Wildflower Wednesday: Hardy Blue Mist Flower

Timing is everything in a wildflower garden.

Right as I'm wondering if the garden has too much of a yellow scene going on Conoclinium coelestinum or Blue Mist flower begins its long bloom time. The soft-blue, fuzzy flowers are a perfect color counterpoint to the Susan's golden presence. 

I removed too much of it when I expanded the agastache and coreopsis presence in the garden~I'll fix it!

Many gardeners under appreciate the charms of Hardy Ageratum. They consider it too weedy and aggressive for their gardens, until it blooms and then they, like me, begin wondering why the heck they haven't more of it!

I love the small, soft-blue, fuzzy flowers that begin blooming in late August

Conoclinium coelestinum is a tall, graceful, eastern North American native wildflower that begins blooming in late August (Middle South) and continues through early fall. The lilac-blue flowers add a softness to late  summer and fall gardens when rough and tumble flowers like the Susans, Goldenrods, Cup Plant, Verbesinas, Joe-Pye weeds and Ironweeds are making a large and loud scene. It's especially beautiful when allowed to naturalize and make its own big statement.

There's the rub, you have to be willing to let this plant do its thing to get the big effect of it's lovely misty presence. That means living with the rough, but not unattractive leaves until the summer wains and the blooming begins.

 flat topped flower clusters top the attractive red stems make great cut flowers

The tall red stems are place holders while you're waiting and trust me the wait is worth it.

Doesn't it look smashing with the gold flowers of Gaillardia? You can use it anywhere. I like it with the Rudbeckias, Coreopsis, the ex-asters and I'm thinking that it would be nice with grasses or edging the woodland garden. The possibilities are endless...except extremely dry soil.

A nectar rich plant

Butterflies and bees are drawn to the nectar-rich flowers, while birds eat the seeds. If you want more, and once you see it massed you will, it's easily propagated from seeds, cuttings, rootball divisions or layering. It thrives best in a well-drained acidic to neutral soils in a sunny environment. If you want easy care this is a great wildflower, but, it does naturalize easily spreading by rhizome and seed (and is pulled out just as easily).

compact corymbs or clusters  with up to 70 flowers per cluster

Whether it's a bluish purple flower or a purplish blue flower~It a lovely plant for a natural garden and by late summer forms a open mound about 2 feet tall (a little taller in shade). But, don't rule it out for your more formal gardens, cut it back by half in early summer and you'll have a nice clump by early fall. Those tall red stems keep it from sprawling and looking messy. 

Someone wrote that its the perfect color for the low light of the autumn sun. I think so, too.

I've used words like naturalizing, rhizome spread, messy, and rough and tumble, but, please, don't be afraid of this plant...It's a beauty and you won't regret adding it to your wildflower garden.

xoxogail

Here's the particulars!

Moist soil; sun to partial shade; found in moist woods, thickets, and along stream banks from New Jersey, west to Wisconsin and Kansas, and south to Texas and Florida.

Attracts Wildlife

•	Beneficial insects
•	Butterflies~A great nectar source but, not a host plant.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky. 
 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.