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Echinacea, a North American genus in the Daisy family, has big, bright flowers that appear from late June until frost. |
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Big Sky Sundown |
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Echinacea thrive in average soils or hot, dry conditions and shrug off cold.
Blooms last well cut or dried, and the seeds in the large cone at the heart of the flower head provide nourishment for birds.
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Green Envy |
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Echinacea are also deer resistant and attract butterflies and bees to your garden.
Our selection of Echinacea is the best of what's currently available based on their garden performance, flower shapes, and outstanding color.
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Harvest Moon |
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Here are some of the varieties we have at the nursery:
Echinacea Big Sky(TM) 'Sundown'
3 ft. x 2ft. vibrant orange flowers that last for weeks.
Echinacea purpurea 'Green Envy'
Unusual lime-green daisy-like flower heads with rose pink rays towards the centers. 3 ft. x 2 ft.
Echinacea 'Harvest Moon'
Lovely golden-orange central cones surrounded by earthy gold petals, resembling the color of a harvest moon. Big 4-inch, fragrant flower heads. These plants are hardy and vigorous and will produce up to 30 blooms once established. Height 2 ft.+
Echinacea 'Magnus'
3 - 5 ft. x 2ft. Rose-pink flowers with a coppery-brown cone. One of the finest border plants, easy to grow, prolific bloomer.
Echinacea 'Ruby Star'
Similar to E. 'Magnus' in that they both hold their petals in a refined, horizontal arrangement, not drooping like the species. However, the petals of 'Ruby Star' are more substantial with a deeper magenta-red color.
Echinacea 'White Swan'
'White Swan' boasts the same size, vigor, and large flowers as the more common pink forms, but in white. Plant them together, in good big clumps, for a sensational summer display. 3 ft. +
September Specials
Plant of the Month
$2 OFF Gallons
$1 OFF 4-Inch
All 4 inch annuals and perennials 20% off regular price in September!!!
September
I love the fall season. The light quality is magnificent, adding a golden kiss to the garden. The weather is cooling, making the garden chores welcome again, as opposed to be done as early and as quickly as possible, with little time for anything but water, water, water.
It's not too late to cut some of those tired looking perennials back a little to promote flowers for the end of Sept. through Oct. Some of the ones that come to mind are Autumn Sages, Penstemon, Catmints, Calibrochoa and Petunias. I like feeding with E.B. Stone's All Purpose or Rose and Flower Food in the fall. It's so long lasting and slow to break down that it helps with the first growth in spring, too. Now is time to feed your spring blooming shrubs and trees with E. B. Stone Ultra-Bloom. It has no nitrogen and needs to be applied in fall to promote flowering in spring. This could help with that pesky Lilac or Wisteria that does not bloom and won't hurt your Quince, Forsythia or spring blooming Irises and Spiraeas.
Fall Vegetables
It's time to plant the cool season vegetable garden. Now that the hot months of July and August are over, we can plant lettuce and cilantro again. Below is a list of the things that come to mind for the fall/winter/early spring edible garden.
| Arugula |
Beets |
Broccoli |
| Carrots |
Brussel Sprouts |
Peas |
| Cabbage |
Turnips |
Chard |
| Lettuce |
Collards |
Kohlrabi |
| Cauliflower |
Spinach |
Kale |
| Cilantro |
Parsley |
Onions |
Don't forget to add 'Soil Booster' and E.B.S.'s Tomato/Vegetable food. If you had trouble with calcium deficiency now would be a good time for gypsum or lime as well.
Bulbs
Plant bulbs now for spring blooms. I love daffodils, crocus, tulips and the like. Iris and the saffron crocus have already arrived and September brings our selection of bulbs to plant this season for incredible bloom in spring. Re-doing containers with cool season annuals? Why not throw in some bulbs too for an eye-popping Spring display? Below is a list of ideas/plants that can be planted now for fall/winter/spring color.
Bulbs
| Daffodils |
Iris |
Paperwhites |
| Tulips |
Crocus |
Snowdrops |
| Hyacinths |
Bluebells |
Muscari |
Flowers
| Calendulas |
Violas |
Poppies |
| Forget me nots |
Primrose |
Sweet Peas |
| Pansies |
Winter Daisies |
Bachelor Buttons |
| Stock |
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Benefits of Fall planting.
Fall is the best time to plant and frankly I am a little surprised Fall is not equal to Spring in this business because of it. Not only is it time to redo your pots and vegetable garden, plant bulbs, and feed for healthy Spring bloom, and special order your bare-root fruit trees, it's the best time of year for planting cold hardy perennials, shrubs and container grown trees. Why, you ask? Well not only are there great money saving sales on at the nursery in the fall, but these plants have less transplant shock at this time of year. Plant's upper growth rates slow or have already finished for the year, as opposed to spring when growth is rapid. Air temps are warming, triggering growth above the soil, but below the soil is still cold, inhibiting root growth. Fall is the opposite. Cooling air temps and shorter daylight hours slow or stop upper growth, but soil temps take longer to cool and are still warm from summer, encouraging root growth. You can often have a third to half again as much growth in your first growing season with a plant put out in fall as opposed to spring!!!
So what's stopping you from coming in and taking advantage of the best time to plant along with some of the best prices of the year along with some of our nicest weather?
See you soon,
Tanya |
