Showing posts with label Echinacea pallida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Echinacea pallida. Show all posts

Monday, 4 July 2011

Boosting the Prairie

Echinacea pallida and Heliopsis helianthoides at the prairie in Alnarp

The Prairie at the Campus in Alnarp was planted in the end of October 2007. It has developed very well and just now the Pale Coneflower, Echinacea pallida flowers together with the oxeye, Heliopsis helianthoides ‘Summer Nights’, and some few still remaining flower heads of the Blanket flower, Gaillardia aristata. The real peak at the prairie is in late July and during August when thousands of Prairie Blazingstars are in bloom.

However we wanted to improve the flower display during early summer and last week we therefore arranged a planting day at the prairie. Helena Karlén, lecturer at the University in Alnarp, had planned the day and invited both some students and staff from the park to participate in the planting.

The following plants were planted last week: Echinacea pallida, Pale Coneflower, Liatris graminifolia, Grassleaf Blazingstar, Monarda fistulosa, Wild Bergamot, Silene regia, Royal Catchfly, Tradescantia ohiensis, Ohio Spiderwort and Bouteloua curtipendula, Sideoats Grama. The Baptisia australis, Blue Wild Indigo, didn´t germinate properly so we had only five plants to put into the ground.

The seeds were sown during the winter 

Seedlings of Monarda fistulosa

The plants growing at the Trädgårdslabbet in Alnarp

Time for planting

Planting the prairie - again

The day of planting, June 29th 2011

It is hard to find all pots in the tall grass

It was a hot day in late June just like a true Prairie Summer Day

Echinacera pallida at the prairie in Alnarp

The prairie in the beginning of July 2011

Echinacea, Heliopsis and Gaillardia

Thursday, 15 July 2010

Monarda for dry sites

Today I again visited Laholm and the famous citypark to discuss its continuing development. Later this year we are going to create a meadow for biodiversity and a planting beneath big beech trees with great spring aspects from bulbs and other early flowering perennials. Two amazing plantings for the future.

At the savanna in Laholm now the Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa, recently has began to bloom. This Monarda is suitable for dry sites and tolerates water stress much better then the common garden cultivars. They belong all to the Monarda didyma-group or are hybrids between these two species. Monarda didyma prefer instead moist or even wet conditions.

The Pale Coneflower, Echinacea pallida, thrives well together with the Wild Bergamot