Erigeron karvinskianus

Erigeron karvinskianus

Bring a charming cottage-garden feel to your borders, walls, and paths with Erigeron karvinskianus, also known as Mexican fleabane. This delightful perennial produces a frothy mass of small, daisy-like flowers that open white and age to soft pink, creating a two-tone effect over a long season. Bees and butterflies are drawn to its nectar-rich blooms, ensuring lively activity from late spring right through to autumn.

Thriving in full sun and well-drained soils, Erigeron karvinskianus is a wonderfully versatile plant that will happily self-seed into cracks, steps, and walls. Its trailing, mounding habit makes it excellent for softening edges, tumbling from containers, or filling gaps at the front of borders. Once established it is drought tolerant and requires very little maintenance.

Specifications:

• Height: 15–30cm

• Spread: 30–60cm

• Flowering: May to October

• Position: Full sun or light shade

• Soil: Well-drained, poor to moderately fertile

• Maintenance: Shear lightly after the first flush to encourage repeat flowering; allow self-seeding for naturalised effect

🌿 Note for Isle of Wight planting:

Well-suited to the island’s mild climate, Erigeron karvinskianus is particularly effective in coastal gardens where it can spill over stone walls, steps, and gravel areas. It relishes the free-draining soils and will often naturalise beautifully in hard-to-reach nooks.

🌿 Ideal Companion Plants from The Green Standard Range:

• Stachys byzantina – soft silver foliage for contrast and texture

• Salvia sclarea ‘Alba’ – tall white flower spikes to complement the dainty daisies

• Gaura lindheimeri ‘Siskiyou Pink’ – airy pink blooms to extend the season of movement

• Agastache ‘Liquorice White’ – spires of white flowers with a sweet scent for pollinators

🌟 The Green Standard Tip

Encourage natural drifts by letting Erigeron self-seed into cracks and crevices—its informal spread adds charm and a sense of maturity to gardens with very little effort.