I've done a little reading and from what I've read it isn't unusual for E. paradoxa to take a few years to flower. I'm growing some from seed right now and I know it'll be at least three years before I see flowers.

Karen

I ordered 5 of these from Prairie Nursery last year. They sent dormant plants early in the season. A few bloomed the first year. In general the ones I have planted from seeds never bloomed the first year. About half do the second year and the rest usually bloom the third year. Prairienursery.com is a good source of paradoxa if you are impatient like me.

Patience is important with paradoxa. It gets more beautiful every year. It is still the only yellow Echinacea that is worth growing. The hybrid varieties all seem to have something weak about them. They tend to decrease each year in size. Their blooms are fuller and larger; however, they don't compare as far as hardiness goes.

Karen:

"I've done a little reading and from what I've read it isn't unusual for E. paradoxa to take a few years to flower. I'm growing some from seed right now and I know it'll be at least three years before I see flowers."

I tried planting some of the seeds in a pot last fall. I eventually brought them in, and they all died. :) Thanks for the info. I wish there were better documentation on the Internet about how long you may have to wait to see flowers.

echinaceamaniac:

"Prairienursery.com is a good source of paradoxa if you are impatient like me."

Thanks--I'll have to remember that. I got mine from Park Seed in Greenwood, SC. Maybe their plants aren't as good.

"Patience is important with paradoxa."

Maybe they should rename it "Echinacea waitforevera." LOL.

"It gets more beautiful every year. It is still the only yellow Echinacea that is worth growing. The hybrid varieties all seem to have something weak about them. They tend to decrease each year in size. Their blooms are fuller and larger; however, they don't compare as far as hardiness goes."

I'm glad that I don't have a hybrid then. :)

I bought my Paradoxa in the fall of '05, about a 3 inch pot size plant. It came back a bit bigger and I think I had a flower or two. We moved that August -'06 and I dug the plant to take with me. They develop a tap root when they mature and my plant did not like being moved. It survived that winter and came back nicely next spring. It did NOT bloom in '07 but has bloomed every summer since.

I really like my Paradoxa for lots of reasons and will always have it in my garden. It does not spread, I like the long slender yellow petals that hang down, it's fragrant, and I enjoy watching a wild canary taking seeds from it in the fall. In my opinion, it's a great plant.

Linda

Should this plant ever be staked? Mine now has about 5 emerging flowers on it and is leaning at a 45-degree angle.

I never staked mine but it shouldn't hurt.

echinaceamaniac wrote:

I never staked mine but it shouldn't hurt.

OK, thanks.

Here's an update. I've posted a couple of pix of my coneflower here:

Yellow coneflowers

Is it unusual for these to bloom in early May? Also, how long do you have to wait to gather seeds from the flowers?

Mine are blooming now too. I always wait until the stalk that holds the bloom starts turning brown to remove them. These are early blooming Echinaceas and it's normal for them to bloom now.

here is mine from (i think) 2 years back. It definitely has doubled in size and i am seeing a lot of self seedlings peppered around the bed now. The blooms on the sides do lean, but i have never staked them. I might try adding a peony ring on both this plant and the pallida to keep them from leaning (after rains).

{{gwi:214592}}

Aren't they beautiful! I love these. I also use these to peak out from other plants. I don't like their foliage, so I plant them near roses and penstemons. So far, they do ok like this.

echinaceamaniac wrote:

Mine are blooming now too. I always wait until the stalk that holds the bloom starts turning brown to remove them.

OK, thanks for the pointer.