Sunshine Blue Caryopteris

You can pair the Ultra Violet scabiosa with Thalictrum delayvi ‘Splendide’ if you live in cooler zones (4-7.) Trust the Splendide to send airy sprays of pink flowers above the lower blossoms of the Ultra Violet. If you live where the summers are cold or hot, Baptisia ‘Purple Smoke’ will perform. It will send up spikes of unusual lavender pink flowers washed with blue.

If you are looking for blue for a somewhat shady spot, Malva sylvestris ‘Blue Fountain’ will fill in where the scabiosa fears to grow. (Malva will grow alongside the scabiosa in sun, too.) Blue Fountain is deep, dark blue with purple veins. Try it in shade next to the lilac-pink astilbe ‘Heart & Soul’ with Hosta ‘Mouse Ears’ or the forget-me-not Brunnera macrophylla ‘Looking Glass’ at its feet. Looking Glass has pale blue flowers above silvery foliage.

Petit Blue Caryopteris

If you long for a lavender walk like those found in old English gardens, but your climate or soil won’t allow it, substitute Longwood Blue caryopteris for the lavender. It makes a good hedge plant. Longwood Blue, growing only two feet tall, has a more open habit than most of the other caryopteris.’ It will give you a blue cloud Lavender Walk look in a mild to hot climate (zones 5-9) where lavender would languish or die.

Memphis’ Beale Street isn’t the only spot to find the Blues. Look to Wayside Gardens to put the blues to work in your garden.

---Posted by Coach Anne, January 4, 2008---