Growing Guide
 
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Daisy Fleabane

Herbaceous Perennial Flower

Erigeron speciosus
Asteraceae Family

Easy to grow and not fussy about soil, Daisy Fleabane has a long flowering season in summer, producing yellow-centered, daisy-like blooms in shades of white, pink, yellow, purple, and blue.

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Site Characteristics
Sunlight:
  • full sun
Fleabane prefers a site with some noontime shade, especially in warmer climates.

Soil conditions:

  • requires well-drained soil
Prefers rich, fertile soil that is kept moist but not soggy.

Hardiness zones:

  • 2 to 8
Doesn't perform as well in the heat of Zones 7 and 8 as in cooler regions.

Special locations:

  • rock gardens - The shorter, alpine species are especially well-suited.
Plant Traits

Lifecycle: perennial

Ease-of-care: easy

Height: 1 to 2.5 feet

Spread: 1 to 2 feet

Bloom time:

  • late spring
  • early summer
  • mid-summer

Flower color:

  • orange
  • yellow
  • blue
  • indigo
  • violet
  • white
  • pink

Foliage color:

  • medium green
  • dark green

Foliage texture: medium

Shape: upright

Shape in flower: same as above

Flowers borne on erect stems rising slightly above the foliage.

Special Considerations
Special characteristics:
  • non-aggressive
  • non-invasive
  • native to North America - Northwestern U.S. and Canada
Special uses:
  • cut flowers - Make excellent cut flowers if picked when fully opened.
  • wildflowers - Native to North America
  • naturalistic garden - Native to North America
Growing Information
How to plant:

Propagate by seed, division or separation - Sow seeds in containers in mid- to late spring.

Divide plants every 2 to 3 years in the spring. Discard woody old growth and replant new, soft rosettes.

Maintenance and care:
Divide every 2 to 3 years in spring to maintain healthy plants.

May need staking, especially on fertile soils. Keep soil moist in summer.

Cut back after flowering to encourage repeat blooming. Deadhead frequently for prolonged flowering. Cut back plants in fall if they become leggy.

More growing information: How to Grow Perennials

Diseases:
Bidens mottle virus
Downy mildew
Powdery mildew
Rust
White smut
Leaf spots
Southern blight
Varieties
Daisy fleabane varieties differ mostly in their flower colors and plant heights. (Other fleabane species are alpine and low-growing, better suited to rock garden use.) Most varieties are hybrids with other species. Varieties include:

'Azure Fairy': 1.5-foot-tall plants with yellow-centered purple-blue blooms. Syn. E. 'Azurfee'.

'Black Sea': 2-foot-tall plants with semi-double deep purple blooms with yellow centers. Syn. E. 'Schwartzes Meer.'

'Charity': 2-foot-tall plants with semi-double pink-purple blooms with yellow centers.

'Darkest of All': 2-foot-tall plants with gray-green leaves and dark blue-purple semi-double blooms with yellow centers. Syn. E. 'Dunkelste Aller'.

'Dignity': 1.5-foot-tall plants with gray-green leaves and magenta-purple blooms with yellow centers.

'Foersters Liebling': 2-foot-tall plants with gray-green leaves and dense, bright magenta pink blooms with yellow centers.

'Gaiety': 2-foot-tall plants, a profuse bloomer with yellow-centered bright pink flowers.

'Pink Jewel': 2-foot-tall plants with vivid rosy pink blooms with yellow-centers. Syn. E. 'Rosa Juwel'

'Prosperity': 1.5-foot-tall plants with dense, nearly double blooms that are purple-blue with yellow centers.

'Quakeress': 2-foot-tall plants with gray-green leaves and yellow-centered white blooms flushed with pale pink.

'Red Sea': 2-foot-tall plants with yellow-centered dark rosy red blooms. Syn. E. 'Rotes Meer'

'Serenity': 2.5-foot-tall plants with yellow-centered bright purple blooms.

'Shining Sea': 1.5-foot-tall plants with pale purple-blue blooms with yellow centers. Syn. E. 'Strahlenmeer'

'Summer Snow': 1.5-foot-tall plants with yellow-centered white blooms flushed with pink. Syn. E. 'Sommerneuschnee'