I found these growing in an area I was digging out last year. I couldn't believe how beautiful they were when they bloomed. Now, as I'm about to gravel in the spot, killing everything living there, I'm trying to transplant some of these so I can keep them. I don't know where I'm going to put them yet, but I don't want to lose them.

They're not blooming yet this year, but so far I've successfully potted a couple of them.

That's great. I'm growing blue mistflower too. I got mine last year from a local gardener. So far it seems to be doing well. It's neat that yours is growing wild on your property. I grow two other types of mistflower, Gregg's and white mistflower. The Gregg's is a butterfly and pollinator magnet. It needs less water than the blue mistflower. The white mistflower is a shrub and has very fragrant blooms. I could smell the flowers several feet away. The first photo is the white mistflower.

Here's the Gregg's.

TexasPlumeria87 said:That's great. I'm growing blue mistflower too. I got mine last year from a local gardener. So far it seems to be doing well. It's neat that yours is growing wild on your property. I grow two other types of mistflower, Gregg's and white mistflower. The Gregg's is a butterfly and pollinator magnet. It needs less water than the blue mistflower. The white mistflower is a shrub and has very fragrant blooms. I could smell the flowers several feet away. The first photo is the white mistflower.

Here's the Gregg's.

Those are amazing.

I swear the first time I saw a mist flower it made me think of ghosts. Still to this day I want to call them ghost flowers. LOL

Those blue mist flowers are gorgeous. Do they sell them or do you just find them wild?

😀

Mindi

I like the name ghost flowers 😀

@armyvet2013 Thanks! They truly are amazing and the amount of pollinators both attract is unbelievable. They really do look like ghosts. I started with two little plants and by the end of the year, those two plants became a large clump that covered nearly a third of my flower bed. I even found this guy using one of the blooms for camouflage.


@MindiHammerstone I think I've seen some blue mistflowers for sale on a few online nurseries that specialize in native plants. Sometimes they're even available at native plant sales, but the online nurseries are your best bet. Someone may even have some available to trade on here?

I rescued some and planted them in a raised garden bed. They spread undergrown and by seed. If you decide to keep the plant be prepared for it to multiply fairly rapidly. Since mine were growing in very loose soil, it was easy for me to pull some up, repot them and give some away at our local swap. Some gardeners welcome that and for some, it makes more work. It's a beautiful plant and good for pollinators.

MindiHammerstone said:Those blue mist flowers are gorgeous. Do they sell them or do you just find them wild?

😀

Mindi

I like the name ghost flowers 😀

I found them growing wild next to the house in the clay after I had started a digging project I couldn't complete at the time.

I assume that seeds found their way into the exposed soil and the spring rain, which was intense that year, germinated them.

I'm in California, I think I'd find them online. But if they are invasive maybe it's for the best that i don't have them. Though i do have room in the back yard. Do they have a scent?

😀

Mindi

Since the Conoclinium coelestinum/Mistflower is native to the US it would be considered aggressive rather than invasive. And yes, I find it very aggressive.

If the soil is nice and soft, easy to dig, like potting mix it is easy to remove excess plants but if planted in and among trees/shrubs/perennials, etc. It might be more difficult to remove the extras. Best to have a separate place and some type of edge/border to contain it. Then deadhead before the seeds can disperse. I love this plant but I don't turn my back on it.

Greene your so funny. I don't know if I want anything aggressive. I was thinking of where I bring my dogs out back. They step all over everything so I figured it would be able to take a beating and keep on ticking lol. And be pretty!!

I meant take a lickin and keep on tickin, I knew mine didn't fully rhyme lol.

😀

Mindi

TexasPlumeria87 said: The first photo is the white mistflower.

Compare with snakeroot.
Algeratina...

Similar, but unrelated.

Personally I'm a fan of conoclinum, not aggressive at all in my unwatered sand...

MindiHammerstone said:Greene your so funny.

??? I re-read my post to see where the joke was, but no, there was nothing funny intended. It was all good information for anyone who brings the plant into their yard and garden. Hope someone can benefit from my experience.

greene said:

??? I re-read my post to see where the joke was, but no, there was nothing funny intended. It was all good information for anyone who brings the plant into their yard and garden. Hope someone can benefit from my experience.

where you said you loved it but wouldn't turn your back on it.

@greene

I have a vivid imagination and was imagining someone turning their backs on some aggressive real flowers and those flowers getting them. Me just being silly.

Oh and someone had said that they looked like ghosts.

I would never disrespect anyone on purpose, sorry if it came off that way. Much too old for that!!

Oh and this is my happy place and wouldn't want to ruin it.

😀

Mindi

MindiHammerstone said:I'm in California, I think I'd find them online. But if they are invasive maybe it's for the best that i don't have them. Though i do have room in the back yard. Do they have a scent?

😀

Mindi

They don't have any scent that I've noticed whether flowering or not.