Erigeron

Botanical/Latin
   Erigeron

Pronunciation
   eh-ridge-er-on

Common Name
   Fleabane

Hardiness zone range
   5

General Comments
Pretty, clump forming plants with colorful daisy or aster-like flowers that are produced for a long period during the summer months, as clusters above lance shaped, slightly hairy leaves.

Light Preference
Full Sun, while tolerant of some light shade.

Culture & Care
Easy plants to grow, all they need is a reasonably fertile soil that is well drained. Sandy or gravelly soils, that are free draining are ideal.

Troubled by precious few pests or diseases, the only care might be to provide a little support, with twigs or small woody branches, inserted around the emerging shoots in spring, the stems then grow up disguising the twigs and providing support, to the heavier flower clusters during summer showers or gusty winds.

Trimming off the old flowers promotes new growth and help to extend the flowering (see Splendor Suggestions for more details).

Older clumps may begin to loose vigor and start dying out in the center, so it is a good idea to lift and divide them, about every third year, this can either be carried out in autumn or early spring, replanting them about 12-15 inches apart.

Uses
They are splendid plants for sunny, well drained beds and borders, where the flowers provide valuable color and interest amongst other perennials, shrubs and grasses during the heat of summer months. They withstand hot and dry conditions well, so in places like sloping banks, raised beds or gravel gardens, they are an excellent choice.

Several cultivars are good in coastal areas, they have inherited the ability to withstand seaside conditions from Erigeron glaucus, a species native to California and the west Coast, that grows on coastal cliffs and sand dunes.

They also make long lasting cut flowers, they should be cut early in the morning, the perfect stage is when the first flowers have begun to open. If cut when tight in bud they may not open.

Humming birds and butterflies seem to be attracted to the flowers, a pleasing and enjoyable sight is to watch them busily visiting the brightly colored flowers.

Background
As many as 200 different species are thought to exist as annuals, biennials and perennials, most have little horticultural merit.

Modern day hybrids are derived from a few of the more ornamental north American species, these are splendid, care free perennials, that are often overlooked as garden plants.

It may be the unsavory common name, fleabane, which refers to the use of the European species as flea deterrents (in ancient times plants were gathered and burned to drive off fleas) or perhaps it’s because they are confused with their familiar roadside weed relatives or maybe it is just, that they are not yet, well known.

The botanical name comes from the fluffy white seed heads that prompted botanical scholars to use the Greek words eri (early) and geron (old man) to describe how the seed heads looked after flowering.

Splendor Suggestions
When the first flush of flowers ends in summer, old flowering stems should be removed to encourage fresh growth and repeated flowering. If the remaining stems and foliage are floppy and look ragged, shear back to ground level, the clump will quickly regenerate and flower again in early fall.

Companion Plants
The fine textured, daisy-like flowers combine well with plants that have bold dramatic features, bronze foliaged Heucheras and Sedum ‘Matrona’ together with spiky foliaged plants like Liatris, Bearded Iris or Kniphofia are examples. >br>
A softer approach would be, to plant them with the silvery foliage and lavender blue flowers of Nepeta ‘Blue Wonder’ or ‘Dropmore’ (Catmints). Similarly, Artemisias and Perovskia, provide nice supporting foliage.

Other good Sun loving partners, include Pennstemons, Heleniums (Helen’s flower), Heliopsis (False Sunflowers) and Rudbeckias (Black Eyed Susan).