Star Wars Garden Gnome Bluish Mistflower - Dear It Or Fearfulness It?

Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinium). Last year, this started every bit only a tiny quart-size plant. This year, it's on the march!

As amongst other fast-spreading yet herbaceous perennials (e.g., mount mint), I'm non quite certain virtually the best way to use blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) in my garden.

On the vivid side, as I wrote final November, it has a squeamish long autumn bloom flavour amongst flowers that attract pollinators.

On the other hand, every bit Tammy together with Jason both pointed out final year, bluish mistflower likes moisture. Although it's planted inwards heavy clay that gets sodden inwards wintertime together with early on spring, the surface area also bakes inwards summer. Of the 3 clumps I had growing final year, it looks similar only ane clump (the healthiest together with strongest) came dorsum this year.

That surviving clump has expanded dramatically - from a 3.5-inch pot to belike unopen to four foursquare feet inwards virtually xviii months. I recognize that I kvetched inwards a recent post virtually some groundcovers - Epimediums together with partridge berry -  spreading besides slowly.

How tin I plough to a greater extent than or less together with complain virtually a groundcover spreading besides fast? Aren't groundcovers supposed to encompass ground.

Sure they are.

But every bit amongst many things inwards life, I holler back in that place is an ideal happy medium here. I don't desire a 'groundcover' that pokes along, only extending its coverage yesteryear a duad of inches per year.

But I also don't necessarily desire a groundcover that races across the property, smothering pocket-size buildings inwards a unmarried season.

I'm much to a greater extent than leery of aggressive plants if they're exotic. I don't desire to endure responsible for unleashing havoc on the local ecosystem. It's ane of the reasons why I gave plants similar bluish star creeper, creeping raspberry, sweetness woodruff together with Ajuga the heave-ho.

(Well, I'm trying to evict Ajuga from the garden. It's putting upwardly a heck of a grapple to stay.)

I'm much to a greater extent than willing to tolerate aggressive plants if they're native and/or piece of cake to remove. For example, wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) spreads pretty darn fast, but (a) it seems to spread only via above-ground stolons (so I tin at to the lowest degree proceed rails of its spread versus those plants that extend their territory via hugger-mugger rhizomes), together with (b) it seems very easy (so far) to uproot whatsoever clumps that grow where they are non wanted.

When the bluish mistflower gets a lilliputian taller, I invention to instruct out subsequently a pelting together with meet how difficult it is to describe out some stems along the edges of the clump. Basically, I desire to meet how much of a struggle it volition endure to proceed this inwards bounds.

(Update - I went together with tried this together with the bluish mistflower stems at the border of the clump seemed quite piece of cake to pull. That makes me experience a chip to a greater extent than confident that I could proceed bluish mistflower from overwhelming other nearby plants...)

If I do let it remain together with it romps through the dorsum garden, I envision a lot of tardily wintertime or early on outflow maintenance.

It's non such a large bargain chopping downward stems on a few clumps of rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), but I holler back it's some other affair solely to notice a way to bargain amongst 100 foursquare feet of a tough-stemmed herbaceous together with rhizomatous perennial.

For anyone who has a large stand upwardly of bluish mistflower or whatsoever other aggressive perennial (e.g., ane of the rhizomatous goldenrods, a spreading Monarda or a mount mint), how practice you lot handgrip wintertime laid upwardly clean upwardly of large swaths of dead stems. Do you lot cutting dorsum yesteryear mitt amongst a bypass pruner or shears? Do you lot role a mower?

Blue mistflower leaves, upwardly unopen together with personal

Then there's the number of bluish mistflower beingness deciduous/herbaceous. It dies dorsum inwards wintertime together with didn't brand an appearance this twelvemonth until tardily March / early on April. If it covers a lot of terra firma inwards spring, summertime together with fall, that agency a lot of bare terra firma from tardily autumn to early on spring. I worry virtually weeds getting a toehold inwards that bare dirt.

That's why I've gravitated toward low-growing evergreens ('Biokovo' geranium, wild strawberry, golden groundsel, Robin's plantain, etc.) inwards my search for ideal groundcovers.

Anyway, bluish mistflower is yet inwards the garden for now. If you lot grow this found - or something similar inwards habit - I'd beloved to listen how you lot integrate it into your garden to taste its assets without having it instruct a maintenance nightmare.