Ageratum Aloha Blue Hybrid

Blue as the summer sky and just about as endless, this free-flowering, long-blooming Floss Flower is a gift for the summer garden. Just 5 to 6 inches high and 3 to 4 inches wide, it offers big clusters of bright azure blooms among dark green foliage. Just the right size for containers, it also makes a splendid edging or front-of-the-border showoff.

The fluffy, light-as-air blooms literally arise all over very well-branched plants. Because they self-clean, you need never worry about "grooming" Aloha Blue.

Aloha Blue's clear color and fuzzy texture complement all the bright summer annuals beautifully. Let the low-growing, bushy Cosmos Sonata frame it with masses of clear white blooms, or enjoy the nodding golden heads of Coreopsis Early Sunrise leaning over this neat, rounded Floss Flower. Like Cosmos and Coreopsis, Aloha Blue is a great butterfly attractor. If you've been considering growing a butterfly garden, there are no better plants to begin with -- plus perhaps an Asclepias, such as the bicolor Butterfly Bush, for vertical effect. The butterflies will love you, and you will have enough cutflowers to keep your vases full all summer!

Aloha Blue is much smaller than most Floss Flowers, making it a great choice for mixed containers. Try it front and center, perhaps surrounded by the apricot, rose, and orchid tones of Vinca Mediterranean Hybrid Mix, or the tiny, fragrant blossoms of Sweet Alyssum Pastel Carpet.

Aloha Blue is easy to grow, asking only full sun, reasonably well-drained soil, and ordinary garden soil. In southern regions, partial shade is preferred for best flowering during the hottest months. If you want to get an early start (recommended for the far north), sow seeds indoors about 12 to 14 weeks before setting out. Where the growing season is longer (hotter climates), direct-sow when the soil warms in early spring. Pkt is 50 seeds.