Deep purple-blue bells on running clumps, tall larkspur scapes and indigo lupine spires: blue is an uncommon flower colour, yet plenty of plants supply it. Give each one the light and soil it asks for, from constantly moist ground to part shade or humus-rich beds, and you get a permanent show of blue from spring to autumn.
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You’ll have a permanent show of blue in all hues from spring to fall!
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Even though blue isn’t a very common flower color, there are still quite a lot of plants that offer these cool-colored wonders up for us to feast our eyes!
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Set blue bugle up for ground cover. This short plant with purple blue flowers can cope with full sun if moisture in the soil stays constant.
Avoid spots with too much scorching sun.
Plant rockwall bellflower to colonize cobblestones and stone walls and let it spread a carpet of blue flowers. This perennial blooms unceasingly during the entire season.
It can cope with part shade and adapts to all types of soil. Simply remember to contain it somehow if you don’t want it to invade your entire flower bed!
Larkspur will produce tall scapes of blue flowers from June to October.
For best results, select vigorous young plants that show thick, strong stems. Run the hoe often to aerate the soil and keep it cool.
Amend it with manure for maintenance every spring.
Peach-leaf bellflower sports large, upright blue flowers and revels in sun or part sun. They bloom from June to August.
The blues on offer differ less in colour than in what they ask for: a wall to creep over, a rich bed, or ground that stays cool. Here is what the article says about each plant’s spot, soil and season.
| Plant | Best spot | Soil | Flowering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue bugle | Ground cover, full sun tolerated | Soil that stays constantly moist | — |
| Rockwall bellflower | Cobblestones and stone walls, part shade | All types of soil | All season long |
| Larkspur | Open beds, tall scapes | Rich soil, manure every spring | Early summer to mid-autumn |
| Peach-leaf bellflower | Sun or part sun | Rich soil | Early summer to late summer |
| Bellflower ‘Latifolia macrantha’ | Part shade, unafraid of cold | Heavy soil | Cut stems back after blooming |
| Russell’s lupines | Indigo-blue spires | Copes with dry soil, dislikes chalk | Late spring to midsummer |
| Columbine hybrids (Aquilegia) | Sun and part sun | Humus-rich, settles into heavy soil | Late spring to midsummer |
Match the plant to the soil and light you actually have, and the blue takes care of itself.
Again, a different bellflower variety, Latifolia macrantha, is running and hardy perennial that produces dense clumps of bells of a magnificent deep purple-blue hue. It loves part shade and doesn’t fear the cold. Cut flowering stems back after the blooming and remember to keep them in check, because they have a tendency to gobble up space.
Russel’s lupines add a hearty touch of indigo blue from May to July. They can deal with dry soil but don’t like chalky soil so much. Rejuvenate the clumps once every three years.
Columbine hybrids (Aquilegia), which are an intense blue, love humus-rich soil, sun and part sun. They will settle in heavy soil and possibly have a short lifespan at the start, but their self-sown offspring will cope with it increasingly better. To extend their blooming between May and July, simply retain soil coolness with a mulch made from leaves or lawn trimmings.
M.-C. H.
