Been a TERRIBLE YEAR for my coneflowers -- at least half of them never even came up -- I think the wild violets smothered them out... The ones that did, have had lots of mold on them, and the soaker hose just ain't gettin' it and I just haven't been able to stand the heat well enough to slow-water more than a couple times with the hose. I had SUCH a patch of them and the perennial false sunflowers the last couple of years. The sunflowers are doing so-so, but the coneflowers look like I might have to start over from scratch. Since I don't remove ANY seed heads until late winter, I can't believe I didn't at least get some new seedlings. Here's what I USED to have... I haven't photographed what this year looks like, but I might soon, for comparison. It's pitiful; I tell ya! Long shot of my fence from just under my carport Back section of the fence, with just coneflowers From the middle of the fence, back towards the carport The above was all shot in early-to-mid July of last year. This July and August... Zip. Just so you don't feel too bad, Jean... Maybe echinacea's just having a bad year for most of us :( Jeff

Sow bug, pill bug, I'm not sure there's a difference...we called them potato bugs when we were kids but I couldn't tell you why....I don't remember :) While usually more of a green house pest than garden pest (injurious to seedlings as well as decaying plant material), you seem to have some hungry enough they are feeding on your stressed (need water) plants (- that points to large numbers of them to me). I think it would help if you could clean up leaf and needle debris under the plants behind your coneflowers, I suspect you may have large numbers of the pill bugs there where they are cool and protected during the day. I had a heck of a time with them one year only - I was letting a little rapidly spreading 1" sedum fill in around perennials thinking it made nice groundcover, when what it was making was pill bug habitat. Removing the sedum solved the problem. There is also a flake/granular type bait available, should have a picture of the insects it targets on the container and may be called something like cutworm-pillbug-earwig bait. I'm sure not pet friendly though, and my guess is eliminating their hiding places should take care of them. You could compost the leaf litter/needle debris and return it to your garden later, let it decompose someplace else for now.

Thank you for the info., Runmede. I've brought a few cats indoors and they are eating great. Their behavior is interesting. Each time I go back to the plant for more leaves, the second I touch a leaf every cat on the plant turns loose and falls to the ground. I've never experienced this with swallowtail or monarch cats. Sure, they will drop off if disturbed enough, but I wonder why they don't drop off at the slightest disturbance. Seems like more of them would survive. Dana

I keep close watch over the spent blooms on my one coneflower plant until the seeds begin to fall. I'm never sure when they're ripe, but, at that point, I know they're ready! :) You mentioned somebody said hers self-seeded, but coneflowers, at least mine, are perennials, actually, they keep some green leaves at the base all through winter, though most turn brown. Whenever I've tried to grow the fancy, huge hybrids, they fail, don't bloom much, then die. Mine come from the seeds of some that were found alongside a road in north Louisiana. They may be a native variety or a named variety that escaped. Good luck with PowWow! Sherry