The most elusive flower colours

This year’s Pantone colour of the year is classic blue, one of the most popular yet most elusive flower colours. That is because the blue pigment is not found in all flowers, making the range of “true blue” flowers quite small.

However, many flowers which are described as blue often have a tinge of purple, adding a dreamy softness to the garden that other flowers can’t emulate. The reason why blue is so effective is because it is a soothing and restful colour, that creates a sense of distance and space. It is a well-known landscape design trick to use blue flowers and silvery grey foliage at the end of a border or garden to make a small garden look bigger.

The beauty of blue is that it combines with almost every colour in the garden. It harmonises well with white, especially white roses like “Iceberg”, and it comes alive if used with orange or yellow. Good buffer plants that offset blue, especially the lilac/mauve blues are those with light silver or grey foliage, like Helichrysum “Silver Mist”, Dichondra “Silver Falls” and Senecio Dusty Miller as well as plants with clear green or lime green foliage.

Blue lobelia is one of the “true blues”. Garden lobelia “Riviera” is a dwarf edging annual that delivers a variety of vivid blue flowers, from midnight blue to sky blue. It is low growing and spreading (up to 20cm) making a neat edging or for between pavers. Even more showy is the trailing Lobelia “Curacao”. This new generation lobelia is an impressive performer delivering an incredible abundance of deep blue flowers.

Good fillers for hanging baskets: Lobelia ‘Curacao’. Picture: Supplied

The “Curacao” series is heat tolerant and is available with different growth habits; trailing for baskets and mounded for garden beds and containers. The colours are brilliant blue, blue with white eye and light blue. For shade there is Plectranthus “Mona Lavender” which produces intense lavender-blue flowers that cover the bush from midsummer to the end of autumn.

“Mona Lavender” grows into a compact, upright bush about 60cm high. For a massed display position young plants about 50cm apart. Plant in well-prepared beds that have been enriched with compost and superphosphate or bonemeal. They need good light. Water well but do not over-water and maintain the moisture level in the soil with 10cm mulch of organic material. Remove spent blooms to encourage the formation of new flower spikes.

Mass “Mona Lavender” under trees for a woodland effect, group plants together to make a feature within a border, or use its formal, upright characteristics to produce a low growing hedge. It’s also excellent in a container, either on its own or combined with silvery foliage plants like “Dusty Miller”. For drought tolerance, little can beat the many varieties of blue salvia, that are also a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Two tall varieties, that can grow up to 1m high, for the back of a border are Salvia “Black and Bloom”, which has spikes of deep blue flowers with a black calyx, and “Big Blue” a super showy variety that develops into a dense plant with many deep blue spikes. They grow easily in ordinary garden soil, in full sun and need minimal care.

Salvia “Mystic Spires” and its more compact version, “Salvia Mysty” are both proven garden performers for mixed borders. Mystic Spires is a long-lived perennial that develops into a large shrubby plant, while Mysty is neat and compact, for planting at the front of a border or in containers.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.