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A lovely house adorned with beautiful flowers. Now Connie, I want you to tell me the name of the beautiful bright blue groundcover flowers.(Preferrably in Latin as well, if you know it). I use a sort of creeping campanula as a groundcover in parts of my garden, but these are different. The flowers are too small in the photo to figure them out.
Arvid.
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Thanks Arvid :-)
The blue flowering ground cover is 'Grace Wand' Lithodora diffusa. About 5 years ago I planted 6, (1 gallon pots). They have filled in the area (about 10'x20' or about 60 square meters) almost completely.
It grows as a dense mat and does a wonderful job of suppressing weeds but if you find a few pop up you can lift the plant up and pull the weeds from underneath.
As a side bonus they are (for us) essentially 'evergreen' but will die back a bit in very cold winters. Last year we had a week of temps -8c to -12c and they suffered quite a bit, but bounced back beautifully :-) Snow has not been a problem, but we rarely get more than 10" at a time. Looking online I see they are listed as hardy to -28c but I think if it were that cold they would fair better with some sort of protection (straw mulch etc) but I could be wrong.
They will set out baby plants as the plant matures from rootings and also seedlings, but are a bit finicky about having their roots disturbed, so use caution when transplanting the babies to other areas of the garden.
Mine are growing in full sun, but I've also seen them planted in semi-shade to almost full shade and they are still quite beautiful although they tend to grow a bit taller and bloom a little less.
Springtime when the type 2 clematis are in bloom Lithodora is in it's full glory, but it will also bloom sparingly off and on all season with even a sprinkling during Dec - Jan.
There is another variety available here ('Blue Star') that are the same intense blue, but with a white star in the center of each little flower... They are pretty up close, but just doesn't have the florescent impact in a mass planting that Grace Wand has.
Hopes this info helps :-)
Connie
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Thank you very much, it was indeed very informative. I have looked them up in a Danish book on perennials. This book says they are a bit tender for Denmark, where the climate, specially on the North Sea coast, is much like the one we have here at Lista. Winter covering is recomended. They are alpine plants, so I don`t know how they will be suitable for a coastal aerea. But if you can have them in Oregon, they must be winter hardy somehow. It is said that they are hard to come by here, but I will be on the lookout for them.
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I'm not sure how well they would survive the journey, nor what the regulations might be sending plant material overseas, but I can try to send you a couple if you would like :-)
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Thank you for wanting to take the trouble to send me a sample of the plant. I really do appreciate it. However there are too many restrictions here as to importing plants from abroad. Too much paperwork. Obtaining permits, health certificates clearing through customs etc. I have a feeling it`s not worth the trouble, even though the plants may survive the journey. But thanks ever so much!
Arvid.
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