Gardeners know it well, blue is a color less frequent than the others in the floral field for reasons of pigments and D’alkalinity. It is therefore necessary to take the time to research a little if one wishes to cultivate plants which are covered with flowers declined in a palette of true bruises, more or less intense, ranging from pastel blue to deep blue, enough to create sumptuous shades. Among these marvels, here are 12 plants whose flowers are blue, and whose flowering time varies from one variety to another. The good idea is to adopt them all to be able to punctuate your natural space with bluish notes throughout the year.
2 blue flowering plants in the heart of winter
In winter the garden can be flowered if you take care to install a few plants early flowering. Even if the choice is more limited than in summer, certain plants with blue flowers make a splash in low temperatures.
- Hyacinth (Hyacinth) is available in different colors including pure blue. It is a bulbous plant very easy to grow, with winter flowering, from December until February. Its star-shaped flowers give off a heady perfume and powerful. It is installed in a pot for forced flowering in winter, but it can also be grown in the ground (bed, border, rockery), where it flowers during spring. It appreciates light, well-drained, loose soils but hates compact soils. Placed in full light in a warm situation, it flowers well but can tolerate light shade.
- Glory of the Snows (Chionodoxa luciliae) is a bulbous plant with early blue flowering since it flowers from February until early spring. After flowering, it disappears completely to better reappear during the following winter. Ideal in rock gardens or in the undergrowth, it likes cool, humus-rich soils and shady exposures.
2 plants with blue flowers to honor spring
There are a few azure-colored flowering plants that turn the garden into a painter’s palette. From April to June you can enjoy among others:
- Rosemary whose tops enhance the flavor of the dishes while giving them a decorative touch. It is grown in beds, isolated, in hedges but also in pots, on the terrace or balcony. It loves full sun.
- The Muscari (Muscari spp.) also called bunch hyacinth is a hardy bulbous plant capable of withstanding temperatures down to -25°C which is planted in autumn to flower from March to May. Its bright blue flowers are shaped like bells and emerge from a clump of bright green ribbon-like leaves. Muscari appreciates cool, well-drained and fertile soils. It likes semi-shaded to slightly sunny exposures. The bulbs are planted in groups to form pretty blue spots, in rockeries, borders or beds, but also find their place in planters.
6 Blue Flowering Plants That Bloom in Summer
- The Larkspur (Delphinium) which, depending on the variety, is annual or perennial, can reach 2.50 m in height. The smallest species, however, do not exceed 50 cm. It is essential in the garden if you want to create a magnificent shades of blue and bring a romantic note to your natural space. Easy to cultivate, it offers a real spectacle with its spears which flower from June until the end of September. Very hardy perennial species withstand temperatures down to -30°C. It is a plant with blue flowers that it is installed sheltered from the wind, in the sun, in a soil which must always remain fresh. Note that the Dolphins are herbaceous plants that come in a color palette that also includes pink, mauve and white.
- The Agapanthe (Agapanthus) is a must in the garden, in the ground as well as in a large container. From June to August, it is adorned with blue inflorescences in umbels. It’s a plant very graphic with its ribboned foliage and sumptuous flowers much appreciated by butterflies. It likes to be installed in the sun or in very light shade, in a well-drained soil, especially in winter, and rich. There is also an Agapanthus with white flowers.
- Aconite (Aconite turnip) is marvelous from the height of its 150 cm with its flowers of a true blue carried by proudly erected stems. To be installed at the bottom of the massif, it is perfect for playing the card of verticality. It likes shady situations and cool, well-humusd soils. But beware: the one we nicknamed Jupiter helmet is as dangerous as it is beautiful. I’Aconite turnip is one of the most poisonous plants due to the diterpene alkaloids contained in all its organs. A simple contact is enough to cause serious poisoning because one of its alkaloids (aconitine) is absorbed by the mucous membranes and the skin. Handle with gloves, therefore, and keep out of reach of children.
- Indigo blue Clematis (Clematis Durandii integrifolia) is a beautiful climber of modest size which offers us flowers in the shape of bells of an intense blue color throughout the summer. In pots or in the ground, clematis is easy to grow. It likes cool, loose, rich, well-drained soils and semi-shaded exposures.
- The Cape Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) is a Mediterranean plant with delicate flowers Azure bluegrouped in clusters that we enjoy admiring year after year from June until frost. It is a chilly plant to be grown in the ground or in a pot, which does not tolerate negative temperatures. It is therefore protected before the first frost with a wintering veil and a mulch is installed at its foot or it is wintered in a frost-free room. The plumbago is ideal along a wall or a trellis. It likes slightly acidic, well-drained, loose and humus soils as well as very sunny exposures.
- Blue Volubilis (Ipomoea indica) is a climbing plant super fast growing. The Blue Volubilis can reach 8 to 10 meters in height. We let him climb along a fence, a pergola, a trellis for the most beautiful effect. The ideal is to install it in a rich soil, not too compact and in full sun. Note that Volubilis is little rustic since it does not withstand temperatures below -3 or -4°C. It is only in regions with a mild climate that its flowering can continue into autumn.
2 plants with blue flowers to brighten up the fall
What a pleasure to still have flowers in the garden long after the end of summer! Here are some species with blue flowers that bloom in autumn. In addition to those that can be admired from June or July and until the frosts, that is to say when autumn is already installed, one can also be seduced by the following ones.
- Ceanothe ‘Autumnal Blue’ is an evergreen bushy shrub whose upper stems are covered with a multitude of blue flowers from summer to autumn in regions with a mild climate where flowering is longest. It can reach 2.50 m in height. It is best planted in calcareous, light, cool and well-drained soil, in a semi-shaded to sunny area of the garden.
- The blue chrysanthemum is a sumptuous plant that finds its place not only in cemeteries. You can cultivate a very large collection of chrysanthemums to obtain a colorful and magical garden. But, as is the case in the floral world, blue is rare and does not occur naturally in chrysanthemums. This is the result of a research work. It is a hybrid that benefits from the genes of Clitoria ternatea (a blue pea) and Campanula medium (a bellflower).
Do not hesitate to complete this collection of blue flowers, letting yourself be seduced by other varieties more nuanced tone, ranging from mauve to violet. These plants are much more numerous than those whose flowers are pure blue, but this way we obtain absolutely delightful variations.