The Changing seasons bring with it a changing appearance and feel to our gardens and countryside. While many people want flowers to bloom all year round and for trees to keep their green foliage through the winter months, there is more to gain from working with what nature offers and embrace the on-coming of winter in our gardens
Echinacea is one such plant that, while it certainly shines in the summer sun, it also knows how to embrace winter and all that it represents. Echinacea is a wonderful plant to add to your flowering borders. Position them in a sunny spot towards the middle and back of borders. Interplant Echinacea amongst grasses and other tall herbaceous perennials such as Heleniums, Rudbeckia, Verbena & Dahlias
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- Echinacea Flower
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- Echinacea in Winter Sun
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- Frosty Echinacea
Echinacea is a great plant in a winter garden as its form and structure will remain over the bleak few months. The effect of frost and snow only add to the look of echinacea as the frosty stems stand out stark and bold in the low winter sun.
To achieve the full winter effects of echinacea just make sure that you don’t cut them back after flowering in late summer /autumn. Instead just stake any plants that are falling over and leave the flower heads in place to die back fully and dry out
Other plants that look great in winter like echinacea include hydrangea, sedums, grasses and dogwoods. All these plants can add another element to your garden during this period. They don’t bring life to the garden but a stillness and determined look of a garden that sits in wait for better weather
Once spring returns you can then get out and neaten up all our beds by cutting back these dead stems and flower heads – and all in time for a new burst of growth that will see these plants rise again and bloom the following summer
The Garden Shop Sell Echinacea Roots Online from February to Mid March Each Year. This is the perfect time to get out and get sowing your echinacea for your summer & winter garden displays.