Cameron,

I added 4 Ruby Stars to my garden this year after reading earlier posts by you. I'm so glad I did! Thanks for sharing your experience with this great coneflower.

-Sharon

I find all the echinaceas I grow bloom for at least 6-8 weeks before needing deadheading. You can prolong the bloom by periodically deadheading instead of all at once. This is easy since there are usually a few blooms that start to fade before the others. It takes more time than just cutting down the whole plant at once but I find they will bloom all summer if I do the periodic deadheading. Plus no looking at a cut down plant and hoping it will put on another show.

Btw, I think your thread is fine on here, especially since you put "pics" in the title as a consideration to those with a slower connection. What most of us were referring to in the pic discussions were those threads that were just for sharing lots of garden pics, no discussion intended other than ooohhhs and aaahhhs. : ) The gallery was created for those.

Diana

Cameron - what a pretty pictorial of the life of the echinacea in your garden. You have been so inspirational in my starting to add more to my gardens and to also do clumps of them for the bigger show. I have 3 different varieties started from seed now for fall planting. Thank you for sharing.....

Lynne

They are quite impressive.

I was about to get out of whack about my own echinacea until I looked back at photos.
Echinacea was in full bloom here May 17. I guess a month makes a lot of difference in a hotter zone.

I do periodic deadheading as Diana mentions, then whack the whole thing back. They're already putting out new blossoms.

I enjoyed the photos and dates. A few weeks ago, I moved part of a clump that was a white variety, and it is blooming pink except for one white flower. I also planted some this year, and think I may want to try more kinds. I'll have to check to see if Ruby Star is grown here.

Sue

Mine are still going strong as well. What a great plant --- very long blooming, great cut flower, hummers, bees and butterflies love them --- and did I mention, Beautiful! Hard to ask for more.

{{gwi:61184}}

Did you know that as the seed heads get dry, the birds love them! They pick mine clean before winter hits. I deadhead them during the season, but as fall approaches, and with it frost, I just leave them standing. They have a thistle-like seed.

I do hardly any deadheading from mid-July on for that very reason. The yellow finches look so pretty hopping around from seedhead to seedhead. I may be losing potential bloom because of that but my gardens are for the birds and butterflies to enjoy as much as us humans.....

Lynne

Mine are looking just awful right now. The petal tips are turning dark and shriveling under. I haven't touched them yet this year.

I'm thinking about whacking the whole thing back this evening!

Cameron, how old is your "Ruby Star"? Also, how tall are they? I have "Magnus" and have had to stake them because of their height. I'm wanting to try a variety that is shorter and fuller.

Marilyn

My 'Ruby Star' were planted in spring 2007, then we had THE drought of the century!

I think they're around 30" tall and need no staking. The stems are really sturdy. I have some down in the rain garden and some part way up the slope out of the moist soil, so they do well either way.

I stop deadheading after the 2nd bloom and leave the seedheads for the goldfinch.

Speaking of goldfinch, I have plenty of verbena bonarsensis (tall verbena) that I never deadhead that was planted specifically for the goldfinch. I just cut it across when it first emerges to get bushy, shorter verbena with a lot of branches. Our woods are full of sweet gum trees...considered trash trees by some, but loved by goldfinch.

Is Ruby Star one of the hybrids with sterile seeds, or will it reseed in the garden and spread?

I am glad for the occasional pics. I like being able to see what everyone is talking about, the photos are beautiful, and it helps break up the tiny print on my laptop so I don't lose my vision so fast. I, too, went out and bought some Ruby Star because of Cameron and Echinaceamaniac's postings. I hope they do as well as theirs. Thanks for the photos!

Mine are so new, I've not seen any spreading/seeding...I wish they would spread.

Oops...will I be in trouble if 'Ruby Star' is a falling star someday? :-)

Cameron

Your coneflower looks great Cameron.

I must have Ruby Star also as mine look much like yours. I've had mine for about 5 years and I always leave some seedheads for the finches and/or reseeding. I have new plants every year but I'm not sure if they spread or seed. I suspect they seed. Mine tend to lean a bit because the back side of the planting does not get much sun and they are "stretching." I moved baby plants last year to a sunnier spot and they are standing up on their own this year, no leaning. Do your blooms tend to fade a bit with age? I've noticed that mine do.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures.
Vikki

Yes, thank you for recommending Ruby Star, Cameron. I've also planted two because of you, and they are already blooming even though I planted them at the worst possible time (early July). They seem to be pretty tough.

Mary

I found this June 13, 2008 photo of 'Ruby Star'. So, I had earlier said 5 days later. It's been blooming a bit longer than I had thought.

The girls are still looking good this morning, July 28th!

Today is DS1's 24th birthday, but he's in Knossos, Crete working on an archaeological survey with the British School in Athens. I've got to get used to his long absence!

Back to the the 'Ruby Star' gals...

I just had to remove two rosemary that were overcome by our rain. I took one of my agastache 'Salmon and Pink' and divided it to plant there, but planted them higher to avoid the moisture that did in the rosemary. Next year, I'm hoping for a good display with the echinacea and agastache.

I'm holding a bloom from agastache 'Coronado' next to this 'Ruby Star' to see if they work. I think I like the 'Salmon and Pink' better.

{{gwi:260773}}

I can't believe I haven't had Echinacea in my garden till now. A couple are blooming now what can I say, I'm smitten. I'm thinking these beauties have a long blooming season, I also think I have just come up with the solution for my too green garden this time of year. I can see splashes of color though out the garden using coneflowers. Cameron your Ruby Star is gorgeous, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that one.
Annette

My garden center didn't have Ruby Star, but I had seen some I liked, and decided to go back for a couple that ended up being on the list in the link.
Kim's Knee High:
{{gwi:724529}}{{gwi:724532}}
Harvest Moon:
{{gwi:724535}}{{gwi:724539}}
Sue

I'd love to know how well Kim's Knee High does for you...and the size. Can it take both the moist or drier soils like the 'Ruby Star'?

Well, here it is mid-August and the 'Ruby Star' is still going strong. I'm getting lots of new blooms from the deadheading a few weeks ago. I'll leave this next bloom for the goldfinch (that happen to nest in July) so I expect a lot more goldfinch to show up soon!

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: colorful coneflowers continue

Ruby Star is a beauty I acquired it on saturday, along with several others. I keep adding to my collection knowing full well some will probably not do well but, what grows well in one garden doesn't in another so it's going to be an ongoing experiment as to what will grow for me. The Tikki Torch I picked up were young plants so don't know if I will see blooms this year.
Even though my soil is well draining our winters and springs have been so wet in the last few years I've been concocting a plan to keep the crowns dry through the winter without covering them with mulch, kind of a crazy idea but it just might work, if it doesn't, back to the drawing board LOL.
Have you got Razzmatazz? I love this one mine looks like bright pink pom poms. Pink Double Delight is similar but slightly different shape and a lighter pink.
I would buy Pink Double Delight in bloom so you can see the difference, up here some of the PDD's being sold are really Razzmatazz. Coconut Lime is another fav. I didn't realize that some of these had such a nice sweet scent, bonus. Below a pic of my Razzmatazz.

Annette

{{gwi:724543}}

They last forever, don't they?! They're one of my faves! Funny, Razzmatazz was just posted... I picked that one up to try just last week. I love her already!!

I've got to add Razzmatazz for a "globe" shape among my spires of salivas! It's gorgeous! Carmine-red/pink is my favorite color in the garden.

Cameron,
I enjoyed looking at the pics and reading about your butterfly garden, another garden one, and the rain garden as well as the coneflower entry. I had forgotten it was you who had that water garden that filled up when it rained. Your place is gorgeous! I'm going to have to find some Ruby Star and Raamatazz.

My Kim's Knee High was getting wilty the first few weeks in the heat of the day, when the old fashioned plant that had been moved from another part of my yard the first week of June, and the Harvest Moon, all in the same bed did not wilt. It seems to be established now. I've been deadheading, too. The Harvest Moon's flowers seem to be below the tops of the plants right now. I suppose I should go ahead and remove those.
Sue

Sue...glad you like the information.

I've wondered about Kim's Knee High for front of the border. I have a few places were I could tuck in some of those.

My sole surviving Harvest Moon is looking poorly right now.

Has anyone had any problems with rabbits eating the coneflowers? Just curious since Bugs and Thumper are showing up more and more around our house.