Mexican Heather for Annual/Perennial Gardens
These flowers, while small in size, are profuse and flush out often, offering local pollinators nectar throughout most of the year. Birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths all seek out the vibrant blooms. This is one of the reasons I include it somewhere in my vegetable gardens as well annual or perennial gardens. In veggie gardens, the more pollinators you can seduce to visit the blossoms of your squash, tomatoes, eggplant, etc…, the more fruit you are apt to harvest. By luring the pollinators in with Mexican Heather, they are most likely to stick around and see what else you got!
We have found that Mexican Heather does best when it is planted in an area that receives partial sun, morning and early afternoon sun with a little bit of shade during the hottest part of the day during our summers. When planted in full sun, we’ve found that its foliage turns a much lighter green. Plant in soil that has been amended with compost and make sure that it drains well, this annual wont tolerate wet feet. Incorporating some slow-release fertilizer at planting helps it to continue to put out tons of flowers, as well as offering it the occasional water soluble fertilizer every few waterings.
Mexican Heather will not tolerate freezing temperatures, but will reemerge after mild winters. A layer of mulch around its crown helps to protect its roots from winter damage. Containers can be brought inside for winter protection. We do, however, think that new spring plantings still look and perform best each year.
Take a minute to check out Mexican Heather next time you are visiting one of our nurseries. If you don’t know where to find it, I’m betting you can follow the fluttering wings of a butterfly or the buzzing sound of a bee and they’ll lead you right there!
~The Happy Gardener, Lisa Mulroy
does the Mexican Heather annual need to be deadheaded or is it self-cleaning?
No deadheading is necessary. However, if plants look a little unkempt as the season grows, you can shear them back by about 1/3 to encourage a new flush of growth and flowers.
There is never a need to head this beautiful plant. I ran across it 2 years ago. Never knew what it was until this past spring wanting to use it again. The girl at the garden center knew what it was.
Now today 10/12/23 [ learned it might come back. I live in East TN.
I planted about 60 of these as a border across the front of my house, flower bed. I’m hoping it’ll come back. This is not even mid March yet but I’m hoping it’ll come back.
I hope they come back for you. We had a pretty mild winter, so fingers crossed!
Can you use Mexican Heather in a hanging planter as an annual?
You could, although it won’t really trail down the sides if that is what you are looking for. It’s shape is more upright and the plant itself doesn’t get all that big. We use it often in front borders in mixed perennials and annual gardens. A small hanging basket that is hung a little lower so you can actually see the flowers could possibly work, but just remember that smaller pots tend to dry out faster so you will need to keep an eye on watering.
I have Mexican Heather planted along my fence in northeast Florida. Will it survive the winter if we have a few light frosts?
Hi John,
Most likely, yes. Mexican Heather is root hardy in zones 9-11. It may go dormant after the frost hits, but it will likely return with warmer weather in the spring.