Bloom time is late October to early November, making it the latest bloomer in the garden and a most delightful sight late in the season.
The scent is intoxicating on warm days, attracting all of the flying creatures in the neighborhood with the promise of sweet nectar. I have seen bees, moths, butterflies, and all kinds of bugs on it, some looking for nectar and some looking for a quick lunch. It is a lot of fun to watch them in action.
This plant is a deciduous perennial woody shrub that can reach 6 feet in height, but I prefer to cut it back by half in the dormant season to encourage heavy bloom.
Ageratina havanensis is native to the Texas hill country as well as Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. It prefers a sunny location, but it can live in partial shade, although it will not bloom as heavily. It is cold and heat tolerant, not picky about soil types, and can take drought fairly well.
It is very easily propagated by soft-wood cuttings in the spring, or semi-hardwood cuttings in the summer.
Needless to say, I think this plant deserves to have a prominent place in every garden so that more people and especially all the pollinators can enjoy it.
by Josephine Keeney
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