0:00:02 > 0:00:04Welcome to The A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Now, there's nothing like a garden full of flowers,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26but sometimes plants give us an amazing first season
0:00:26 > 0:00:28and then nothing.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30So here's a flower that's not only very resistant
0:00:30 > 0:00:32to all weather conditions,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35but also returns year after year.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38E is for echinacea,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and to get us started, here's Toby Buckland.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Our coneflower, or echinacea, experiment
0:00:44 > 0:00:47has come into full bloom and it's just stunning.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52We started this off last year to compare 25 different varieties,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56some old, some new, basically in response to the fashion
0:00:56 > 0:00:59for growing late-season perennial borders.
0:00:59 > 0:01:05In recent years, breeders have been working hard to produce new types of echinacea,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09but, the thing is, the more highly bred a plant, the larger the flowers,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11the more unusual or different it is from the species,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15the less robust it is, the less likely it is to come through the winter.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20Many gardeners have been disappointed with the newest or latest varieties
0:01:20 > 0:01:23as they haven't done well in their gardens.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27You've got to give them a five star planting treatment, and that's what we did.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29We dug out the border, added lots of grit
0:01:29 > 0:01:34and the border slopes from the back to the front, just to increase that drainage.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37You can see how well most of these plants did,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41despite the challenging conditions.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46The planting wasn't enough for us, we experimented as well.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48We cut down a certain number of the plants,
0:01:48 > 0:01:54or at least removed the flowers, and the top third of foliage at planting time.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57On some varieties, it made a tremendous difference.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01The Green Envy, that's a prime example.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The plant that was chopped down is almost twice the size
0:02:04 > 0:02:07of the one that was simply planted.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10With echinacea Summer Sky, cutting down and made all the difference.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15The plants that were left have completed kicked the bucket,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17whereas the one at the back that got the chop,
0:02:17 > 0:02:22look at it, full of flower and looking beautiful, and what flowers they are.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24They've got these slightly recurved petals.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29That means they point backwards down towards the stem. Lovely.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32You've got to see this one to believe it. Tiki Torch.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Again, a good flower, but an amazing orange colour.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Lovely cones with orange in them so the whole plant matches together.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46What I like about it is that it has particularly long flower stems.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50If you like your cut flowers, this one would be perfect.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57White Swan, on the other hand, didn't mind if it was planted or cut down.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59It made no difference.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Full of flower, very robust,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04no matter what the weather threw at it.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Conversely, Art's Pride,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11the echinacea that so many gardeners have struggled with.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15What we've found is that by cutting it back, sacrificing the blooms
0:03:15 > 0:03:18in its first year, its first late summer,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21it makes all the difference to how well the plant establishes.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Look how bonny these two are, chopped down at planting time,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28whereas this row is spindly at best and dead at worst.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32But like all echinaceas, to keep them going towards the end of the summer,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the old trick - dead-heading.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40Snip back the blooms down to three buds from where the flower starts,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43because, from there, you get nice strong regrowth
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and healthy buds that won't flop or fall to the ground so readily.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53So, on balance, our experiment has shown that it's definitely worth
0:03:53 > 0:03:56cutting back echinacea at planting,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58even if this means sacrificing the flowers.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02This helps redirect the plant's energy underground,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05increasing the chances of survival.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd