Caryopteris Petit Bleu
Caryopteris ‘Petit Bleu’ in flower.
* Common name: Bluebeard Petit Bleu(TM)
* Botanical name: Caryopteris x clandonensis
* What it is: A compact, late-blooming shrub with blue-purple, multi-level flower spikes and silvery-gray leaves. Tolerates heat, drought and not-so-great soil. Attracts butterflies and bees.
* Size: 3 feet tall and wide.
* Where to use: Sunny foundations, butterfly gardens, sunny borders, sunny banks.
* Care: Shear back to 8 inches in early spring before new growth begins. Scattering of balanced organic fertilizer in April is optional. Water usually needed only in severe dry spell once established.
* Great partner: White alyssum (low, mounded, white-blooming annual) or backdrop with blue-needled upright evergreen such as blue atlas cedar or the junipers ‘Gray Gleam’ or ‘Blue Point.’