Fleabane
Push young plants or seedlings into a gap in paving or a wall rather than planting them in improved border soil, and leave them alone.
Care
Full sun — essential for the long flowering season it is grown for.
Low — once rooted in a wall or gravel it needs no watering at all.
Poor, sharply drained soil, gravel, or the mortar of a wall. It is happiest where there is almost no soil at all.
Shear the whole plant over after the main flush to tidy it and bring on more flowers; cut it back hard in early spring to remove winter-damaged growth.
No feeding. It flowers non-stop for months on nothing at all, and a fed plant makes lax green growth with far fewer daisies.
Easiest from its own seedlings, which appear in paving joints and gravel and transplant well when small. Division in spring works too, and softwood cuttings root readily if you want a particular form.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- AprilCut back winter-damaged growth as the new shoots appear. how ›
- JulyShear over lightly after the main flush for a second wave of flower. how ›
- SeptemberMove self-sown seedlings to where you want them while they are small. how ›
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- AprilCut back winter-damaged growth as the new shoots appear. how ›
- JulyShear over lightly after the main flush for a second wave of flower. how ›
- SeptemberMove self-sown seedlings to where you want them while they are small. how ›
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- MarchCut back winter-damaged growth as the new shoots appear. how ›
- JulyShear over lightly after the main flush for a second wave of flower. how ›
- SeptemberMove self-sown seedlings to where you want them while they are small. how ›
Months based on climate: Central Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- MarchCut back winter-damaged growth as the new shoots appear. how ›
- JulyShear over lightly after the main flush for a second wave of flower. how ›
- OctoberMove self-sown seedlings to where you want them while they are small. how ›
Months based on climate: Southern Italy and islands. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Seedlings in every crack and joint.
What to do. Usually a virtue rather than a fault; pull out the ones you don't want.
How to spot it. Plants rot over a wet winter in border soil.
What to do. Grow it in a wall, raised bed or gravel rather than in rich damp ground.
How to spot it. Long lax stems and few flowers.
What to do. Shear it back hard; it regenerates quickly and flowers again.
Popular varieties
Questions
Fleabane: is it hardy?
H5: Hardy in most of the UK, but can struggle in the coldest inland or upland spots. It survives down to −15 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
Yes — excellent in a trough, wall pot or the top of a dry stone wall.
Fleabane: when do you prune it?
Shear the whole plant over after the main flush to tidy it and bring on more flowers; cut it back hard in early spring to remove winter-damaged growth. In the calendar for UK, pruning falls in April, July.
Fleabane: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in May–October.
When do you feed it?
No feeding. It flowers non-stop for months on nothing at all, and a fed plant makes lax green growth with far fewer daisies.