The $15 echinacea weed, revisited

In an earlier post, I highlighted my disappointment with the performance of my new echinacea. I admired the hardy echniceas I saw while at a backyard wedding reception, and the host said the first year's growth was disappointing. That gave me hope.

And so, I've been watching that spot in the yard, waiting for the echinacea weed to break through the ground for the first time this year. And today I saw it. "Yay, the echnicea weed is back!" I announced.

It's off to a good start.

Well, it was. After taking the photo, I decided to transplant it to a better spot in the yard. (Duh, I'd planted it almost _under_ the lily, and the lily is a snail breeder, and last year's growth was tackled by snails, slugs and pill bugs.) With a post-hole digger, I made a hole; then I used it to grab the soil containing this growth and yanked it out and moved it. That means I just shocked it by breaking its roots. But it'll do fine. (Hey, it's already looking better than what I first received in the mail last year, its root system is more mature, its roots are in native soil, AND I'm hitting it with the pill bug treat that'll knock those buggers out in the early growth stage, way sooner than last year's growth.