Thursday 9 April 2015

DESKTOP 617 - AGERATUM

Ageratum, is a genus of 40 to 60 tropical and warm temperate flowering annuals and perennials from the family Asteraceae, tribe Eupatorieae. Most species are native to Central America and Mexico but four are native to the United States. They form tussocks or small hills. They grow to a height of 75 cm. The opposite leaves are cordate or oval, hairy or tomentose. The margins are slightly toothed or serrate. The leaves form compact clusters. The fluffy flowers are lavender-blue, pink, lilac, or white; and spread in small compound umbels. They give small, dry fruits.

 Ageratums are grown for their flowers, especially A. houstonianum. Most common ageratums, "Hawaii" for example, are a short 25 cm when fully grown. Tall ageratum are also available in seed catalogues. The blue-coloured varieties are most popular and common, but colours also include violet, pink and white. Their size and colour makes ageratums good candidates for rock gardens, bedding, and containers. They grow well in sun or partial shade, from early summer to first frost. They are quite easy to grow, producing a profusion of fluffy flowers all season long.

 This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
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5 comments:

  1. abrianna9 April 2015 at 06:52

    I like the spikes of these pretty purple flowers.

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  2. Gemma Wiseman9 April 2015 at 22:50

    Lovely flowers captured at various stages of growth.

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  3. Unknown10 April 2015 at 21:09

    Very pretty!

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  4. JohnDotGarvey13 April 2015 at 16:12

    Love the color

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  5. Unknown30 April 2015 at 12:06

    It is funny that exactly today I find you blog by looking randomly at linked posts from Floral Friday Fotos and I see ageratum picture. I open it up and read you description of the flower. The part where you said that tall varieties can be purchased from catalogs caught my eye and made me smile. Two years ago I found a tall variety that grows in the Northeast in a catalog. I love the picture of it! Bought the seed, started the plants, got lots of them in the garden and in two years in a good bed they took over a very very very large area dominating everything in the way! 5ft by 4ft! It looks pretty in bloom but the perennial variety only blooms in October. There is a long way to see the bloom of a very aggressive perennial ageratum so this spring I had to yanked it all out TODAY! I hope that is all out! This plant scares me!

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