Caryopteris x clandonensis/Blue Mist Shrub
With soft gray-green foliage, light blue late summer flowers and rounded habit, it looks right at home in the perennial border. The famous variety ‘Longwood Blue' has sky blue flowers. Another popular type, 'Worcester Gold', has yellow foliage and blue flowers. Bees and butterflies love them, but deer don't - a happy combination.
The "x" in the name means it's a hybrid of two different species, so it's not actually indigenous to anywhere.
Details
- Flowers August and September.
- Needs full sun or light shade.
- Grows to 2-3' high and wide.
- Hardy in Zones 5-8.
Care
- Authorities describe it as "thriving on neglect." Sounds about right. Consider it drought-tolerant.
- Many gardeners cut it back in late winter to 12" to promote vigorous growth, and I'm one of them.
Location Matters
I grow caryopteris in the Washington, D.C. area, Zone 7A. If you've grown it and have comments you'd like to see included here, send 'em along, and tell me where you garden.
More Great Info in Print
- Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs
by the best-known authority on the subject. - Taylor's Guide to Shrubs
is another good one.