Learn how to grow ageratum. With its whimsical pompom-shaped flowers, this heat-loving annual is perfect for containers, baskets, and edging flower beds.
Ageratum – How to Grow and Care for Floss Flower - Garden Design
Ageratum is a classic garden annual and one of the best annuals for cutting. Sometimes called a floss flower, it has playful, small blooms that resemble tiny pom-poms covered with floss-like filaments. It also offers a rare color in the flower world: blue, perfect for patriotic plantings.
Adorned with clusters of small, fluffy pompom-like flowers, ageratum (Ageratum spp.) is a popular, easy-to-grow annual that provides beautiful blooms all summer long.
Ageratum houstonianum, a native of Mexico, is among the most commonly planted ageratum varieties. Ageratums offer soft, round, fluffy flowers in various shades of blue, pink or white—with blue being most common. Ageratum plants grow from seed or from small seedlings sometimes found in garden centers.
Ageratum goes by several names, including floss flower, blue mist flower, and bluemink. It’s an annual plant that’s native to Central America but widely grown throughout the world as an ornamental.
Ageratum is a heat-loving, summer-blooming flower. It’s best to plant them outdoors after the threat of frost has passed.
Ageratums are grown for their flowers, especially A. houstonianum. Most common ageratums, "Hawaii" for example, are a short 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) when full grown. Tall ageratum are also available in seed catalogues. They are about 18 inches (46 cm) in height with blue flowers. [5] .
There are approximately 43 species in the genus Ageratum. Ageratum is derived from the Greek “ a geras,” meaning non-aging, referring to the longevity of the flowers. These annual or perennial herbs and shrubs in the plant family Compositae (Asteraceae) are all native to Central and South America.