Plant blue flowers in your perennial garden to give your landscaping a relaxed, cooling effect. Perennials grow back year after year, so you only need to buy them once. After two or three seasons, you can divide and transplant your perennials and increase the number of plants in your garden. The blue flowers suggested are light or medium shades of true blue, and not purple. The fragrant suggestions will add a new dimension of pleasure to your perennial garden.
Virginia Bluebells
Native to eastern woodlands, Virginia Bluebells make a good addition to your spring perennial garden. Bluebells naturalize quickly in areas with shade to partial shade and ample soil moisture. The plants appear in early spring, growing from 1 to 2 ½ feet tall. Flowers first appear as pinkish buds and tiny blossoms. As the flower clusters mature, they change to a clear sky blue, providing two to three weeks of color. Bluebell foliage dies back quickly after the plants bloom, with timing similar to most spring flowering bulbs.
Clouds of Perfume Woodland Phlox
For a low-growing, pale blue flowering perennial that loves the shade, try Clouds of Perfume Woodland Phlox. This plant grows 12″ to 15″ tall, and naturalizes beautifully. Plant it near a window or shady patio so you can enjoy the lovely fragrance. The north side of a building is an ideal place for this phlox. Butterflies and hummingbirds will crowd around the flowers to sip the nectar. This plant is a short version of garden phlox, not a creeping variety. Transplant Clouds of Perfume phlox in early spring. It blooms mid- to late spring.
Blue Clips Campanula
Blue Clips Campanula will fill your beds and borders with deep sky blue, bell-shaped flowers, beginning in early to mid-summer and continuing until fall. The heart-shaped leaves make this an attractive foliage plant even before the blooms appear. The flowers cover the plants, usually obscuring the foliage once the plants are in full bloom. One plant grows about 12″ tall and 12″ wide. Campanulas like full sun to partial shade, and they spread rapidly. Transplant Blue Clips in either spring or fall.
Caryopteris, Blue Mist
This Blue Mist shrub is another plant you’ll want to locate near a window, porch or outdoor living area. All parts of this plant have a heavenly aroma that attracts bees and butterflies. It blooms from mid-summer until frost, with clusters of medium blue flowers at the end of each branch. The flowers form on new growth each year. In warmer southern regions, prune the shrub back by about half in the spring for the best flowers. In the north, the entire top growth may die back in the winter. All new growth will appear each spring and pruning will not be necessary. This is a small bush, reaching only 2 to 4 feet tall. It likes full to partial sun and fairly dry soil, but you should water a new plant at least weekly until it is established. Transplant Blue Mist in either spring or fall.
Click here for RED flowering perennial suggestions.
Look for these perennials at your local garden center or online:
www.springhillnursery.com
www.michiganbulb.com
www.henryfields.com
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Sources: personal experience
Check with your local garden center or online for information tailored to your planting zone.
