Explore Plants

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
    
 

Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer
1 rating

Wednesday - August 03, 2011

From: Powthan , VA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Propagation, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Reproducing Echinacea 'Sunbeam' from Powthan VA
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I would like to reproduce a flowering plant- Sundown echinacea. I have a plant now. Can you give me info on how to do it? thanks so much.

ANSWER:

From Fine Gardening Echinaceae 'Sunbeam'-this gives the most complete information that we found on the culture of the plant, and the fact that it is a hybrid between North American natives Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower) and Echinacea paradoxa (Yellow coneflower). It also has the information that propagation is by division, every 3 or 4 years.

More information and pictures from Paghat's Garden Orange Coneflower 'Sunbeam'.

From our webpage on Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower):

"Propagation

Propagation Material: Seeds
Description: Seeds may be sown outside in late fall or stored, stratified and sown in the spring. Plants can be multiplied by making root divisions in early spring however division seems to stimulate the development of too many stems and too few flowers.
Seed Collection: Collect mature seedheads in the fall and break them open to extract seeds.
Seed Treatment: Cold-moist stratification for two months improves germination."

The problem there is that this plant is a hybrid, and the seeds of a hybrid will either revert to one or the other of the parents, or be sterile, and not germinate at all. If you do get seeds, birds will help you with them; finches love the seeds.

From West Coast Seeds:

"A hybrid is created by crossing two unique parents. Crossing involves taking the pollen from the male and transferring it to the female. The first generation of offspring from this cross all look and act the same. They also show what's known as hybrid vigour: these plants come out stronger than their parents. But you can't plant their seed in order to raise these plants the following year. The seed collected from a hybrid plant will either resemble one of the parents, or be sterile."

So, in order to reproduce your one plant, you will first need to wait until it is 3 or 4 years old, assuming it is vigorous and has spread into a clump, and divide the clump into several individual plants. From Auburn University Horticulture, here are instructions on Division, which includes instructions and illustrations.

We don't know if you are in a hurry to get more plants; if you are, purchasing some more bedding plants to grow more clumps is about the only "fast" way to do it. As they, along with the plant you already have, get old enough to be divided, then you can divide again for more plants. By then, you may be tired of the whole thing, but you did ask. Division is ordinarily best done in late Fall or early Spring.

 

From the Image Gallery


Eastern purple coneflower
Echinacea purpurea

Yellow coneflower
Echinacea paradoxa

More Propagation Questions

No female, hence, no squash.
September 07, 2008 - This is not a wild flower but. My grandchildren left a squash outside in a corner of a flower bed. This spring it grew. There are only male flowers, many of them, but no female, hence, no squash. Why...
view the full question and answer

Transplanting adventitious shoots of a mountain laurel in San Antonio
August 20, 2009 - Is it possible to transplant branches (shoots) growing from a mountain laurel that was chopped down? Some are two years old and several feet tall (but not yet blooming) and some as small as a foot. ...
view the full question and answer

Lilies not blooming from Austin
May 03, 2013 - Last December 8, you published a letter in the Statesman that I had written to you regarding Rain Lilies, Oxblood Lilies, and Copper Lilies. The were sprouting in my garage in a bag. You recommended...
view the full question and answer

Chisos Rosewood Propagation
November 22, 2007 - Can you tell me how to propagate seed for the Chisos Rosewood Tree?
view the full question and answer

Planting instructions for Ilex verticillata in Wisconsin
September 02, 2008 - We have a winterberry tree and we would like to grow another one in a different area. Can we transplant part of that or do we need to start from scratch? How would we know what the male plant looks li...
view the full question and answer

Smarty Plants's Facebook profile Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.

Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends.