Glandora, Lithodora, Scrambling Gromwell, Shrubby Gromwell 'Grace Ward'

I grow Lithodora here in Upstate Sc. It is an evergreen and a profuse bloomer. It blooms all summer and is hardy in my zone 7b/8a zone....Read More I grow it in my Xeric bed with Delospermas , Sago, and Agave. It is beautiful scrambling over the rocks.

The plants look great in the nursery, with electric blue flowers over neat foliage.

In Boston (Z6a), I've tried this sever...Read Moreal times in well-drained sandy loam that's acid enough to support ericaceous plants. I've had a lot of trouble with the foliage turning black and beginning to die back a few months after planting. The plants may survive the winter but never look as good the second year, and never last long.

Perhaps it's that the irrigation systems give too much water, too often (daily). Perhaps sharp sand would help. Perhaps it's the climate here in southern New England. But I've given up on this plant.

Are you willing to be challenged a bit for beauty sake?

Grace Ward Lithodora flowers in intense, deep true-blue tiny bloss...Read Moreoms covering the plant once a year for about 4 weeks in the Southern California hot Inland Empire. The rest of the year there are a smattering of flowers throughout its low (4-5") dark green leathery narrow foliage. Takes 3 years to expand to about 3' in diameter in our poor but amended soil with moderate water the first year.

It will produce some volunteers under the main plant. I sweep away mulch from under the plant as it grows to encourage this. It can be finicky & die seemingly without cause. If I plant 3, I seem to invariably lose one. At times it will die back in the center of the plant. I attribute this to our highly alkaline, rocky soil. With a little lower pH & more organic materials in soil, I don't think I would experience these problems as much...

But it is still my favorite flower of all. The blue is stunning when the whole plant blossoms in spring. There is nothing like it. I have purchased it at Lowes in March when it blooms & at Mt. Fuji Garden Center in Upland, CA, & at Sunshine Growers in Ontario, CA.

I have been struggling with the plant for a year. I bought it with superb gentian coloured flowers. I planted it in the shade, and it str...Read Moreuggled, I planted it in the sun, it struggled some more, so I dug it up and put it in a pot, first in the shade, then in the sun. Still struggling, and now the leaves are going variegated, which I do not like. It is pretty hot here in Portugal, about 35C, so I will try the shade once more. Have just seen on Google that it needs acid soil, which you don't mention.
Need I say it has not flowered since I bought it? If I had not seen the flowers, it would have been compost months ago. Grateful if anyone has any suggestions??

I've had this plant in my rock garden for a couple of years now. It started out with just three or four 4" pots, which spread to an area...Read More that's about five feet square within two years. It gets full sun and drip irrigation during the summer. It drapes itself beautifully over the rocks, but now, even though it is still mostly green, looks untidy and parts of it is black, especially under the cascading areas. So, I'll take the hedge trimmers to it next month and fertilize it to stimulate new growth. All the literature says to prune only after it blooms, but I've also heard from my friends that what I intend to do should be just fine. Will report back as to my success.

I have planted this at least 4-5 times.....the first time it lasted thru a mild winter.....but most of the time it dies even if I...Read More forget to water it....
not very drought tolerant.....which is confusing since because I thought it comes from a Mediterranean climate.....
It is such a beautiful shade of blue......

Love this plant, just wish I could get it to root starter plants more easily.
I planted a starter plant from a 2 inch pot into my ...Read Morerock garden in 2008 and now in 2013 it cascades approximately 4 feet down the rocks and is beginning to grow on the sidewalk as well as up a trellis on the fence. It is amazing in that this plant only has one center root and has not self rooted anywhere to support such a big plant.
From early spring to late fall there always are some blossoms on this plant and the bees just love it. What a beneficial plant.
I've never trimmed or fertilized this plant and it handles drought very well. All I did was mix healthy, slightly acidic well draining dirt (mainly peat, loam and horse manure) when I started the rock garden and the Pacific North West coast climate has handled the rest.
Recently my husband rolled part of this plant out of his way and left it rolled over for a day; it suffered immediately but recovered very quickly.
I've never posted a picture before but I will try today so you can see this beautiful plant.

I have been growing this alpine in a container in John Innes 2 compost for the first time this year. It produced a flush of beautiful blu...Read Moree gentian coloured flowers. This flush is just finishing and the leaves which were a healthy looking green a few weeks ago have now turned black and died as did the whole plant a month later

Bought a second Lithodora and that one was planted in the ground. This time it thrived.

/photos/12074760@N03/8723236777/in/photostream/lightbox/ (photo 05/02/2013)

Regards,

Paul

I neglected my garden last year and this thing survived a mild drought in clay soil. Despite this treatment it rewarded me with the brig...Read Morehtest, most vibrant flowers of all my plants.
After a little water and fertilizer it went crazy yielding flowers for longer. I am in season 3 and have yet to experience the doughnut in the middle.

Love! the color. Folage and fabulous flower color. Problem with the center turning black w/the edges continuing to be green and flower. ...Read More Too much water? When sheared back, sends up new growth and looks like a new plant. They are planted in not so great amended (mostly decomposed granit), but with good drainage. Any ideas to offset the dieback in the center?

This plant is a gorgeous true blue and I love it in full bloom, but unfortunatly I don't seem to have much luck with it. It often gets l...Read Moreeggy and woody, sometimes whole sections just turn black and die while the rest limps along. I've planted it probably 4 times or more. My latest planting is doing pretty good, maybe I've found the right combo of site/drainage/etc. If so, I'll upgrade to a positive experience.

I've found that since I live in the South, they do best with only morning sun. They can't tolerate the full sun down here. Beautiful as a...Read More groundcover around one of my oak trees.

Had to try a little with this plant. Terrible in a pot. Dying in a sunny spot. Ones at the back of the garden that get some sun but ar...Read Moree mostly shaded by other plants are doing very well.

This plant tolerates absolutely no drought. That is how I killed mine. I do not mean prolonged drought, but conditions that are fairly ...Read Morenormal in many gardens that are not damaging if not beneficial to many plants. It is, however, quite pretty and woudl be quite at home in other gardens around the country.

I'm not terribly happy with this plant...I put two in pots next to my fountain a year ago and they have looked dead/woody/leggy ever sinc...Read Moree. Now one has bloomed and looks good, but the other looks bad. Maybe they are best as a groundcover?

Planted this last summer. It survived our mild winter (zone 7b)at the edge of the cone flower bed in partial sun and is doing very well t...Read Morehis summer but getting somewhat leggy. I will attempt to prune back the center a bit this fall. I have enjoyed this plant for it low growing spreading color. Looks good under blooming perennials.

Starts off nicely as a ground cover, but becomes somewhat woody as it ages.