did they thrive, but their offspring are crowded under the shadows of the white snowball Viburnum near the […]

Footer

A close up of American burnweed flowers about to bloom.

American Burnweed, the Weed That Signals Fall Is Here

I was walking my dog along the wood’s edge right near where we cleared land to build our greenhouse when I did a double take. There, like Jack’s magical beanstalk, had grown overnight this gem: American burnweed. Also known as fireweed or American burn weed, it grows rapidly – and I mean, rapidly. Like I…

Read More

Summer squash

What Can You Make with Summer Squash?

It’s that time of year when everyon asks, “What can I make with summer squash?”. The time when neighbors sneak bags of summer squash onto porches. When farmer’s markets are brimming with yellow and green squash, zucchini, and all manner of Cucurbitaceae, the plant family that gives, and gives, until it can’t give anymore. If…

Read More

A closeup of marshmallow plant flower.

Growing Marshmallow Plant

Growing marshmallow plant has been on my gardening to-do list for quite some time. I’ve read about it in herbal books and grown its cousins in the Malvaceae family from seed. The dark purple mallow plant I have thrives in my little garden by the shed, so I thought, “Why not grow marshmallow there?” I…

Read More

watering can with plants

August in the Garden: Late Summer Delight

August in the Garden: Tasks, Tips, and a Look Ahead to Fall Here in South Central Virginia, August has always felt like “back to school” season. By mid-month, the local schools are back in session, and with two universities in our small town, the stores fill up with dorm supplies and school gear. What a…

Read More

  • About
  • Plant a Row for the Hungry
  • Awards
  • Privacy Policy

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Substack
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2026 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme