Will the dried seed heads from coneflower really contain anymore seed this late in the winter?

and is it worth it this late to pick them and crunch them up over areas I would like new ones to grow, or have they already dropped all their seeds during last years frost?





I dont understand why I have heard that it is good to do this when they naturally drop their seeds in fall , dont they?



How come it would be a good idea to still do this, and how quickly will these new seeds produce a new plant and will it flower first season or not?



Thanks for your answers!

Will the dried seed heads from coneflower really contain anymore seed this late in the winter?
Probably not, the finches have done a good job of cleaning them out in my garden, and the wind and rain have pretty much taken care of the rest.



You can crunch them up and scatter them, if there are any seeds left they might come up. Coneflowers are a biennial, that is it takes two years to get big enough to produce flowers. After that they are perennial. They usually come up and are growing in the fall, grow all winter and may bloom the next summer. There are still green leaves at the base of the plants in my zone 6b garden, they are never killed back completely by the winter.



The only reason to crunch them up and scatter the seeds would be to control where they are growing. Otherwise they will come up naturally just anywhere the seeds fall.
Reply:Only if the birds and rodents haven't eaten them.
Reply:If the heads are still spiky, there may be some seeds left - the birds tend to eat them, but if there are spikes, there might be seed. I tend to cut the heads, rub them face-down on the ground around the plant and tug on whatever is left to get as much seed as possible from it. Then you need to avoid mulching that area this spring, if you want results, but I normally still do not get seedlings from them and I have heard some of the newer varieties are sterile.
Reply:coneflowers are scatter seeders, they rely on birds, critters and us to break the seed heads up and drop the seeds.

any time the heads are broken or disturbed the seeds are distributed. they don't naturally drop the seed.

By now if you have a healthy bird population there may not be any seeds left on the plant but you never know.

I crunch the seed heads as i clean up the garden just in case.

seeds sowed now may produce flowers in the first year but not always.

Cone flowers don't really like mulch at their crown.

My experience has been they start to break dormancy about 2 weeks after i am convinced they have all died during the winter. Once the ground has thawed and soil temperatures are above 43.

Many of the hybrid types on the market right now are not likely to produce many/ if any seed.

To increase your success with growing this wonderful perennial from seed grow the babies in pots.

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