Growing Plants With Blue Flowers

Blue flowering plants take on a wide range of forms, Plants range from the blue flowering hydrangea providing and easy to grow and hardy shrub, to much more difficult annuals such the Himalayan blue poppy.

Shrubs With Blue Flowers

Hydrangea – The main stay amongst blue flowering plants must be the Hydrangea. Although slightly old-fashioned, this shrub has a lot going for it, the plant is easy to grow, very hardy and will tolerate a variety of soil conditions. Blue flowers take on a range of shades from light powdery blues, to deeper blue colours nearer to purple. In addition the large mop head flowers continue to provide winter interest, once the flowing season has ended. In order to maintain a blue shade an acidic soil must be maintained, planning in an alkaline soil will result in pink flowers.

Blue Roses – Despite the name these plants don’t really produce blue roses, merely a shade near to blue. Blue roses do however, provide an interesting talking point. Blue roses are also fairly hardy and will tolerate an alkaline clay soil.

Annuals, Perennials and Bulbs With Blue Flowers

English Bluebells – This is a native woodland flowering bulb and will provide delicate scented blue flowers in late spring. The English bluebell as a woodland plant, should be given a free draining and slightly acidic soil. In addition as a woodland plant, English bluebells will tolerate shady areas of the garden. If planting English bluebells, make sure that Spanish bluebells are not mistakenly purchased. Spanish bluebells are an invasive species and have a tendency to hybridise with native varieties.

Himalayan Blue Poppy – Growing the Himalayan blue poppy will really test the skills of gardener, the results when successful are however, worth the effort. Himalayan blue poppies may be grown as a short lived perennial, by removing the flowering in the first year or as an annual flower. In order to grow the Himalayan blue poppy an acidic soil is required. Germination requires a cold spell, this may be artificially induced by placing the seeds in a fridge, on a suitable growing medium. One alternative is to buy a container grown specimen, this will save considerable amounts of time and possibly frustration.

Cornflowers – The cornflower is a staple of the annual meadow, the cornflower is both easy to grow and suitable for a wide range of sites and soil conditions. Cornflowers are an annual plant, although once planted, specimens will readily self seed if pollinated. The cornflower is another good plant to consider, if an acidic soil is not available. In addition the cornflower is a part of the rapidly disappearing grass meadow habitat, giving the plant extra interest for conservationists.

Hyacinths – There are a number of blue flowering varieties of hyacinth available, most notably are varieties such as delft blue. Not only will Hyacinths provide the gardener with attractive blue flowers, hyacinths are also highly scented and lend themselves well to cutting. Hyacinths should be planted on a relatively free draining soil and given plenty of sunlight.

Sources:

Hessayon, D, G. 2007. The tree and shrub expert.

Ardle, J. 2007. Bamboos and grasses.