2014: More Blues in the Garden

We came from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1322024/#top

Last summer we had a great discussion about all our favorite (and not so favorite) blues. I'm in year 2 of an attempt at a Blue Garden, and would love to continue to share and compare. Please join in!

1. Delphinium Summer Nights (?)
2. Campanula White Clips with Lobelia Crystal Palace
3. First Platycodon to open
4. Dracocephalum Blue Dragon
4. Delphinium elatum Dasante Blue- the only one that survived our tough winter

Hi...I'm here now. New season , but need to get pix (if I can fix the problem of pix multipling like crazy). New plants for me this year (blue), Eryngium Blaukappe. Now blooms yet but am excited and hope they turn out to be another treasure....

Hope others join us for some fun!!

My Blue Garden was started to make room for Platycodons, which actually turn out to be purple. Amazing how often that's true of plants described as blue. So I thought OK, I'll have both colors. Last year I got a few Delphiniums, the smaller types that may be more long lived that the huge spikes. The only one that came back was D elatum Dasante Blue, which has a lot of purple in it. Another blue/ purple is Baptisia, blooming for the first time in my garden. I do love it though, can't wait for it to fill out on both sides of the arch.

This year I started the season with a bunch of starter Delphinium plants from Graceful Gardens. So far, they have done very little. Then I went to the big sale at White Flower Farm, and there were a bunch more of their special blues. Unfortunately, they were done blooming in a heartbeat, so now I'm back to square 1.

I do have some blue Centaurea I could move there in the fall, I'm thinking right by the arch behind and to one side of the Baptisia. Maybe they would flower through it a little if I place them well.

Once the Platycodons, Veronicas and edging plants get going there will be more color. And once the main plantings are established, it will be easy to add 'pops' here and there. But right now, there is a huuuuge lull.

My oldest blue flower is Black and Blue Salvia, about 4 years old. In front on city property I have planted blue annual salvias, I call it my blue floating island, that is 2 and 3, the fourth picture is Sizaja Ptitza clematis, I had moved it this year so it is not very bushy. Etelka

So pretty, Etelka. You're lucky Black and Blue is hardy for you... And your neighbors are lucky they get to walk by such a pretty garden!

Is the Sizaja Pititza clematis close to a true blue? I'm always on the lookout and haven't seen a clematis that was blue enough. This one looks great.

It's really hard to get the true blues. I had some Anchusa that had really blue flowers, but they're done blooming now. The Delphiniums are good.
The Geranium 'Rozanne' has some purple, as do the Salvia, Campanula, and Nepeta.

I almost forgot the Aubretia that have been blooming for months.
The pictures all seem to be appearing with too much purple...maybe it's my camera and maybe I just see things how I want them to be!

Your Aubretia looks more blue than the one I used to have, mine was more magenta. And what is pic #4? Is it a Campanula? Do you know which one? Very nice!

The S. Ptitza is more blue then my Daniel Deronda Clematis, or the HL Young You can also see in my Bl. and Blue salvia picture the Blue Daze annual that is my must have every year. Etelka

I'm so happy to revisit this topic! True blue is such a beautiful and elusive color that I'm always interested in how gardeners find and use it.

I have to say that I am totally in love with Salvia "Black and Blue". So are the hummingbirds here. I successfully over wintered it because it's not hardy here and it is worth all the trouble.

I have several blue flowering plants. This year , however, I am experimenting with blue foliage. It amazes me that there are a number of plants with true blue foliage. I am very fond of dianthus "Firewitch" right now. I can see why it was a Perennial Plant of the Year. I paired with Allium Shubertii and it was lovely. I have added some Elijah Blue fescue but I'm not sure that is going to be what I'd hoped. We will see. I will also include a picture of my dear "Fat Albert" spruce. Of course, blue foliage is especially emphasized, or deemphasized by what you pair it with. Creeping Jenny is perfect.

A couple of other blues for you gals to check out....Allium azureum( book describes them as cornflower blue but I refer to the as steel blue). Also does anyone else grow Veronica gentianoides? A light soft blue but not real long on bloom time, 4 weeks-ish. I grew a bunch from seed last season and am waiting for first bloom... another great one is Veronica "Waterperry Blue" Pix 4
I love the blue of Linum perenne (blue flax pix 2), and the Gentians are another lovely (from groundcovers to 24", pix 1 ) is G. septemfida groundcover and late summer bloom. Clem is Durandii.

Also picked up a new one this spring but have to see it next spring....Veronica liwaensis, cobalt blue flowers, 1-2" foliage on matt forming plant.

How is your Durandii so blue? So pretty! I bought Arabella because it was supposed to be very blue, but it isn't, especially next to the blue pot!

Do these count? They're surely blue... (ampelopsis).

They surely are!

My favourite blue this year is Nigella Damascena (Love in a Mist). The seeds were a gift from Critter's Joyanna, and they grew wonderfully!! (pics 1 and 2)
And then there's my old faithful Plumbago - here's the first bloom of this year (about 1 1/2 weeks ago).. now there are lots more. :)

Oh yeah.

I tried to find an Ampelopsis at one of my favorite nurseries and they didn't even have it, (they usually do) darn!!!!!! And yes they are such a lovely steel blue!!!!! How long are they that color, must be months....

Cville....lol, are your bluberries growing out there with the flowers? YUM, those look soooooooo good.. And I sure wish they could breed the flax to bloom all summer!!!!! I've let those things reseed at will, love how they make a wonderful carpet when they drop their petals!!!

Speedi..I LOVVVE how the Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (perenn. Plumbago) leaves turn a brilliant red when the flowers are still blooming. Pretty, pretty, pretty!

OH Cville, those booberries look so scrummy!!! Breakfast is served! =)

Kathy, yeah, that's one of my favourite things about Plumbago; I'm big on foliage, and their colour is so darned pretty! I also love that I can "prune" them with the lawn mower when the blooms die and they'll give me a second (and third) flushing. ;)

I used to have Blue Flax several years ago in one of my beds.. sadly it just never came back. I think they got over-run the Echinacea.

A shot of the Flax I had, 2011 Spring (they were Winter-Sown).. amongst the Daisies.

Put them on your list to get from me!!!! (I have hundres of them!)

Oh, what fun it is to look at this new thread. I have things that are almost blue like Campanula Bernice.

Speedie, I was very intrigued to hear of your success with nigella - and what a gorgeous specimen. It's a plant I have been thinking of growing.

And my new platycodon grandiflorus are in bud. I have been having fun germinating things on my south facing patio. After all the stuff with shop lights, it's fun to just throw cerinth, fragaria vesca reugen, and peppers into a seed starting mix, or right into a pot, and watch them grow.

Glad you made it Donna....welcome!!!! Hope my Bernice made, no blooms yet but it's sooo pretty...show us pix!!!

Oh, Speedie, could you please fill me in on the aggressiveness of plumbago? I was trying to choose between it and wintergreen (I don't know why I though it was either/or) and chose wintergreen. I have to acidify it and make sure it doesn't dry out but it worked and I am in the berry phase. But something that could be mowed - wow!

I'm so happy to be back - this is one of the threads with really kind and inventive and enthusiastic people - such fun.

I put in a pile of nasturtiums in my front bed that wiped out the Bernice I had there, but I had three in my side bed and they are outrageous this year. Much to my shock my front bed is packed with nepeta, Bernice, lilies and the successful installation of the red rose Tess of the 'Durbervilles. I actually have trouble wading into the bed to deadhead. This is only my third year here, and there was nothing there but adenophora and a pear that I removed - what a wonderful problem.

And then the lilies started opening and the Bernice, gorgeous as it is, actually became a BACKDROP!

Kathy, Bless your fuzzy heart, thank you! ... Ummm, but,... what list? LOL! OK, I guess I'll have to make a "my list", hahahaaa!!

Donna, I have not deadheaded any of my Nigella, I'm enjoying the "Little Alien Head" seed pods (they're so darned cute!), and I want to try my hand at harvesting seeds from this gem. If I have luck, I will be SUPER glad to share!! And, the Plumbago is not invasive or aggressive at all. It's been there 3 years now and it is super well-behaved. In my opinion, a bit too well-behaved; it's not spreading as fully as I would like. It gets about an hour of first-morning sunlight, and about an hour of late afternoon sun; the rest of the time it's in moderate to bright shade. It's in really clay-y, rocky, icky soil (might be why it's not spreading as much as I'd like, eh?) heeheeheee Will get more pics of it this weekend, with more blooms on it.

Oh, I might have to put that plumbago on my list. There is enough room for wintergreen and plumbago.

Thanks Sweetie!

Hi Donna, great to see you here! Also your Bernice, so pretty. And Lilies...

Speedie- It never occurred to me to let the plumbago creep Into the lawn- what a great idea! I have some, found it several years ago, completely untended, as a very neat weed-less patch in part shade, at the base of a huge Wisteria. I noticed it because of the beautiful blooms, of course. I've tried it in shady spots here and there, but not ever in the right place, so it runs toward the sun, gets in the way of other things, and I yank it out. But you've given me new inspiration, so I'll keep trying.

Thanks to Rteets, I tried blue Nigella seeds in a pot for the first time last year and loved it, even though it got leggy from lack of sun. This year somehow I didn't get to it. I wonder if I sprinkle seeds now in a couple of bare spots if it will germinate and bloom in the fall?

That's what I want! Plumbago creeping into the lawn! Yes!

After years and years of starting seeds under lights, I finally realized that my southfacing patio does the trick. In the last few days I have germinated a bunch of things, as I mentioned above, by just setting them on top of some seeding mix and gently watering. Some of them I tried repeatedly by traditional methods. What, I get to be lazy?

Salvia farinacea is next. In three colors. Whoo hoo!

This message was edited Jul 18, 2014 4:57 AM

I'm gonna do that too!!! The best part about it is that most will bloom next year, instead of waiting until the year after. For those that need stratifying, I'll try what worked indoors this winter: Soak 24 hours, then freeze 24 hours. Worked really well most of the time, with only a few exceptions.

Oh what lovely Nigella Pam!!! =) Do you consider them "leggy"? That's rather what mine look like, quite tall (about a foot or a bit more).. I thought that's what they were supposed to look like - no?

Donna, I sprinkled a few Nigella seeds in a pot out back about 1-2 weeks ago (to fill in a couple bare spots), and they have germinated really well; are all about 2-3 inches tall now. I say "YES!", go for it!!

Pic: Nigella "Little Alien Head" seed pod. :)

Maybe you're right, Speedie. I remembered a haze of blue, and was surprised to see such long stems in the pic. What I also remember is that I must have seeded them in late spring, and they didn't bloom until after the heat of summer was over. I'll try seeding them this weekend.

I think that nigella would look smashing with roses. Select Seeds, from which I periodically order, was always rhapsodizing about nigella but I didn't pay attention. I have almost 30 roses now (how did that happen?), most of them old garden rebloomers, and I think the combo would be great!

Nigella...love it but always forget to start any and again for this year too....maybe I should look for some of my seed too...lol.

Speedie...lol, pam and I have been doing side trades for a while now....(1-2 years? or is this year 3?) Sometimes it's just easier to ask for some things than to get a trade of whatever I have and wanna get rid of in the other trades... Such as her wanting to replace her obediant plant...I happen to have scads of it so I chimmed in and offered....and tons of the flax. And I'm quite sure her list of things that I want is longer than her wants...lol... Later kiddos, Kathy

Yep, I'm the list keeper. I have a notepad page on my iPad where I keep track of trades so I don't get confused or forget. Makes a big difference!

So today I seeded white and blue Nigella in the pots I'm not happy with. Finally!

Then our weekend guests arrived, so no more gardening. We're focused on these particular guests more than usual because we want to go visit them in South Africa next spring.

So far, looks very possible!

I hope you are enjoying a very happy visit with your guests, Pam, and that all goes well for a visit to South Africa next year; Wheeeee!! =)

Well, my Plumbago isn't as bloom-covered yet as I expected, here's what it's wearing so far this season. ...Musta been the extra cold Winter that set them back a bit. Lots of lush green foliage, not a whole lotta blooms yet.

Hehehe... Success!!! We're going to SA in March!!!

Plumbago blooms later here, nice to see yours. I do love the color!

YIPPEEE!!!!!!! Now, time to start shopping for what you'll need for the trip! ;) heeheeheee

Can't you just feel Speedie's exurberance in the postings? I love it!

Personally, I'm thinking Pam needs to stuff us in her suitcases...lol/ And I'm thinking March is perfect timing. (Hope you have fun!)

I fold up well.