Blue allium.
Centaurea montana, the perennial bachelor button.
Morning glory Nothing is bluer than a blue morning
glory and you will fall in love with the ‘Picotee Blue’ morning glory, which has a dignified rim of white around its blue petals.
Veronica and hydrangea When it comes to Veronica, there are
several true blues. Creeping speedwell is the other name for Veronica repens, a very true blue. ‘Georgia Blue’ is one and ‘Oxford Blue’ out of England is another. The new blue favourite in colder
zones is Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer”. There are also many shades of blue iris. The lollipop shaped Allium comes in many blues. Linum, the true blue flax seed, will return year after year.
Gentian No story about blue plants would be
complete without mentioning gentian. I know a place where the fringed gentian blooms wild, waving innocently in a dusty ditch. There is nothing as lovely. Fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinite) opens in the sunshine. It closes its petal to shut out the clouds. Fringed gentian is a short-lived biennial that begins life as an insignificant rosette of leaves the first year, then bursts into bloom the second, spilling its seed lightly on the ground in open spaces. It likes boggy areas and sunlight. Granted, there are garden-variety
gentians, too, renowned for their blue and pretty in their own right, but the wildness of the fringed gentian once seen will steal your heart and make it hard to accept anything less. This summer, add a little blue. It will brighten your days. V
www.localgardener.net
Above: Campaula ‘Blue Clips’. Top right: Fringed gentian. Right: Victoria Blue salvia.
Above: Salvia ‘Black and Blue’. Right: Linum or flax. Bottom: ‘May Night’ perennial salvia.
Lobelia. WINTER 2013 19
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