August Plant of the Month

It’s unusual to come across blue flowers by late summer but this perennial stands out as one of the few to have rich, true-blue flowers. Low growing and mat forming, it also stands out for having leaves that take on shades of red and purple when the temperatures drop in autumn.

Ceratostigma likes full sun or partial shade and can be used as ground cover, although it isn’t evergreen.  Height 25cm, spread 90cm. Time to full growth 2-5 years. Hardy in most places in the UK and it has the RHS award of garden merit (RHS AGM). 

It caught my eye in the garden of our cottage on holiday in Wales this month. Here it was starting to spill over a low stone wall with Japanese anemone and a hardy fuchsia as a backdrop. A lovely late summer combination.

Posts from the blog:

Adding annuals

A selection of recommended annuals.

The bees are a’ buzzing!

The garden is alive with bees as they gather pollen from a whole host of flowers.

Unfurling ferns

Take the opportunity to get close up to your ferns and admire the fascinating structures that exist within this family of ancient plants.

Plant sleuth

This mystery plant had leaves that were still lush in October but with no sign of any flowers to give me a lead.