These are 3 perennials that I want to increase in my garden.
I purchased a nice pot of Cheyenne Spirit. Is it very hardy? I lost one clump over winter

Columbine, I have never tried before. Is it best to start from seed or just buy a pot. Do they return well?

Clematis, I am trying to root some of mine. If I am successful does anyone here trade them?

Thanks and Happy Gardening!

Good morning Teresa

I have had good luck with Cheyenne Spirit. I'm on year three now. Pow Wow Wild Berry has been a very hardy Echinacea for me.

I no longer buy Columbine. For me they are very finicky about returning. However, they do reseed for me and I always have babies around. Some years I seem to have all babies and no blooms. Then the next year a lot of blooming Columbine. I have grown them from purchased seed. I used the winter sowing method. I did NOT have blooms the first year.

I watched a few videos on rooting cuttings of clematis. It looked so easy! So I tried it. I got one to live out of about 24 I guess that is better than zero! I hope you have better luck than I did. I must have been doing something wrong.

Thanks Jennifer. Which method did you try with the clematis? I know layering should work I am just to impatient and don't think about it in the Fall. How many types are you growing?

My MIL always had columbine at her back door that returned every year or well maybe reseeded.

I have White Swan cones and they returned. I just want to add some others and I have heard that some are more hardy that others.

Teresa in KY

Hi, Teresa. These are all very hardy, cold Zone plants. They are all thriving in my cold Alberta climate. The newer cone flower types that are sold as large plants in the stores are more tricky. They kept dying on me. Then I saw a seed packet and decided to try that. Threw them on the ground and so far have had three nice clumps come back each Spring since (maybe 3 years). After doing research, I understand that the original plants are the hardy ones, two of which Jennifer has named here for you. Google it and you might get a few more names of the hardy ones. Then go buy some seeds. Not sure how they do in the hotter climates though.

I have not tried the layering method for Clematis. Last year I lost three Clematis to some kind of fungal wilt. I removed all the dead material. I am happy to report that two of the three came back this year. Here is my list of Clematis

Clematis Abeline, new not planted yet
Clematis Anna Louise
Clematis Asao
Clematis Carnaby
Clematis Corinne
Clematis Dutchess of Albany
Clematis Erik Ruth
Clematis Gillian Blades, got wilt but returned
Clematis Niobe
Clematis Pink Champagne, first one died before I got it planted
Clematis Pink Champagne 'Kakaio'
Clematis Pink Mink, new not planted yet
Clematis Prince Philip
Clematis Rebecca
Clematis Red Star, new not planted yet
Clematis Sapphire Indigo, new not planted yet
Clematis Silver Moon
Clematis The President
Clematis Trikatrei
Clematis Empress, died from wilt
Clematis Jackmanii, from cutting

Dear goodness, Jennifer! It looks like you like them like I like my daylilies! LOL

I bet your garden is awesome!

I like clematis because they are vertical, not much footprint. I can always fit one more!

Teresa, I always have some columbine growing some reseed from the reliable columbine Canadensis and are scattered around every year. I originally got these plants from my MIL years ago, they also grow wild around here in some areas. Sometimes I pick up some plants which usually reseed, often when the plants have dried seed heads I will take them and shake them around the garden in hopes of getting more seedlings. Learn to recognize the rather delicate seedlings so you don't accidently pull them up when weeding.

I agree with Jennifer that Pow Wow Wild Berry coneflower is very hardy. I grew some Cheyenne Spirit under lights last year and planted them out late in the season, there are some growing that still seem small so time will tell how they do, at least they made it thru the winter.

I do grow some clematis although have never tried to layer them.

Columbines are one of my all time favorites





These are blooming today

They are easy to start from seed and are always springing up in the rock landscape and my pots

The seeds need light to germinate so sprinkling seeds on the top of a pot works well I like to add a few rocks
Not sure why but they maybe like the warmth? or just don't get buried?

Be glad to collect some fresh seed from this years crop and send your way , just tree-mail me

Those pics are lovely! Do you have a pebble path ?

I notice that with Echinacea a lot of the newer varieties need very good drainage and stand a much better chance of success if you do not let them flower their first year.

Ooh, that's a good tip, Bob. I might just try again now, with some of the prettier new coneflowers. Thanks!

That would be so hard to snip the blooms but if it helps I can do that

no pebble path it is the rocks between the sidewalk and the house . for some reason the columbine really like to germinate there.

Connie for you I also would not plant coneflowers later in the season they take awhile to get a good root system, for me any one I plant after July stands much less chance at overwintering. I also notice that ones from different breeders do better in certain parts of the country. For me Terra Nova and A.B. Cultivar do well with Sombrero and the Double Scoop series just about never overwintering. But some others that are South of me it is the other way around

It's easy to collect the columbine seeds, but since my yard has mulch, they don't seem to reseed very well on their own for me. So I have just been limping along with the few columbine plants that were already in my yard when I bought the house. However, I'm glad to say that out of a few columbine I bought last year to add the collection, most of them returned, so now they are blooming and growing bigger.

I know columbine is a plant that is often suggested for shady areas, so I'm surprised to hear that the seeds need light (or sun light) to germinate. Maybe that explains why the ones I did plant manually, did not actually grow.