A Coneflower Conundrum, A Growing Mystery
How's A Shopping Mall Echinacea Blooming Faster Than MINE?
A simple errand at a strip mall has me questioning plants. I should be questioning what’s for dinner tonight. Instead, I spot a lone echinacea flower in front of Nordstrom Rack and all I can think is, well, that’s interesting (and also amazing, I love spotting native plants when I am out and about). I stopped to investigate.
“Hey! How are you in bloom already?” I ask the plant.
Not because it is at a mall. But because at home, I have that same flower. And it is nowhere near that level of bloom. My echinacea blooms are still in a tight cluster, not even looking to bloom for at least a week or so. I double checked when I got home. Yep. They are still in that phase. A tight whorl. Just a cluster of green.
Why is this? This blooming flower at the mall is barely eight miles away. If that. I have the species of flower at home. But mine is…well, green.
The flower that sits in front of Nordstrom Rack has something my plants lack. Heat from the pavement, and heat off the building. Additionally, it is growing in what is known as the hell strip. A small area of “greenspace” that sits between a street and sidewalk. Usually an area no wider than a beach towel in most cases. This little microclimate puts this plant about two weeks ahead of me in the bloom schedule.
Here’s what else: Your coneflower is doing something the mall flower maybe did inside of a plastic tub. In a greenhouse... Yours? It's building roots first. Going down, before going up.
The flower in my yard is just a star shaped cluster of furry pointed green leaves. It is about knee high though. A sea of green and purple spiderwort plants sit around the flower-to-be. The echinacea is just tuning its instrument right now while the bees dance around the spiderwort with their little orange pollen clusters like pantaloons.
Our yard sits at the bottom of a small hill flanked on one side by woods. So it is naturally colder. Even my trees leaf out later than the neighboring town. It is even possible that rainfall amounts have differed as well. Seven miles doesn’t seem like much, but it is enough to alter bloom time.
So if you're thinking your yard is behind the curve. Don't worry. It is probably ticking away at its own schedule.
Dinner eventually made it to the table that night. And your coneflowers will eventually make it too. And when they do, it’s magic!
