by Frances Stanford

Created on: October 19, 2009

The perfect enhancement for edgings or for providing a splash of color to your flower beds, Hawaii Blue Ageratum is an easy plant to grow and care for in your garden. It is an annual that will not spread more than eight to ten inches. Instead it tends to mound, which means you don't have to prune it on a regular basis to keep it from overtaking the other flowers and plants. To get started growing Hawaii Blue Ageratum, the important thing is to choose an area that will receive full sun during the day and an area that does have well-drained soil.

When you mark out the area where you want to plant the Hawaii Blue Ageratum, dig a small ditch around the edges. Use the soil you take from this ditch to fill the interior of the bed so that you have a mound of soil. You do need to make sure that you taper the sides so that you have a gentle grade. Depending on the size of the bed of flowers you want to plant in this variety you may have to add some native soil so that you have a height of at least six inches on the top of the mound.

Use organic compost to make sure the soil is fertile because this plant will only grow well when the soil has the proper amount of nutrients for its needs. The recommended ratio of compost to native soil is between 25 and 50%. Mix the compost well before you start your planting.

You can feed the Hawaii Blue Ageratum with slow-release plant food that will last all through the season, thus avoiding feeding the plant on a regular basis. However, if this is something that you enjoy, it is best to use plant food that is water soluble and water the plants with the mixture every few weeks.

Since Hawaii Blue Ageratum does attract insects, you should inspect it once a week for signs of pest infestation. There are commercial fungicides and insecticides that you can purchase at your garden store that will protect the plant, but you should only use these if you notice any problems. Any plants that are dead or show signs of disease should be removed immediately so that they won't contaminate the rest of the bed or edging. In general, this is a hardy plant that is resistant to the ordinary diseases that kill most flowers in the garden.

Learn more about this author, Frances Stanford.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.