Have you heard of Gregg’s Blue Mistflower, one of our favorite hot-weather pollinator plants? If you haven’t, today is your lucky day because we are giving Gregg’s Blue Mistflower a proper shout out. This pollinator attracting plant brings the butterflies in droves and grows quickly providing rapid beauty in your landscape.
It’s no wonder Gregg’s Blue Mistflower became the unofficial pollinator plant of San Antonio in 2019. The beauty of the lilac-blue, fuzzy flowers that cover Gregg’s Blue Mistflower in abundance is reason enough to love this plant. Add the massive amount of pollinators that make a “beeline” to partake of nectar, and it’s easy to see why Gregg’s Blue Mistflower makes the list as one of our favorite hot-weather, pollinator-attracting plants in San Antonio.
4 Reasons San Antonio Loves Gregg’s Blue Mistflower
1. Gregg’s Blue Mistflower is low maintenance. With virtually no pest or disease issues, you will spend very little time “taking care” of your plant.
In fact, because Gregg’s Blue Mistflower grows so easily and rapidly, like a groundcover, most of your maintenance might be:
- trimming established plants back in May to keep it full and lush.
- dividing it after last frost by cutting a chunk down to the roots and replanting it in a new area.
- trimming it in late winter/early spring to encourage new growth.
Make sure you have plenty of room to plant Gregg’s Blue Mistflower. While it only reaches heights of about 2 feet, it spreads easily by roots and can quickly take over a garden bed. Plant Gregg’s Blue Mistflower in sunny to part shade areas (a little shade in the afternoon during the hottest time of day is appreciated).
Gregg’s Mistflower (front plant) spreads easily by roots so give it space or contain it with clear borders.
2. Little water is needed for Gregg’s Blue Mistflower. Once your plant is established, it basically gets by on natural rainfall (supplemental watering may be needed in extreme and extended periods of drought). You should make sure to plant Gregg’s Blue Mistflower in an area that drains well.
3. Gregg’s Blue Mistflower is reliable. This perennial comes back year after year to add delight to your landscape with powdery-blue flowers set against a chartreuse foliage backdrop. Drought-tolerant, heat loving, and root hardy to 0°, Gregg’s Blue Mistflower is the perfect, native perennial selection for our San Antonio climate.
4. But we’ve saved the best for last when it comes to Gregg’s Blue Mistflower. Blooming through spring, summer, and fall, you get to feed the pollinators through multiple seasons. While the plant blooms three seasons of the year, you will find that the fall blooms brings the most amazing show. It is then that Gregg’s Blue Mistflower gets covered in migrating Monarchs, Queens, and every other butterfly that passes by. The sight is truly spectacular!
If you love butterflies, easy-to-care-for-plants, native perennials, and fast results from a blooming plant, Gregg’s Blue Mistflower is the perfect San Antonio choice for you.
~The Happy Gardener, Lisa Mulroy
Are deer a problem with Gregg’s Blue Mistflower?
Hi Jeff, the unhelpful answer is that sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t. We’ve had customers have success planting them with little deer issues and we’ve had some that claimed the deer chomped them up. Deer tend to at least taste them a little before moving on, but it depends on the herd, and the weather (drought), and just how hungry they are.
My blue mist flowers are full of 🦋.
Hooray!!!!!
I got one plant from you guys 2 years ago and now I have it from that same plant in 4 different areas.!
Hi Elba!
That’s awesome to hear! Doesn’t surprise me at all. You have always been fabulous with plants.
Could you plant this in a large planter?
Hi Marcia,
Sure you could plant it in a large container. That’s a great way to keep it confined in your landscape. It tends to kind of spill over the pot as it grows to maturity, but I like the look. I have a couple in containers at my home. A few trims after it has bloomed and the flowers are spent will keep it in great shape.
My plant has grown quite large in span but is not producing any blooms this spring. It is healthy and thriving but no flowers and I’m unsure why or what I can do. Any suggestions?
A couple things that may be the reason for no blooms. Have you by chances been giving it nitrogen fertilizer (or turf fertilizer)? We have had a lot of cloudy days, and if your Blue Mist is planted in a mostly part shade area anyways, that could be the culprit. While it can thrive in part shade, it still needs some sun to get the blooms going. Sometimes the amount of rain and moisture in the soil can affect things too. Did you have blooms last year on this same plant?