How to Grow and Care for Fan Flower

Fan flower, also referred to as fairy fan flower or by its genus, Scaevola, is a warm-weather herbaceous perennial that is often grown as an annual. This popular hanging basket plant thrives in full sunlight but puts up with some shade, and it grows in most soils as long as they drain easily.

Fan Flower Care

Fan flower plants earn brownie points in hot climates for powering through the dog days of summer without any blossom drop and for requiring very little in the way of tending. Here are the main care requirements for fan flower:

• Choose a sunny spot that ideally gets at least six hours of sunlight per day.
• Prepare well-draining soil.
• Water regularly if planted in the ground, though fan flower tolerates some drought; water more often if in containers or baskets.
• Fertilize lightly during the growing season in areas where fan flower is a perennial; there is no need to fertilize if growing as an annual.

Light

Choose a site with full to partial sun for best fan flower performance—six to eight hours of sun is optimal. Plants growing in hot, dry desert areas may remain more pert if they are planted in a site with dappled shade.

Soil

Rich soil isn't necessary for thriving fan flower plants. A soil of average fertility is fine, with good drainage the most important factor in healthy plant growth. Container plants do fine when planted in a standard commercial potting mix, perhaps with some sand blended in. When planted in the garden, heavy clay soil should be amended to make it more porous; or you can grow fan flower in raised beds filled with amended soil.

Water

Fan flower plants prefer to be on the dry side, but they are not true xeriscape plants and so do need occasional watering. Plants growing in wet soil may attract fungus gnats, or may experience root rot. Wait until the soil surface is dry to water. Wilted plants will perk up quickly after irrigation.

Temperature and Humidity

Fan flower grows vigorously in warm to hot weather. Temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit will cause flowering to slow or stop. Temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees yield the happiest plants with compact growth, but hot temperatures are also well tolerated. High humidity is welcomed by fan flower.

Fertilizer

Accustomed to the lean growing conditions of its native Australia, fan flower plants require only a light feeding. Choose a balanced flower fertilize and apply it once a month during the growing season.

Types of Fan Flower

The pure species plant, S. aemula, is a somewhat large plant, growing to as much as 18 inches with a growth habit that is almost shrub-like when planted in zones where it is hardy. The native plant certainly has a role in the landscape, but more often gardeners choose one of the named cultivars. The many cultivars are generally shorter plants, more appropriate for containers and other garden uses.

• S. aemula 'Blue Wonder' has blue flowers, growing 6 to 8 inches tall and 3 to 4 feet wide.
• S. aemula 'Bombay' offers blue, pink, and white types. The plants grow 8 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide.
• S. aemula 'Fairy' offers blue, pink, and white flowers on plants that grow 6 to 10 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide.
• S. aemula 'Whirlwind' offers plants in several colors. These vigorous growers will spread to fill containers and fill in borders.
• S. aemula 'Purple Fanfare' delivers loads of lavender-blue blooms throughout the growing season.
• S. aemula 'Carpet' offers plants in several colors, ideal for creating a dense ground cover.

Pruning

Like most trailing annuals, fan flower benefits from a little snipping here and there to keep it tidy and to encourage the plant to grow in a branching habit, rather than developing long, lanky stems.

Propagating Fan Flower

Propagating fan flower is usually done by rooting stem cuttings. This is also the standard way to perpetuate a plant into the following spring: Take cuttings of fan flower at the end of summer:

1. Using sharp pruners, Clip a 4- to 6-inch cutting from a non-blooming stem. Remove the bottom leaves, leaving at least two pairs of leaves at the top of the cutting.
2. Dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone, then plant the end in a small container filled with commercial potting mix. Place in a bright location and at a temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Keep the cutting barely moist, but take care not to overwater, which can cause rot. Roots will form in about one month.
4. When a good network of roots has formed, move the potted cutting into a warm, sunny location to continue growing until it's time to transplant outdoors. These are warm-weather plants that should not be planted outdoors until soil temperatures are reliably at 65 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

How to Grow Fan Flower from Seed

Fan flower can be tricky to grow from seed, as the seeds are very tiny and germination is slow and not always reliable. But seed starting is sometimes the only option, as fan flower plants are not offered by all local nurseries. It's best to buy packaged seeds from a commercial source rather than to collect seeds from existing plants.

1. Sow the seeds indoors about two months before the last frost date in a gritty potting mix.
2. Just barely cover the seeds with a sprinkling of potting mix.
3. Mist lightly, and keep seeds at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and in a bright location, but out of direct sunlight.
4. Germination usually occurs within a month, but be patient, as it can take as much as 60 days.

Once true leaves have sprouted, the seedlings can be moved into a warm, sunny location. But don't transplant them outdoors until soil temps are at 65 degrees or higher. Seedling plants should be hardened off by giving them daily visits to outdoor conditions over a period of a week or two before transplanting them into the garden or into their permanent outdoor pots.

Overwintering

In all but the warmest zones (10, 11), fan flower plants are generally pulled up and discarded as winter cold approaches. Large, mature potted fan flower plants usually don't adapt well to moving indoors for the winter, but some gardeners do have luck transplanting small bedding plants into containers to nurture through the winter in an indoor location.

If you want to try it, carefully transplant some selected garden plants into pots filled with standard commercial potting mix, place them in a sunny window, and protect them from cold for the winter. Watering should be somewhat reduced during the winter months, so as to encourage partial dormancy. Branches can be pinched back if they become sparse over the winter.

How to Get Fan Flower to Bloom

Grown in enough light and without daytime temperatures dipping too low, fan flower plants should bloom happily for months

Bloom Months

Fan flower will normally bloom robustly from early summer right up to frost, provided it gets enough light, water, and warmth, starting around June.

What Do Fan Flowers Look and Smell Like?

The petals are arranged around fan flowers in a whorling fan shape, and cultivars are available in purple, blue, white, and pink. They have a light, sweet scent.

How to Encourage More Blooms

Cold summer spells where daytime temperatures fall below 60 degrees Fahrenheit may cause the plants to temporarily stop blooming. If all other conditions are adequate, lack of blooms may be due to low light or very poor soil conditions; feed the plants monthly to see if this improves blooming.

Caring for Fan Flower After It Blooms

If you are growing fan flower as an annual, it's lifecycle is effectively complete after blooming. If you are keeping it as a perennial in a warmer climate, care for it as you usually would. Consider pruning it back for aesthetic reasons.

Deadheading Fan Flower

Fan flower is self-cleaning and does not need to be deadheaded, but you can cut it back by half after the first big flush of blooms to encourage new growth and spur even more flowering.