Summer Gardens Sing With Blues

Blue is the holy grail of the garden world. It’s the magic color of skies as well as the fantastic unifier of the landscape. Actual blue plantings are sought after and have been stolen. And gardeners dedicate years to producing one blue flower.

Do not quit wishing for a real blue rose, but in the meantime, try incorporating bright blue hydrangeas, silvery blue dusty miller or delicate, yummy’Heavenly Blue’ morning glories. Belowwe respect the blues of the world, from navy and steel to powder and royal. Get motivated to bring a little blue for the outdoor spaces this year.

Hydrangeas are perhaps the most iconic of all blue blossoms in the summer garden, but can require a bit of work and a lot of time to make. It may take up to three years to get your macrophylla hydrangea blossoms to turn gloomy.

How does this work? First things first, begin with a hydrangea which actually has the capability to bloom in blue. White-blooming hydrangeas, for example’Annabelle’, won’t ever turn blue, no matter how acidic the soil. You need a blue/pink variety such as’Nikko Blue’.

After planting the correct hydrangea, illness the soil around the plant to be very acidic. It’s possible to add aluminum sulfate or try the natural path with enormous amounts of coffee grounds and pine needles. Water well and watch as the blossoms in your hydrangea slowly turn a brilliant blue.

Or, if you prefer, skip all of the work and revel in pinkish purple blossoms in your everyday alkaline soil.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

In the huge blooms of hydrangea to the diminutive blues of’Blue Star Creeper’ (Laurentia), this color brings a sense of calm to the garden. Using blue creeper for a blanket amid larger upright plants hammers home a sense of calm, tranquil waters.

Habitat Design

Try incorporating boulders and pops of red to contrast with a lake of blue.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

Blue seems most often from the garden through foliage. Here, steel-tone blue fescue divides a lake of green, adding interest with its puffy little mounds of stiff grasses.

Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

Numerous sedums and other succulents also offer you blue foliage and stems for the garden. These euphorbias are fabulous design crops due to the fact that they put out new lime-green growth every spring for a brilliant comparison with all the blue-hued stems.

Careful, though: Most spurges can irritate skin (similar to poison ivy) and may be toxic if ingested. Keep the kids away from the one by placing it in the trunk part of your garden bed.

Amy Renea

For blue foliage with a little texture, try the traditional Dusty Miller (pictured) or fuzzy-leafed lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina).

Creative Garden Spaces

Some crops pack a double whammy with blue-tinted foliage and little blue flowers. One of my favorites is brunnera, a blue-tinged color plant (center).

Pam Bycraft

Another fantastic alternative for standout blue blossoms is the classic Texas Mountain Laurel.

Interieurs from Francine Gardner

No need to keep blue low to the floor — allow it to scale the walls by planting a climber such as morning glory or clematis. Morning glories self-seed and will return every year, and clematis is another perennial.

Amy Renea

My favourite is that the’Heavenly Blue’ morning glory, a soft and delicate heirloom variety. Find inexpensive’Heavenly Blue’ seeds eBay or ask your neighbors for some in their gardens.

Third Nature Studio

When it’s iris or hydrangea, foliage or blossoms, bright and bold or quiet and tender, there’s a blue for you. Have a look outside today and determine which areas of your garden beg for a tiny blue.

Want more? Check out these Fantastic blue design crops:
Blue Chalk Sticks
Sea Holly
Plumbago

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