Flowering all Summer and Autumn long, the Erigeron karvinskianus is quite an astonishing plant in spite of its simplicity. Do you find yourself getting to a stage where you want to cut back on the annual plants that need replacing every year? Why not consider Erigeron Karvinskianus for bedding.

Performance of Erigeron karvinskianus in our Fife garden

In years gone by, we used a massive amount of annual Summer bedding plants. We have now decided Erigeron Karvinskianus for bedding is absolutely ideal. However, if it’s in your face vivid colour you want, then annuals are for you. Take a look at our Aberdeen garden from a few years back.

Used in our garden as an edging plant, the Erigeron karvinskianus started to bloom in mid-June, and continued flowering until the last week of November.

The previous year, the Erigeron karvinskianus finished blooming in late September. Why should this be, I will tell you in the plant details further down the page.

About Erigeron karvinskianus

Native to Mexico and Central America and also known as Mexican Fleabane, this is a hardy perennial plant with tiny leaves and white daisy flowers which age and change colour to shades of pink. We have this Erigeron at the front of the border, but it looks terrific in between ageing paving stones or tumbling down old cracked walls. Don’t worry about the plant having little soil, it will thrive regardless.

It is a must for any garden.

Height

30 cm/12 in — width 40 cm/16 in

Propagation

Grows well from seed sown directly outdoors in early Autumn or Spring. My preferred method is dividing the plant. This can also be done in Autumn or Spring. Although the plant may look large enough to do this after its first year, don’t try it, the root system just isn’t large enough. Wait until its third season. Your divided plants will look a bit fragile for a while, but they will soon perk up.

Purchase plug plants, they come on pretty quickly.

Hardiness

Fully hardy in most areas of the UK and will survive temps as low as -15c. Particularly good in coastal areas.

Position

Will thrive in full sun or part shade. If I haven’t already mentioned it, Erigeron karvinskianus does very well in pots.

Flowers

White daisy flowers bloom in profusion from June until November. As the flowers age, they turn pink/purple. The tiny leaves are dense and in milder areas semi evergreen.

Perhaps you may consider Erigeron Karvinskianus for bedding.

Common name

Mexican Fleabane — Santa Barbara Daisy

Soil

Performs well in poor or fertile soil

Pruning

To prolong the flowering period snip back the older pink flowers, it’s a tricky task so don’t worry if you cut out a good amount of the white flowers also. I cut back my Erigeron in late July and the plants were still blooming in late November.

Although your plants may still have some flowers at the end of November, they can look very untidy. It’s time to give them a haircut. Reduce the diameter by about one third and trim the top.

In April carry out the same process only a bit more severely, your plants will soon be looking great again.

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Video clip of Erigeron Karvinskianus

I don’t know why I have done a movie clip, (my spell checker just told me that Movie sounds too American and would you like to use the word Film instead) it just seemed like fun. OK, it was shaky, but I have this app that really helps out and so simple to use, Easy shaky video fixer

I even did a voice-over ha, ha, listen to me, director Alistair. Honestly, it’s bad and any mistakes I make just have to stay put. There are fancy editing tools out there, but too techy for me to come to grips with. Mind you, I would think again if it were to change my droll voice and maybe make me sound like, perhaps, Richard Burton.