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CRITTERS IN THE GARDEN! Reality, Botany and Mythology (Echinacea)

CRITTERS IN THE GARDEN! Reality, Botany and Mythology (Echinacea)

Posted by John Friel on Apr 6th 2021

Echinacea purpurea and hybridsOf all the native plants that have gone from America’s prairies to the world’s gardens, few have a history to rival that of the purple coneflower.For many years gardeners had two choices: Pinky-purple, and Not-quite-white. Then came 2002, when breeder Jim Ault of Chicago introduced the first orange and yellow hybrids. That was the genus’s Big Bang, and like the universe, it’s still expanding.Now, you can have your “purple” coneflowers in myriad hues, solids and bi c
Flora Meets Fauna Part 1 Echinacea (Coneflower)

Flora Meets Fauna Part 1 Echinacea (Coneflower)

Posted by John Friel on Nov 4th 2020

Welcome to the backyard zoo! Don’t look now, but critters have taken root in your garden. Relax, they’re friendly – and they’re animals in name only. Let’s meet one.Echinacea: This popular native genus is so named because its spiky central seed cone reminded a botanist of the echidna, a.k.a. the spiny anteater. A quirky animal from Down Under, the echidna has spikes like a porcupine and lays eggs like a bird.That critter’s namesake perennial, a.k.a. coneflower, has burst out in in a stagger

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