General Culture:

Best grown in loose, sandy-humusy, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Avoid unamended heavy clay soils. Also avoid wet soils, especially in winter. Plants have some drought tolerance. Plants may be grown from seed. In optimum growing conditions, plants will self seed in the garden. Plants do not perform well in the deep South (south of USDA Zone 7) due to high summer heat and humidity.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Cupid’s dart is a short-lived, clump-forming perennial of the aster family. Blue to lavender-blue flowers (to 2” diameter) with dark centers bloom singly on naked wiry stems rising to 2’ tall from a mostly basal clump of narrow, lanceolate, grass-like, gray-green leaves (each 8-12” long). Each flower is subtended by overlapping papery bracts. Flowers bloom freely from mid-summer to autumn. Early Greeks and Romans used this Mediterranean native to make love potions, hence the genus name (from Greek katanangke meaning strong incentive) and the common name (Cupid’s dart).