Echinacea

Plant container grown plants in fertile well drained soil in spring, in full sun to partial shade.

Carefully lift the plant out of the ground, do not to damage its roots. Rinse the roots in water to remove all soil. With a sharp knife, take off 5cm lengths of pencil thin roots. Fill pots with compost to which grit has been added, lay the cuttings, spaced out, on top. Cover with a thin layer of compost. Water well, label pots and place in a in a cold frame or somewhere cool indoors. Replant the parent plant.

Flowers late spring to late summer, when in full sun, but a little later in partial shade.

Sow seed in trays of moist compost in late winter, cover and maintain a temperature of 13C. Harden them off before setting outdoors in a nursery bed in early summer, then on into growing position from early autumn onwards.