Echinacea Purpurea plants, also known as cone flowers are actually something lacking in my garden. My mother has some beautiful plants that look just like the one pictured, the purple cone flower, known for the medicinal properties of enhancing the immune system. (I use Echinacea and Golden Seal often for different infections, and during season changes to keep myself healthy.)
The plants are not hard to grow, and there is no excuse for them not being in my garden, so as I sit here with some snow outside and temperatures of 18 degrees, I dream of planting some in my garden when the warm weather comes.
I am so focused on the medicinal properties, especially of Echinacea Purpurea, that it took a visit to coneflowers.com to make me realize that there are many varieties and beautiful colors to these plants. Vibrant oranges, purples, pinks, yellows, reds and a variety of different petal shapes.
Generally the plants are not hard to grow, and though I prefer heirloom plants when possible, the hybrid varieties available are more suited to some gardens, or containers, as heirloom plants tend to get very large. I noticed that there were hybrid Cone Flowers from some of the top growers.
I hope you are enjoying this time of year when we dream and plan our gardens, do you have Cone Flowers in your garden?
2-3 weeks ago, I was able to capture pictures of my late-blooming fall daisies, preserving them in pictures for days like today, when it is cold, cloudy and gray, I can look at these pictures and enjoy my garden year round.
I may have a picture of a rose for you in a couple of days…yes, a rose! I had transplanted a rose bush early in the summer, and it took time for it to become established…for the past couple of weeks, it has had a single red blossom that is beginning to open, in spite of weather going down into the 30’s at night and a few flurries and the touch of snow in my earlier post. If it can make it through this, it should be a happy, healthy plant when spring returns several months from now…that sounds so far off!
How are your gardens growing? I am just a bit envious right now of those of you who live in warmer climates, but shouldn’t be, the colors are coming out in the trees and are beautiful. Our gardens started early this year due to warm weather early on in the spring, then we moved into a wet summer making it a challenge for some plants and vegetables, while others thrived. Now we are experiencing a cold fall…with snow yesterday. Here is a picture of my Lambs Ear covered with snow that fell so early for fall:
Still, in spite of it all, in spite of seeing the end of the gardening season, then end of warm weather, there is beauty in the colors of fall, the changing of the seasons. Enjoy!
I am sitting here dressed in warm, winter cloths, my nose and fingers are cold because there is a nip in the air in my living room as I don’t want to break down and turn on the heat already. The only thing keeping me warm right now is my laptop:-)
Do you remember the post I wrote back in August? In it I wondered if the first frost would take place on October 2nd based on a bit of folk lore that I’ll let you read at the post itself - well guess what, it just might come true! It is so cold! But perhaps it will only be temporary, time will tell.
In spite of the cold, my large Shasta? Daisies are blooming beautifully, and my Impatiens, well there’s a big reason why I grow them every year, they last ALL summer and well into the fall, and are still beautiful. The hosta and all other things are struggling, we had an abundance of slugs due to the wet summer, and one could only do so much to keep them under control.
So we are now enjoying the fall flowers, the color that is beginning to add beauty to the leaves on the many trees around us, and preparing for what may be a very cold winter.
The gardens are getting that “unkempt” look, at least here they are, because at the end of the season I let my herbs bolt and things generally go a bit wild…the bees are delighted because the herbs that are usually cut back are full of flowers. The slugs are winning the battle for my hosta…the leaves of which look a lot like swiss cheese right now, and they have cleaned my marigolds of their leaves so quickly that there wasn’t time to try any of the natural solutions I usually use. Slugs thrived in the wet weather we had this summer. The tomatoes are okay, but would have appreciated some longer stretches of dry weather.
Now for the positive side of all that rain, it so very green everywhere, I love the lush green look of the woods and hope that in the next couple of months this will mean a colorful fall. The lawn looks good out back, but in the front yard because of the trees surrounding the property, we have a lot of spots that aren’t looking much like a lawn.
With this in mind it was fun to take a look at a site that provides a “Golf Green” lawn, and the grass isn’t even real! It’s tempting to cover my entire front yard with this natural looking artificial lawn. It sounds silly, but when you look at the pictures, and see how many ways the artificial turf is used, you’ll agree with me, I think. It’s pet-safe and your lawn will no longer have those yellow spots that dogs like mine are famous for causing, and if you’re one who lays down sod, it will save you from having to do this any more.
I know for the gardener it sounds like cheating, we like to get our hands in the dirt, but if a little spot covering with this wonderful green will save some time that you could use playing in the garden, it may not be such a bad thing. This can be used in a larger scale too, for parks, schools, and more.
It’s been a bit discouraging gardening this year. Yes, everything is lush and green because we have had an abundance of rain…the forests around us look beautiful, but there are things in my garden that are struggling because there has simply been too much water. My wonderful pink lily of the valley plants which provide nice green ground cover after they bloom into the fall are streaked with brown, my hostas and especially my marigolds are tastey treats for the huge slugs that are taking over…the rain has really given them an extra boost this year. I do use various things to get rid of the icky invaders, but enough get through to be challenging my gardens.
On another note, while some that I talk to are having a hard time with their tomato plants this year, the patio tomatoes that I tried for the first time this year are just covered with tomatoes. They don’t get much larger than about 2″ in diameter, but there are quite a few of them, and none of the leaves are dying on the plants yet.
Also, the herbs are thriving, nothing seems to harm them. Take a look at the video in the post before this one for a look at some of my plants.
All is not lost, and I guess that if there was a drought, there would be a different set of concerns, so through writing this post, I’ve convinced myself that perhaps things aren’t as discouraging as I thought.
Last Friday I did a little video using JING for a new site called boomerdivatv.com, and I thought I’d share it here, too, since I mention this blog and include some pictures of my home and some of the plants growing in my gardens. It’s my first attempt doing something with my voice in it, and using JING, but it went pretty well.
Echinacea Purpurea plants, also known as cone flowers are actually something lacking in my garden. My mother has some beautiful plants that look just like the one pictured, the purple cone flower, known for the medicinal properties of enhancing the immune system. (I use Echinacea and Golden Seal often for different infections, and during season changes to keep myself healthy.)
