Common fleabane

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial 20–60 cm tall with creeping rhizomes; forms loose clumps and branches near the top.

Leaf

Oblong, 3–8 cm, with a wavy edge; the base clasps the stem with two heart-shaped lobes. Greyish green and woolly, especially underneath.

Flower

Golden-yellow heads 1.5–3 cm across, with many narrow ray florets around a yellow disc, in loose clusters, from July to September.

Stem

Upright, woolly, branched near the top.

Fruit/Seed

Small achenes with a ring of short scales and a tuft of hairs.

Confusion with

Common ragwort has deeply cut, non-woolly leaves and usually grows on drier ground. Small fleabane is annual, has much smaller heads with short ray florets and is rare.

Flowering: July–September · Pruning: March and October

Why grow it?

• A late bloomer from July to September, when bees, hoverflies and butterflies are still busy looking for nectar.
• Ideal for a wet, sunny pond edge or a ditch where few other flowers can cope.
• Grey, woolly leaves that look good even outside the flowering season.
• A specialised fruit fly lives in its flower heads: a small ecosystem in itself.
• The name recalls an old use: the plant was once burnt to drive away fleas.

Common fleabane: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: ditch sides, drains, wet and damp pastures, rough ground, marsh edges and dune slacks.
• Full sun; in shade it flowers little.
• Moist to wet soil, often clay or loam, sometimes chalky; tolerates temporary flooding.
• In the garden: a sunny pond edge, a rain garden or ditch, or a wet part of a wildflower meadow.

Goes well with

• Purple loosestrife: Purple spikes beside the yellow heads, on the same wet edge.
• Hemp-agrimony: Pink flower clusters in July–September, a magnet for butterflies.
• Meadowsweet: Creamy plumes on the same wet soil.
• Water mint: Fragrant lilac pompoms at its feet.
• Yellow loosestrife: Even more yellow in summer, by the water’s edge.

Common fleabane: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy plants from a native-plant nursery and plant them in March–April or in October.
2. Space them 30–40 cm apart, in a spot that stays moist even in summer.
3. You can sow in September–October: scatter the seed on moist compost, barely cover it and leave the pots outside over winter.
4. Prick out the seedlings in spring and plant them out once they are sturdy.
5. Water after planting until they are well established.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild.

Care

Water

Keep the soil moist; in a dry spot the plant dwindles.

Feeding

Not needed; on poor soil the plant stays more compact.

Mowing

In a wet hay meadow, cut once a year, in October after seed set, and remove the cuttings.

Spreading

The rhizomes slowly form larger clumps. In spring, slice off what is too much.

Self-seeding

In the garden, leave the fluffy seed heads; they self-seed and decorate the autumn.

Tip: Plant common fleabane with purple loosestrife and hemp-agrimony on a sunny pond edge: from July to September you will have yellow, purple and pink, and a parade of butterflies.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: March and October.

When: In the garden, remove the old stems in March; in a hay meadow, mow in October.

How:

• Leave the spent stems standing in winter for insects and seed-eating birds.
• Cut them down to a few centimetres above the ground in March.
• In grassland: mow in October and remove the cuttings after a few days.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Division

In March–April, cut off a piece of rhizome with shoots and replant it.

Seed

Ripe in September–October; sow straight away in pots and leave them outside over winter.

Common fleabane: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• The plant dies back above ground; the rhizomes overwinter in the soil.
• The fluffy seed heads stay standing for a while.
• Hardy to about −25 °C.

Diseases and pests

• Drought: In a spot that is too dry the plant wilts and dwindles. Choose a place that stays moist.
• Overgrown: Among reeds or tall vegetation the plant ends up in shade. Mow or thin out its neighbours.
• Spreading: On wet soil the plant forms large patches. Slice them off in spring.
• Deformed heads: Swollen, hard flower heads are the work of the larvae of a small fruit fly. Harmless.

Through the year

• March: Cut back the old stems. Plant or divide.
• April: New shoots. Prick out seedlings.
• June: Growth; keep the soil moist.
• July: Flowering begins.
• August: Full flower, busy with butterflies and hoverflies.
• September: Last flowers. Collect seed and sow.
• October: Mow the hay meadow and remove the cuttings. Plant.
• December: Rest; the seed heads stay standing.

Did you know?

• Pulicaria comes from the Latin pulex, flea: the dried plant was once burnt to drive fleas away. The English name fleabane refers to the same use.
• The species name dysenterica recalls that the plant was once used against dysentery.
• A specialised fruit fly lives in the flower heads, where its larvae develop.