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Very small Echinops ritro seedlings... pot or plant?

13 years ago

I've never grown this plant before, but I now have a couple of very small plants, with about three or four leaves each. Would it be all right to plant these out now, or should I let them get a little bit bigger in their pots first?

And does anyone have any particular advice about this plant? I know it likes the sun and well-trained soil, but that's about it. Thanks!

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Comments (10)

flora_uk
13 years ago
It rather depends on whether you have slugs, snails or other things which will attack young plants. Echinops ritro is pretty tough so how about potting one on and planting out the other?
jayco
Original Author
13 years ago
I do have slugs (yay!), but the place I'm planning on planting the Echinops is a dry area under the eaves of my house, since otherwise my soil is quite moisture-retentive. The little lovely sluggoes seem to stick to the wetter soil, I've never seen them in this dry area before. (Of course that doesn't mean they won't come when they hear some delicious Echinops has just been planted...)
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Thanks very much for sharing your experience and advice. I had a bad day of harping with "why are you growing more plants?" and "why do you need all this 'stuff'?"...meaning seedlings inside and out, potting soil, amendments, containers, tools, lights, heat mat, etc., etc. etc.! I decided to stop worrying about whether my father will sell his house and convert from mostly annuals to many more perennials this year. It's been a lot of work growing some myself and ordering starts of others. I took over the basement to start first year blooming perennials (and lots of salvia) which has become another bone of contention. This brings me joy and I'm trying to ignore the nongardener's wrath. Good news on the Lychnis. CMK, I'll welcome volunteers next year if I get them. This year I'm using some very nice home made leaf mold/compost for mulch instead of hardwood or cedar bark. I don't think I see more than 1 Cleome seedling from where I scattered lots of seed but that could change as the season moves on. There's a good long narrow "bladed" step on shovel in the garage which we just used to clear the way for sprinkler heads. Looks good for digging deeply around the Echinops rosettes. I'm surprised the groundhogs haven't eaten them yet as they did last year. Luckily the rosettes are still only about 6" high with no prickly stem growth yet. This is the first window of moderate temps and clouds/rain to both plant things out and transplant. I'm so excited it seems silly to nongardeners. Ken, I've already killed a few things so I'm not a newbie at that! That's why I've got over 20 seedlings each of Salvia Lady in Red & Coral Nymph, Agastache Rupestris, Agastache Apricot Sprite, Agastache Purple Pygmy and beautiful Monarda Bergamo among others...LOL. Don't have room for all of them but I'll share some color by planting any extras at a neighbor's and one sister neither of whom have flowers. It'll feel so good to share the beauty and colors. Hopefully they'll get to see Hummingbirds nectaring the way I did last year. Thanks again. I knew I had to move them but wanted to get some experienced voices for support and advice. Last average frost date is May 15th and then there's the big push to plant out. If I get half the bloom I'm expecting I'm going to be one ecstatic camper! Leslie PS...Cameron, I'm keeping track of your deer resistant garden. Thanks for sharing it on your blog.
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Echinops is one of my very favorite plants! It bothers me that so many disparage it as "common" or "rank". I think it's a marvel of evolution, symmetry, and geometry! :) It is rock solid hardy, it shrugs off drought, and thrives in marginally crappy soil, as long as it's well drained. All it requires is full sun or at the very least, the strong, hot sun of late afternoon. The foliage is really nice; blue/green and looks really medieval and scarey, but isn't "mean", at all. The flowers are COOL... round, spikey, kinda scarey... but not really, at all. Nothing eats it or bothers it. My kind of plant! My two came from my boss. They were effectively 2 gallon plants when I planted them. Now, 5-6 yrs. later they're HUGE. They top 5' and span nearly the same width. They're beautiful. Give your new plant 2-3 yrs. to get to that size. I've never tried it, but I've been told that clipping the flowers will trigger the plant to rebloom. (My boss used to sell the cut flowers). I have yet to notice any reseeding in my garden... but I'd like it if it did! I've planted mine with big grasses, an Hydrangea ("Annabelle"), and some early bulbs and flowering groundcovers. And now is when I regret not deadheading and fussing over them more, I'd love to see the bloom period extended!
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I have three Echinops Ritro in my garden, and I love this plant! Mine are about 8 years old now, and they're as tall as I am (5'6"), so it's definitely a back of the border plant (though there might be other kinds that don't get this tall). They get covered with beautiful blue flowers that bloom in late July and last a really long time. I leave the seed pods because the gold finches like them, and they add some nice structure to the fall garden. They like good drainage (I lost one that was getting too much moisture because it was planted in a low spot in the garden and it was getting runoff from higher ground around it). And, they do have a long taproot which makes them hard to move (you just need to dig a really big root ball, and try to minimize breakage when you lift it out of the soil), but they're not all that fussy if you do move them - they wilt for a few days but come back nicely with a tiny bit of TLC. I have coneflowers (purple and white) and rudbeckia planted in front and alongside them, with luxuriant bleeding heart in front of those, and I love what they all look like together. I get some seeding, but it's not a lot (the mulch helps control it, I think), and they're easy to yank when they're little (just wear gloves).
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christinmk z5b eastern WA
13 years ago
Plant them out asap. Echinops have long tap roots that make them difficult to transplant when big.

Make sure to give them plenty of room- they will get pretty big once mature (saw one in town that must have been four feet around). Might be a good idea to put it in the back of the boarder too, since the foliage at the base of the plant becomes rather ugly and yellow after it blooms. The foliage is also very prickly- makes me itch terribly when I weed around it, LOL!

Echinops is very weedy here, since it seeds like mad. I try to nip the seed heads off before they ripen, but some always sneak by me. Been thinking of taking it out, but everyone that sees it loves it so I am not sure...
CMK
jayco
Original Author
13 years ago
Hmm, I certainly don't have four feet of space in the area I was thinking of for it. Do you think it would do okay in medium-heavy soil, decent drainage, lots of sun? In that case i could plant it in an area in which it could stretch out, and save my dry spot for something smaller and maybe more choice, from the sounds of it!

Thanks -- this is very helpful.
arbo_retum
13 years ago
yes, it would be fine in that other area; just like mine. i really love the flowers but here the bees swarm them so vociferously that they lose their lovely blue color after just a few days. They seed everywhere,and lastly, Everything christin mk said.she's a wise one, that christin!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/
a teaching website
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
13 years ago
Mine stay blue for a long time, but it's true the bees do adore them. Over the years mine have seeded around a bit - in fact, does anyone know if it's feasible to dig them up and give some away or does that tap root make it close to impossible?

I grow "Platinum Blue", which is a very pretty steel blue.
arbo_retum
13 years ago
easy to dig up if you do it EARLY, when they are wee little things; otherwise it's easy for that root to break when you try to get it out.
mindy
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
13 years ago
Thanks, Mindy! I have a few small seedlings, they will be sent to a good home.
jayco
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Mindy, I will put them in another, larger spot. I love bee-attracting plants, so that's another plus!
HU-435918153
3 years ago
Can I plant them in a container. I have a 36” round container about 2 ft & a tall nRrow container about 40 “ tall Nd 2 ft wide. Or do you recommend another size?

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