Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Wow Coneflowers


I never thought Coneflowers were all that pretty until I saw how they looked when mass planted. It's one thing to have all pink in one area and that does look good from a distance. But the addiction of the yellow, and maybe orange coneflowers really makes them more interesting. Because all coneflowers have the color orange in the flower part it helps draw the eye in by planting complimentary colors. Next to these I have a yellow flowering Coreopsis that helps this effect.


There are also some marigolds planted, which I usually ignore completely. This year though I bought a few seed packets just to put to rest what visits the flowers. Sure you see a Honey Bee working one but I assure you that was a 1 in a 1000 shot. The Coreopsis, Coneflowers and Liatris behind it get all the attention.

Liatris that flower at the same time as the coneflowers (the short Liatris) might be a good companion plant.The color is right anyhow. Unfortunately my luck with coneflowers isn't that good. Most of the ones I planted last year only produced 4 flowers where as ones bought and planted this year are already up to 8 per plant with more to come. Drainage seems to be the factor.

I'm glad they've flowered so well this year. Pollinators seem to only bother with them when they have a lot of flowers. I'll very likely seen gold finches landing on them to eat the seeds. And I can't wait.