By Grace Broyles
Big Country Master Gardener
Gregg’s Blue Mistflower may slowly be fading into its cold weather state above the soil, but it’s one of the autumn favorites for pollinators until its feathery purply blooms are done. It has been named a Texas Superstar plant for its easy care, long bloom period, and because it attracts pollinators, especially Queen and migrating Monarch butterflies, as well as various Skippers. It is also a host for the larva of Rawson’s Metalmark.
Gregg’s Blue Mistflower, botanically named Conoclinium greggii, after Josiah Gregg (a merchant and explorer, naturalist and writer from Tennessee) is also called Texas ageratum, or Palmleaf Mistflower. It is a Texas native plant, and is in the Sunflower family. This Mistflower can be found naturally in stream beds and overflow areas of far West Texas (and into Mexico), but it is quite drought-tolerant, having been found on plains and on mesas. It can be found growing in various soils — rocky to sandy, as well as in limestone. It grows best in sun and part shade, and flowers best in the sun. It produces flowers from April through August, and again from October into November, in clusters of small flowers, from purpley-blue to light pink. After the flowers fade and produce seeds, birds will begin to enjoy the tiny seeds. Out in the country, small mammals, and deer enjoy browsing any new growth throughout its growing season as they move about the landscape.
Here in West Central Texas, Gregg’s Mistflower does well. It gets about 2 feet tall in good conditions, but will act more as a ground cover than an erect plant in cultivated areas, and in shadier spots. In dry and sandy soils, it tends to be more erect. This plant works best in a pollinator garden, or a garden area that is full of other plants to hold it upright. Its bright 3-lobed and pinnately-dissected green leaves provide a unique color and interest to a garden. It may be mass-planted on slopes and can also be grown in pots with fall-flowering plants and will look best with flowers of contrasting color.
After the plants die back from a freeze, they may be trimmed to the ground, or to a more manageable size. In the spring, the Mistflower will begin to produce new growth as the soil warms. Mistflower will produce a more bushy plant when trimmed a few times as spring moves into summer.
Gregg’s Mistflower can easily be propagated from its roots that spread readily in flowerbeds, by cuttings, or by seeds. Clumps of roots can be dug up in the spring and placed in a desired location at the soil depth in which they were found. As soon as the spring temperatures warm up, the roots will begin to produce green stems.
Propagating Gregg’s Mistflower from cuttings is considered the most successful method to get new plants. Cuttings should be taken from the semi-hard wood of the plant, dipped in a root hormone (if desired), and placed a few inches deep in a pencil-sized hole in a small pot of well-draining soil. The soil should be pressed gently around the cutting. Only a couple of leaves should be left on the cutting. The cutting should be misted well, and then a clear plastic tent-like cover should be placed over the cutting to ensure a moderate temperature. The cutting must then be periodically misted so it doesn’t dry out. After a couple of weeks, it will produce roots, and will begin producing stems. The cuttings will need to mature for several weeks before being planted in a permanent location.
Gregg’s Mistflower seeds should be harvested when they have dried out and have turned brown on the plant. They should then be air dried for a few days before being placed in a paper bag or in a paper envelope until spring, or until late winter if started indoors. If started in the spring, seeds should be pressed gently into damp soil and covered with a thin layer of fine soil or sand. They will begin to germinate when temperatures get close to 70 degrees F.
Gregg’s Mistflower has been cultivated and sold as a showy flowering plant in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, including here in Abilene, by the Big Country Master Gardeners at their plant sales.
It is definitely an attractive addition to a gardener’s landscape.
BCMGA offers several education programs each month. There is a program at 6:00 p.m. on the 1st Tuesday of the month at the South Library Branch in the Mall of Abilene, and the same program is offered again at 10:00 a.m. on the 2nd Friday of the month at the Downtown Library. Watch the BCMGA website and Facebook page for the topics and the dates of these monthly programs.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit our website at bcmgtx.org for information on all Big Country Master Gardener events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on BCMGA YouTube. We are here to help you.
Until next week, Happy Gardening
