General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Slightly alkaline (7.4 – 7.8)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 10b
Plant Height: 12 - 36 inches
Plant Spread: 6 - 12 inches
Leaves: Deciduous
Fruit: Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Blue
Lavender
Purple
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Summer
Late summer or early fall
Fall
Underground structures: Rhizome
Uses: Groundcover
Water gardens
Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Butterflies
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Humidity tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Stratify seeds: Two months cold moist treatment
Depth to plant seed: Seed is small. Sow on soil surface.
Suitable for wintersowing
Can handle transplanting
Other info: This plant self seeds.
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Tip
Division
Pollinators: Beetles
Moths and Butterflies
Flies
Bees

Image
Common names
  • Blue Mistflower
  • Wild Ageratum
  • Hardy Ageratum
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Conoclinium coelestinum
  • Synonym: Eupatorium coelestinum

Photo Gallery

Date: 2018-09-01
Location: My garden
Date: 2023-02-23
Location: my Zone 7b garden in North Georgia Mountains
Date: 2023-10-01
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2012-09-27
Location: my Zone 7b garden in North Georgia Mountains
Date: 2023-10-01
Photo by dave
Location: My Garden
Date: 2020-09-24
Nectar source for migrating queens and monarchs
Location: Tellys Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2010-09-30
Location: my Zone 7b garden in North Georgia Mountains
Date: 2023-10-01
Location: Brownstown Pennsylvania
Date: 2017-06-23
#Pollination
Location: Opp, AL  Z8b
Date: 2023-09-23
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2022-09-03
there's a Silver-spotted Skipper hiding under the leaf on the lef
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2021-09-24
Location: Fielder House Butterfly garden Arlington, Texas.
Date: Fall 2010
Monarch and Queen butterflies love to nectar on these flowers,
Location: Maryland
Date: 2015-08-17
Location: My garden zone 5
Date: 2018-08-13
Location: Dallas, GA
Date: 2016-09-23
Location: Fielder House Butterfly Garden
Date: 2013-11-01
Photo by molanic
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Photo by Katie
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2017-09-28
Horace's Duskywing butterfly nectaring flowers
Location: Nashville, TN
Date: 2009-04-10

Date: c. 1815
illustration from 'Curtis's Botanical Magazine', 1815
Location: KYLE
Date: 2019-03-08
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Location: Barsons Greenhouse, Westland, Michigan
Date: 2019-08-19
Location: Barsons Greenhouse, Westland, Michigan
Date: 2019-08-19

Date: 2002-09-15
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden, Osaka, Japan.
Date: September 4, 2010
Photo by KENPEI
Location: va arboretum
Date: Fall (2020)
Photo by dave
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: October 25 2021
Mist flower #46 ; RAB page 1061, 179-34-24; LHB page 1024.

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2017-09-29
This plant is much loved by bees and skippers
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2017-10-16
Carolina Anole looking for a snack
Location: NC| June, 2022
Date: 2022-06-14
Location: Fielder House Butterfly Garden
Date: 2013-11-01
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2013-10-08
Location: central Illinois (along the Mississippi R)
Date: 2015-09-07
Location: Fairfax, Virginia (Outdoors)
Location: Fielder House Butterfly garden Arlington, Texas.
Date: Fall 2010
This plant likes moisture and light shade.
Location: Barsons Greenhouse, Westland, Michigan
Date: 2019-08-19
Location: Barsons Greenhouse, Westland, Michigan
Date: 2019-08-19

Date: 2002-10-18
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: Tellys Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2010-09-30
Location: Aberdeen, NC Pages Lake park (NW)
Date: August 29, 2023
Mist flower with Skipper nectaring #46 ; RAB page 1061, 179-34-24
Location: Fairfax, VA | July, 2022
Date: 2022-07-23
Location: Maryland
Date: 2015-06-21
Location: Lucketts, Loudoun County, Virginia
Date: 2014-08-13
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date: 2011-08-28

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Northeastern, Texas, meadow
Date: November 2010
close up of flower and leaves

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Opp, AL  Z8b
Date: 2022-09-16
Location: my garden 
Date: 2015-01-14
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2013-10-08
Location: central Illinois (along the Mississippi R)
Date: 2015-09-07
Location: Fairfax, Virginia (Outdoors)
Location: central Illinois (along the Mississippi R)
Date: 2015-09-07
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-02-01
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-02-01
Location: Tellys Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2010-09-30
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-02-01
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-01-30
Spent blooms

Photo courtesy of Select Seeds
Location: Wilmington, Delaware USA
Date: 2020-07-31
Location: Fairfax, Virginia (Outdoors)
Location: Osaka Prefectural Flower Garden, Osaka, Japan.
Date: September 4, 2010
Photo by KENPEI
Photo by sedumzz
Location: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Date: 2013-09-19
plant in bloom in garden
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-03-06
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-06-20
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-09-14
3 month cold stratification.
Location: Sebastian, Florida
Date: 2017-02-06
Location: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Date: 2013-09-19
with other perennials in garden
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Feb 16, 2018 9:43 PM concerning plant:
    I occasionally see this lower perennial in gardens. It is a native plant growing in upland sites as in woodland edges or in low moist sites from Missouri to New Jersey down deep into the South. This plant spreads a lot by rhizomes to become a colony or groundcover and can be aggressive in gardens invading around other plants. It is slow to come up in the spring. Some are sold by most conventional nurseries and some by many native plant nurseries.
  • Posted by Catmint20906 (PNW WA half hour south of Olympia - Zone 8a) on Aug 2, 2014 7:55 PM concerning plant:
    Conoclinium coelestinum is a nectar source for monarchs and other butterflies, and is a plant option for Monarch Way Stations.

    According to NPIN, this plant also has special value to native bees, and supports conservation biological control by attracting beneficial insects to the garden.
  • Posted by jmorth (central Illinois) on Sep 7, 2015 1:46 PM concerning plant:
    A showy wildflower in Illinois, blooming late summer into the fall. Flower heads found at the tops of branching stems are flat-topped clusters of blue, or maybe purple. Each flower head has between 35 and 70 individual disk flowers. Leaves are opposite and toothed at edges. Plant can spread by underground runners. Its favored habitat is moist ground by streams; also found by ditches and low pasture areas. Common in the bottom 2/3 of the state.
    When viewed from a distance, may look like a low-lying foggy mist.
    I've found it in the fall near woods, in woods, and next to creeks along the Mississippi River.
  • Posted by LoriMT (Dawsonville, GA - Zone 8a) on Oct 1, 2023 4:00 PM concerning plant:
    This native plant gives a beautiful burst of color in my zone 7b north Georgia mountain garden in later summer and early autumn, when many perennials are fading. It emerges slowly in the spring and stays tucked in the background while the daylilies, daisies, and lilies are shining stars. Then it grows taller up to about 30" in my garden and bursts into bloom. The blooms look nice for about 3-4 weeks before fading into seed heads. It attracts pollinators of all sorts, particularly butterflies and smaller bees and wasps. It is slow to get established in the first season, but then spreads freely in following seasons (maybe too freely?). It was not at all impacted by our Christmas 2022 flash freeze with temperatures into single-digits and multiple days below freezing.
Plant Events from our members
piksihk On November 1, 2014 Bloomed
Catmint20906 On June 13, 2015 Obtained plant
MrsBinWY On September 22, 2018 Transplanted
On 9-22-2018, planted 7 by 'St. Theresa' grape & 3 by 'Goldflame' honeysuckle in front side yard.
MrsBinWY On June 24, 2018 Potted up
10 pots
MrsBinWY On February 24, 2018 Seeds sown
WS in milk jug; lots of seeds from docmom
MrsBinWY On January 2, 2016 Seeds sown
WS 16 seeds from docmom; seeds germinated well; seedlings were potted up; I failed to water them after I planted them out. Try again.
aspenhill On May 4, 2020 Obtained plant
Black Creek Greenhouse - qty 2
aspenhill On August 27, 2019 Obtained plant
Meadows Farms - qty 5
dnrevel On November 8, 2021 Bloomed
Bloomed and blooming into November. Vigorous plant. May need pinching back for fuller plant and less need for staking.
dnrevel On April 5, 2021 Seeds germinated
Sprouted in WS container.
dnrevel On January 4, 2021 Seeds sown
Winter Sowed to stratify seeds: Two months cold moist treatment
Depth to plant seed: Seed is small. Sow on soil surface.
Suitable for winter sowing
WebTucker On October 25, 2021 Bloomed
MySecretIslandGarden On February 22, 2023 Bloomed
As it is a native perennial wildflower here in Florida, I'm never sure where it will turn up in my garden, but it does every year.
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