Summertime Blues

They say that a true, pure blue in the garden is hard to find.  There is masses written about plants that are or are not blue but in fact shades of purple, lavender or mauve which pass themselves of as blue.  I do like blue in the garden, blue is my favourite colour.  Whether or not the blues in my garden are in fact blue, they look blue enough to me to consider them blue!  I've also read that bees, insects and other pollinators can't actually see the colour blue.  I find that in my garden they have no problem locating these plants, in fact some of them seem to be favoured by them.  I therefore conclude that it must the their scent that is the attraction.  Some I find have obvious scent, for example Nepeta, Salvia and of course Lavender but others are completely void of any scent to human nose.   

Only this afternoon I was driving past a garden that was full to bursting with Blue Hydrangeas.    The sweeping bank that wrapped around the driveway was a sea of blue.  The garden was large and could easily carry it off.   How I wish I'd had my camera with me to get a shot.  It was a sight for sore eyes let me tell you.

For a moment or two I had a slight pang of regret at having gave away my Hydrangeas last year.  When I got home, I realised that my garden was not completely void of blue.  There's lots of blues that I suppose aren't really blue if you want to get down to the nitty gritty but I'm not one for getting into the nitty gritty of such things, life's just too short!

Two blue plants that grow in my garden are really not for me, if I'm honest!  I just get the benefit of the flowers.  I grow these especially for the cats.  One of my cats is particularly possessive over his catmint.  He goes to all sorts of lengths to stop his brothers or neighbouring cats getting their paws on it.  Here's a picture taken last year, I had just planted it and had a good old chew before I gave it some protection.  You can actually see the loving and longing in his eyes or is it that's he's just high!  More likely the later.

Titch looking admiringly at a newly planted Nepeta

Tip - For those that find cats destroy catmint - protecting the crown of the plant with an upturned wire hanging basket like this is great.  It prevents the cats from rolling on the crown and killing the plant.  It does look a little odd until the plants fills out and disguises the wires.

The dry sunny weather has done wonders for the catmint this year.  Nepeta grandiflora Blue Danube - is a nice compact variety and thanks to the wire basket, remains very upright.  This is the same plant as above one year on.
 

Another catmint, a taller more vigorous variety Nepeta Six Hills Giant.  It can be rather floppy in the conditions in my garden but the wire basket just helps it stay a tad more erect but small enough to keep the arching habit the plant has naturally.  The fact that Nepeta is popular with the bees is another good reason to grow at least one of these in the garden, providing you have a good spot for it that is.

Nepeta Six Hills Giant

Buddleia davidii Blue Empire, with a feeding drone fly (Eristalis tenax) is flowering a good couple of weeks earlier this year.  I do hope we see some early butterflies to go along with it.  I'll need to keep on top of dead heading if it's too meet the demand of the butterflies that appear later in the season.

Buddleia davidii Blue Empire and Eristalis tenax

A hardy blue geranium, naturally a bit of a clamberer rather than a clumper, has managed to use a nearby Clematis as support and is doing almost as good job of climbing the trellis as the Clematis is.  You can make out Aconitum Stainless Steel in the border behind the trellis, another non blue blue!

Unknown blue hardy Geranium and Aconitum Stainless Steel 

Spring flowering Brunnera produces an abundance of pretty little forget me not type flowers early in the year.  The plants that grow here in full sun are generally a bit tired by the time we reach June, those in shade do far better.  I learned many years ago that by chopping them right back to the ground, they produce new foliage in a mater of 2 weeks and a second flush of flowers mid July.  Granted it doesn't flower quite so prolifically but I don't mind that one bit.



Brunnera macrophylla Jack Frost



A new blue I've introduced to the garden this summer was a bit of an impulsebuy  to tell you the truth.  Once I got them home I really did struggle to find them a home. I found the dark blue quite intense and it clashed with almost everything I placed it beside.  However, after reading they are short lived (expensive lesson!) I decided that I'd give them a go beside Primula vialii, which is also quite fussy but reliably perennial here in my garden for the past 3 years.  So if it's to come back, this could well be the ideal spot.

Primula capitata noverna Deep Blue

The next blue came as quite a surprise.  I have not seen this plant for 2 years.  I planted 3 together in a clump summer 2011 and gradually they all disappeared.  I planted Geranium sanguineum in it's place.  Which appeared to be a bit more reliable in my garden.   Isn't it odd when these things happen.

Geranium Pratense Black Beauty
and
Geranium sanguineum

Hosta Aureomarginata gets a bit too much sun, not only does it fade the foliage, it reduces the purple tone of the flowers to the extent they look almost blue when they are fully opened.

Hosta Aureomarginata

If you visit nurseries and GCs in summer there are generally a wide range of Salvias available in many shades of blues and purples.  Salvia x sylvestris Blue Queen seen here with the blue of Clematis The Vagabond.  Salvias are another range of plants that are loved by pollinators.

Salvia x sylvestris Blue Queen
and
Clematis The Vagabond

A couple of sun loving blues that don't cope with conditions in my garden - a blue agapanthus (there will be more on this plant in future blog) and Eryngium bougatii Graham Stuart Thomas grows in a pot, it means I can provide better drainage that is available in the ground. 

Blue Agapanthus

Eryngium bourgatii Graham Stuart Thomas

The Eryngium should come complete with an ouch warning.  If I've pricked myself on that sharp foliage once, I've did it a thousand times! 

The bendy blue racemes of Veronicastrum virginicum Apollo fascinate me.  No two flowers bend the same way.  This North American native makes a nice statement in any border.  Despite the fact it is not a native and blue, it still attracts plenty of pollinators.  Except when I have the camera out that is!

Flowers aren't the only blues right now.  Mahonia, The Oregon Grape (you can see why it got it's common name) is abundant with blue/purple berries or should that be grapes?  Either way, they make a nice statement on their own.  This year was the first it had flowered in 3 years, therefore the first time I've had berries.  Whether or not they are eaten by the birds remains to be seen.

Mahonia x media Charity

More blue adornments, this time by the way of cones on Abies Koreana Silberline.  Everyone that sees this tree comments on the cones and can't believe their eyes.

Abies koreana Silberline

The last of my blues in flower this week is a new Clematis I picked up in the supermarket in springtime.  It was rather small but is coming on a treat in a pot until it puts on a good root system and I can plant it out in Autumn.

Clematis Rhapsody

So there you have them, my summertime blues!  Are you a sucker for blue flowers?  I know I am. Do you find that the pollinators are as attracted to the blues as they are other colours in your garden?  You might not even like blue in the garden, I couldn't imagine a garden without it mind you.

I hope the weather has been kind to you all this weekend, as it has here.  Long may it continue!

Shades of Blue