Mexican Fleabane

How to grow Mexican Fleabane

Written by Steve Davis · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Written for UK gardens · How we research our guidance

Planting

Plant in spring into paving joints, wall tops, steps, gravel or the front of a sunny border. It needs almost no soil and dislikes rich damp ground. To establish it in a wall, push a small plant into a crevice with a little compost and keep it watered for the first few weeks.

Pruning

Shear the whole plant back by about half in early spring to remove winter-damaged growth and keep it compact. During the season it needs nothing; it deadheads itself and flowers continuously.

Propagation

It self-seeds freely, and moving young seedlings in spring is the simplest approach. Division in spring also works.

Pests and diseases

Effectively trouble-free. Plants in cold, heavy, wet soil may not survive the winter.

Value to wildlife

The small daisies are worked by hoverflies, solitary bees and small butterflies from late spring until the first hard frost, which is an unusually long season.

Notes

It seeds itself around enthusiastically into paving and gravel, which is either the whole point or a nuisance depending on the garden. In cold inland gardens it can be short-lived, so let some seed set as insurance.

This guidance was researched and written by GardenDecoded — see our editorial policy for how guides are checked and reviewed.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Erigeron karvinskianus but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Others in Erigeron