Blue Flowers or Flower Parts

Deep purplish blue Iris-like flowers are produced on 2' high spikes are held above the upright to arching dark-green, textured sword shaped foliage. Blue Stars often begins flowering in spring and continues into summer. The overall appearance of this hardy rhizomatous African native is like an overgrown Blue-Eyed Grass. Blue Stars is a naturally evergreen clump forming perennial but the foliage my die back at temperatures below 20oF. Provide good drainage in an average moist rich soil with shade during the hottest portions of the day in hot summer climates. Makes an easy container plant where not hardy. Item# 11019

Masses of 1" wide blue to violet daisies with a yellow eye seemingly cover up this perennial in late summer and fall providing nectar for pollinators including bees and migrating Monarchs. Bluebird Smooth Blue Aster, a selection of Symphyotrichum laeve (previously Aster laevis), was the top-rated aster in trials at Mt. Cuba Center. It has a naturally upright to vase-shaped, clump-forming habit and grows to 3-4' at flowering but can be pinched in late spring or early summer to produce a fuller more compact plant. The Smooth Blue Aster is found throughout much of the US and into Canada. Provide a well-drained, average to semi-dry soil conditions in full sun to mostly sunny sites for optimum vigor and flowering, although it is tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions. It is considered to be tolerant of part shade to light shade, but plants may require staking. Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 12247

The widely flaring deep blue-purple fan shaped flowers open from tubular buds, and are very reminiscent of Scaevola or Half-Flower, open singly and in clusters held at the growing tips as well as in the leaf axils attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The 5-lobed flowers of Blue-Lips, Sclerochiton harveyanus, are produced most heavily throughout the warmer months of the year. This is a shade tolerant naturally spreading to scandent (vine-like) evergreen tropical shrub with rounded, glossy deep green foliage. Blue-Lips is considered to be frost resistant but not freeze tolerant and it is easily maintained as a shrub form for containers, including hanging baskets, in and around larger growing shade-loving tropicals in the garden as well as on a shaded porch or patio. Provide it with an average moist, acidic to neutral, well-drained soil in a site that receives at least some cool morning sunlight or filtered sunlight for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12268

Pale sky blue falls and standards with darker blue veining and narrow yellow signals and are centered by complimentary white style arms. Bywater Louisiana Iris, named for the body of water, is midseason flowering, April, and is a smaller growing cultivar reaching 24-28" high. Louisiana Irises are easy and adaptable, rhizomatous perennials with fans of deep green sword-like foliage and seem as at home in standing water as they do in average moist garden soils. Remember that these plants do most of their growing in fall and winter and so this is when they should be fed and fall is also a great time to divide plants if desired. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 13342

The 3" wide, cornflower-like daisies open white, slowly work their way through shades of lavender, and finally deepen to a violet blue creating a rainbow of cool-colored flowers even on the same flower stalk. Colorwheel Stokesia is just as tough and reliable as its brethren creating a mound of foliage on a durable and dense clump forming native perennial. Stokesia Daisy is one of those plant it and forget it perennials, once they become established in nearly any garden or landscape they require almost no additional care. Item# 10928.

Tall dense spikes of light blue-purple tubular flowers are held above the licorice-scented deep green foliage that is neatly edged in bright white. The nectar rich flowers are produced throughout the growing season and attract a seemingly endless procession of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Crazy Fortune Anise Hyssop, a selection of the award winning Blue Fortune, is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial with an upright bushy habit maturing to about 2-3'H and half as wide. The variegated foliage will be most noticeable where plants are upclose and personal making this an easy choice for containers on a sunny deck or patio or near the front of the garden or landscape. Provide a well-drained, fertile, average moist soil in a full to mostly sunny location for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of Concept Plants BV®, all rights reserved. Item# 13161

In late summer, fall, and winter - in tropical climates, Crucita covers up in nectar rich, flat-topped clusters composed of numerous, fuzzy, light blue to light purple flowers that make the perfect landing platforms for pollinators of all shapes and sizes. Crucita or Jack in the Bush, Chromalaena odorata, is a naturally evergreen to semi-evergreen, shrub-like to vine-like perennial, typically growing to about 4-6' high and wide in areas where freezes regularly occur. In tropical winter climates where the woody stems do not freeze back, it can become scandent, or vine-like, with plants potentially scrambling up to about 10-20'H. In late fall in South Texas, where this is one of the most common species planted for butterflies, the plants seemingly cover up with pollinators. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in, fertile, average moist, and average to well drained soils. A breathable winter mulch is recommended anywhere hard freezes occur and in drier locations. Caterpillar host: Rounded Metalmark. Item# 10670

Dense whorls of nectar rich, purple to dark blue-purple, tubular flowers seemingly cover up the upper most portions of the plant for weeks beginning in mid to late summer and continuing into fall. Dark Knight Bluebeard, a.k.a. Black Knight, is a vigorous and easy sunloving free-flowering clump forming shrub-like perennial that quickly develops into a dense mound of fragrant and deer resistant gray-green foliage. In zones 5-6 it tends to act more like a clump forming die-back perennial and becomes more shrub-like where winters are milder although it benefits from hard late winter or early spring pruning since it flowers on new growth. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established and prefers a sunny site in a well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12117

The large, up to 6-7" diameter, rounded clusters are composed of deep violet blue, trumpet shaped flowers that become pendant as they open are held on sturdy 3-4' high stems in summer. Elaine Agapanthus or Lily of the Nile is a vigorous, clump forming, naturally evergreen, tropical, root hardy perennial with arching, narrow strap-like, medium green foliage. Provide Agapanthus with a full sun to partly shaded site in a rich fertile, average moist soil with average or better drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. Makes an easy and low-maintenance container plant where not hardy. Agapanthus flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. May be fully winter deciduous in areas where moderate to hard freezes occur. The image is of Purple Cloud Agapanthus is shown here for reference. Item# 13351

Eva Lyon Holmes is a repeat blooming Hydrangea sporting large Mopheads of pink or blue beginning in late spring and will continue to bloom on new growth into summer and fall. Repeat blooming Hydrangea varieties will bloom even after extreme cold has frozen the buds of older varieties making them more suitable choices for northern regions. item# 9074.

Up to 1" wide, light purple to blue, yellow-eyed daisies are borne in small clusters and singly atop a dense mound of bristly arching stems over an extended period in late summer and fall attracting a variety of smaller pollinators, especially bees. The Flax-Leaf Ankle-Aster, Ionactis lineariifolia but potentially I. repens (see additional notes on this plant's full product page), is a clump forming, herbaceous, native perennial that grows from a woody base producing a multitude of small wiry stems that are adorned with very narrow, stiff, fine, gray-green foliage. The plants naturally form a fairly dense rounded and spreading mound of stems to about 12-18" high and 16-24" wide. Locally, we normally find this plant on deep, dryish, poor sandy or loamy soils. This unusual Aster is native to much of the central and eastern US. It is a tough, deer and drought resistant, native perennial that is suitable for the perennial garden, rock gardens, and xeriscaping as well as for naturalistic areas like meadows and roadsides. The plants are moderately shade tolerant, but may flower best where they receive 4-6 hours or more of direct sunlight. Provide the Flax-Leaf Ankle-Aster with a sharply draining sandy, loamy, or rocky soil and average moisture during initial establishment. Item# 10692

Large branching, loose flower spikes to 16" high are composed of blue to purple, up to 2" long, hooded, two-lipped, tubular, lightly fragrant flowers that attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It may be in flower at anytime of year but may be heaviest in spring and fall. Giant Blue African Salvia, Brillantasia nitens, is an unusual, large and vigorous, naturally evergreen, herbaceous tropical adorned in large, medium green, textured, tropical foliage on square stems and can grow to 6-9' high and potentially to 15' and tree-like under warm tropical conditions. Provide a full sun to part sun site, in an average moist to moist, fertile soil with average or better drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 10703

You can grow this award winning Bluebeard for its foliage alone! The new bright yellow spring foliage retains its color throughout the growing season even in the hot and humid south. In late summer and fall, dense whorled clusters of deep violet-blue, nectar rich, tubular flowers are held above and among the wonderfully contrasting foliage. Gold Crest Bluebeard, a Caryopteris hybrid, was selected for its heat tolerant brilliant foliage, for its dense compact habit, and its pollinator attracting flowers. In zone 6 Bluebeard tends to act more like a clump forming die-back perennial and becomes more shrub-like where winters are milder, although, it benefits from a hard late winter or early spring pruning since it flowers on new growth. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established and prefers a sunny site in a well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Won Best Pollinator Friendly Perennial for the Southeast in 2019 at the UGA Trial Gardens and was rated above a 4.5 out 5 at both Penn State(2021) and Mississippi State(2020) trial gardens as 2nd year perennials! Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12506

A blue flowered Sasanqua! Dark purple buds open to purplish-red the first day and change to lavender-blue the second creating a multi-colored effect on this semi-dwarf evergreen Sasanqua in fall. The blues are intensified in acid soils. Rich deep green rounded foliage on a compact rounded plant. Very similar to Shi-Shi Gashira in foliage and habit and is a chance seedling of the Louisiana Super Plant selection Shi-Shi Gashira. Item# 9636.

Flat topped clusters of bluish-purple Ageratum-like flowers are borne atop short sturdy stems that are adorned with finely cut and softly textured, medium green foliage. The flowers attract loads of butterflies as well as other pollinators and Gregg's Mistflower flowers most heavily beginning in late summer and lasting through fall. Its rhizomatous though non-aggressive nature makes this durable and drought resistant perennial an excellent addition to the garden where it can be utilized as a groundcover as well as in naturalistic settings. It does seem to prefer a little midday and afternoon shade, especially in the hottest summer climates and in dryer settings. Selected as a 2024 Texas Superstar® plant thanks to its flowerpower, toughness, and reliability. Caterpillar host: Rawson's Metalmark. Item# 10811.

Spikes up to 16-20" high are topped by clusters of tubular blue to blue-violet flowers with a contrasting white bee-guide are produced beginning as early as late spring but mainly in summer, occasionally into fall, and attract a variety of native bees along with larger butterflies. Helmet Skullcap, Scutellaria integrifolia, is a small, 12-20" high, clump forming to short rhizomatous perennial native from East Texas, all along the Gulf Coast and up the Eastern Seaboard into southern Massachussets and New York. This is a common component of the brightly lit understory in the Pineywoods and locally we typically see it in dryer or mesic uplands including hardwood and pineforests in well-drained loamy and sandy soils as well as in more moist sunnier sites. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. May reseed on exposed soils. Item# 12769