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Are echinacea plants supposed to die after flowering?

8 years ago

Mine are starting to die. We are also having a drought now, so do they need water possibly?

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fatamorgana2121

8 years ago

Echinacea can get rather ratty looking at the end of the season especially if conditions are harsh. Mine are pretty bad looking right now. We haven't had any significant rainfall in over a month as well. For my location combined with temperatures 80+F, that is quite harsh even though that may be a mild spring for others. ;) Give them some water and they will come back right-as-rain next spring.

FataMorgana

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Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
8 years ago
No, they do not die after flowering. Yes, they would need deep watering during a drought.
mersiepoo
Original Author
8 years ago
Ok, thank you! I thought they were supposed to be tough, I guess I was wrong, ha ha! Thank you rhizo_1!
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
8 years ago
They ARE tough! But your use of the word drought indicates a very long period of time without water....months rather than weeks.

How long has it been since you've had a soaking rainfall in your area? And how long have these Echinacea been in the ground?
mersiepoo
Original Author
8 years ago
Well Rhizo_1, this is the second year for them, some are in better soil and some that are not happy are in marginal soil (NOT the rocky clay though, it had some compost added to it), no groundcover or mulch for them that are doing badly. We haven't had a decent rain for about a month, temperatures have been below average.
mersiepoo
Original Author
8 years ago
Mine seem to be recovering (I've started watering them), the poor things! Yeah we had a super cold and wet summer in May and June, and even in July it was very cold, but by August we didnt' get any rain at all so far.

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