​​​​​​​​​Blue Mink Flower

​Asteraceae

• Common Name: Blue Mink Flower (other common names: Blue or Purple Mistflower, Wild Ageratum, Blue Boneset, Flossflower, Mexican Ageratum).
  
• Scientific Name: Conoclinium Codestinum or Ageratum houstonianum
  
• Family Name: Asteraceae
  
• Origin: North America-Mexico, South America
  
• Height: 6” – 12” – up to 3’
  
• Width: 6” – 9”
  
• Growth: Fast growing.
  
• Zone: 5 - 10
  
• Light Needs: Full sun.
  
• Salt Tolerance:  Low to none.
  
• Soil/PH/Texture: Can tolerate most soils from acidic to alkaline if its well-drained.
  
• Soil Moisture: Average water needs, water regularly but do not overwater, prefers moist but well-drained soils.
  
• Drought Tolerance: Low
  
• Pests/Diseases: No serious insects or diseases problems, some can get powdery mildew, leaf miners or aphids.
  
• Growing Conditions: Easy to grow and spreads quickly by rhizomes and self-seeding. It is usually found growing in wet woods, at bluff bases, and in moist ground along ponds, streams, ditches and sloughs.
  
• Characteristics: It usually grows to 1’-2’ tall on purplish stems that have coarsely-toothed, ovate-deltoid leaves that are about 3” long. The flowers have numerous small, fluffy, tubular, blue-purple flowers with discoid heads. They will bloom from July to October in thick flat-topped terminal clusters.
  
• Propagation: By seed or clump division in early spring.
  
• Wildlife: Attracts butterflies, moths, and bees.
  
• Facts: The specific epithet means sky-blue or heavenly.
  
• Designer Considerations: Used for edging, adds color to flower beds or summer container displays.

Location

Back to the Butterfly Garden

Blue Mink Flower