The Echibeckia Summerina ‘Yellow’ was a big surprise this year. The plants from Hayloft survived the winter in pots plunged up to their necks in a raised bed but looked dead until April when a few small green shoots appeared. I dug them up and transferred them to the greenhouse where they took off! By early May they were ready to plant out and with a dressing of bonemeal they romped away.
I think they worked well next to the Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ but they were gradually pushed over by the thuggish Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ behind.
I will be interesting to see if they survive another, and perhaps harder winter.
Davids Garden Diary 
I’ve missed you David! Love these, a good variety of warm colours and they look very compact. One to look out for.
Thank you Gill. Yes, I ran out of steam! I was gardened out for a year or so. I gave up writing for Garden News, stepped down and away from the Cheltenham Horticultural Society and stopped going to Hardy Plant and Plant Heritage meetings. I played a lot of golf and went fly fishing but the lure of the trowel was too much! I entered the In Bloom competition again this year and won for the third year in a row which was nice but had become a bit predictable so I wondered whether that was me done until, one day, I woke up, stared out at the garden I created and decided that it was still my first love. My wife is very intuitive and has helped me get things in perspective so I will now do everything in moderation! The blog post was to see if I could use the WordPress app on my phone and it seemed to work. So, you can expect a bit more from now on!
Glad to hear that you are back on the green side! Sounds like you needed a break and I am sure you are now refreshed and ready for action. Looking forward to hearing more from you x