How to Plant Blue Flowers

Monochromatic colored gardens can be both tastful and eye-catching. I have a special love for blue colored flowers, probably since there are a lot fewer of them than other colors. So here are some fun plants with blue flowers that you can use with other flowers in a specially-created 'blue-flowered garden'.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. There are plants for every climate and every exposure. Blue ones too! So here are just a few of my favorites...
2. Salvia chamaedryoides. One of many wonderful blue flowers. This one is drought-tolerant and because it has soft gray-white leaves it looks bluish even when not in flower. It doesn't need great soil but it does need plenty of sun.
3. The short lived annual lobelia 'Cambridge Blue' has purple flushed leaves and dark blue flowers. There are several blue tints as well as pinks, purples and whited in the annual lobelia. Use it for borders or fill in blank spaces in the garden. Give it sun.
4. Ceratostigma plumbagiodes is sometimes known as dwarf plumbago. It isn't actually a plumbago, stays low-growing and can tolerate some frost. The flowers are an unreal sky blue and in the winter, before dying back into dormancy, the leaves burn a bright but deep red. This one takes shade or sun and isn't fussy about soil. It will creep to make a good ground cover.
5. English lavender Lavender has a number of purple and blue-flowered varieties. Try l.multifida for a dark indigo color.
6. Penstemons come in all different colors. Growing 2 - 3' tall, some of the best blues are p.'Electric Blue" p. 'Mountain Blue' and p. "Midnight'. A very deep purple color is found in the P. 'Sour Grapes'.
7. Perovskia is called 'Russian Sage' even though it isn't in the sage family. This one can grow 5' tall, handle low water and most kinds of soil and is feathered with purple-blue masses of tiny flowers. It has a gray-white foliage that is lacy and delicate. It's another sun lover.
8. Rosemary can grow to 5' tall or trail along the ground. Two cultivars with distinctively blue flowers are the medium-sized R. 'Ken Taylor' and the ground-hugging 'Irene'. The latter can also cascade over a wall in the most seductive way!
9. A large, graceful bush, the Buddleia or butterfly bush comes in whites, pinks, purples and -- yes indeed -- blue. This one can grow from 5' to 12' tall depending on the variety. It does well in garden or lean soil, with normal water or on the dry side and in full sun. It truly does attract both butterflies and finches.
10. The 'Blue Hibiscus' Alyogyne Of course, this is just a smattering of the wonderful world of blues available in the garden. You can even mix these with colored foliage (especially whites, grays and bluish tints) for a great effect. Plant them together with purples, violets, and a sparkle of white for a cool-colored garden. And check out more flowers in the wonderful color of blue!