Beautiful Blue Flowers

Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue'

Day 18

I am a sucker for blue flowers. I just can't have enough of them. Every once in a while a perennial comes along that is just so easy to grow and so wonderful that it makes its way into my "signature" list- plants that I tend to put into most of my designs. Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue' has made that list.

To be honest, I am not really a fan of the genus Veronica. Despite rave reviews and descriptions for all of the new, upright, spikey varieties that are supposed to bloom forever and be disease free, I have not had that experience. They usually require a lot of deadheading and get leaf funguses that ruin their appeal for me.

Good old 'Georgia Blue' is completely different. First of all, it's a ground cover. The foliage stays evergreen in my garden, actually, it is a deep burgundy red all winter and green in the summer. The blue single flowers appear in April and continue into May, with occasional rebloom in the fall. I have it planted in my hot, sunny courtyard. I have also used it in partial shade with great success. 


I marry this plant with all sorts of bulbs and upright perennials. The picture above is in April, with Iris buccharica and grape hyacinths. As the growing season progresses, it forms the base for cool, white Sedum 'Iceberg', soft pink and mildew free Phlox paniculata 'Tracy's Treasure', hummingbird magnet Belamcanda chinensis, and the unusual dwarf flowering shrub Leptodermis oblonga. 


A great use of this plant is in foundation plantings, as an edging to the walkway. It looks gorgeous when in flower and is a respectable ground cover foliage plant the rest of the time.