I'm sorry but we moved from that home a few months after I posted this and to be honest, I can't remember what it looked like. I am suffering from old-timers memory, it seems. I'll check my photobucket and see if I have any pictures.

ETA: I didn't find any pictures or posts in the 'Name that Plant' forum during the time frame, so I have no idea. I didn't bring it when I moved. I don't remember how I IDed it either, but I was attending Master Gardening classes at that time and may have gotten the ID from a fellow MG.

I'm so sorry I didn't catch you before you went through all that bother. I didn't want to put you out. Thanks for checking!

No bother at all, I am still trying to remember the plant :-)

Fantastic -- thanks!

I agree with Roselee on the attractiveness of Eupatorium (purple and white) to butterflies and bees. My Ageratina havanense has not given me any spring blooms, but I'm hopeful. It has a long fall show in my garden. The purple (purpureum) is loaded with buds right now. I get a lot of action on my vitex too this time of year. I guess that I didn't realize that Eupatorium was the same plant as Joe Pye Weed.

Hmmm...now I know why eupatorium sounded so familiar when roselee first mentioned it: that's the former botanical name for Gregg's mistflower -- it's since changed to Conoclinium greggii. Why does that happen? I just picked up a couple of greggii off the Lowes clearance rack (score!!!!). So, does that mean mistflower and Joe Pye Weed are related? Both are outstanding nectar/pollen plants, for sure.

The blooms look very similar but the foliage is completely different. Both are outstanding butterfly nectar plants though so it's a win!

The butterflies love love love my Ageratina havanense. That plant has more names than you can shake a stick at. Conoclinium coelestinum is also a huge Butterfly magnet too. IT is much taller than Greggs mist plant. It does want some real-estate. So does the herbs mist flower once it gets started. Not a plant for a mixed border. Greggs mist plant will spread with runners. Ageratina gets tall but it stays in a centralized arching structure. E. wrightii likes a bit more water than A. havanense but is similar, but shorter and more of a rambler, I think.

Hmmm...I may just plop the Greggs in a patch of lawn (that we contemplated turning into a wildflower/pollinator area anyway) and let it stretch out. So many wonderful plants out there! :)

I have heard people start crying about how invasive it is when they are just misusing the plant in a way it does not like.

wantonamara: Misuse, as in expecting it to behave well in a mixed border?

Yes, miss use as in People will give it a tiny area to grow in and it likes to have a broader area. When it extends into the neighborhood plants, people get upset. I had it growing in a place where it shared with some much taller but vigorous turkscap. They duked it out and fought over teritoryand were beautiful. I I did not plant it by some delicate plants. They like some sun. The greggs mist plant makes a great ground cover

Hmmm...interesting. I have my Turk's Cap in either dappled or almost-full shade, depending on the month. I didn't realize Gregg's could handle that much shade. Should I err on the side of slightly more sun than shade?

We've had Gregg's mistflower in heavy shade where it tended to get "stringy" with only modest blooms and stayed very low to the ground. Suspect it would have looked better with a bit more light.... which I should get an opportunity to see now that the canopy of the Chinese pistache has been blown off and hauled away ;)