What is the name of this flower?

it is blue in color and looks like a cotton ball or puffy ball shape.

What is the name of this flower?
the floral bloom in the photo seems to be ageratum





...those leaves are nicely spaced, surrounding the blooming plant


....the leaves seem unusual to ageratum, and the spent blooms are unique


....usually ageratum blooms on a stem, not exactly above the cotolydons





Edit 1: "wooops" it was late when i answered above, so let me amend my info please...."I agree with Tashi D...'R Scott' is correct in the plant type" and i also stand corrected, the photo must be of the 'dwarf variety' ....i'll ty to keep my input short (next time, i'll use a 'dwarf size' reply)


Thanks Guys


...nice photo too
Reply:Not sure of the real latin name but I think they call them "buttons", like blue or purple buttons. (not to be confused w/ bachelor buttons...totally, totally different.





They are really inexpensive and you can get them at places like walmart and kmart in the spring. I know that they are annuals; so they do not come back every year. (at least here in PA anyway!)





I plant them with red gerraniums and they look really pretty and vibrant together.
Reply:It looks like a perennial. If you say the flower you're trying to identify might be rounder...it could be a Globe Thistle...





http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/blue...





But it is definitely not a Lirio...that is a type of Iris...of which this flower is not.
Reply:Your flower is an Ageratum hybrid. Ageratum is an annual and readily available at garden centres in spring for summer flowering, available in powdery blues, white, and sometimes pink, in various sizes from very dwarf to over a foot tall.
Reply:they look like some kind of heliotrope flower...





http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/plant...





http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/713/








hope this helps :)
Reply:I agree with "R SCOTT", it is a Ageratum.
Reply:R.Scott is right its a Ageratum. It is an annual in Michigan where I live. I plant them every year.
Reply:I think Ageratum. RScott
Reply:Looks like the flower on a thistle that we have in the midwest... Kill it now.
Reply:lirio i think....
Reply:Sounds like a Hydrangea! they come in other colors too and are real nice in planters against the house!