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Hometalk is where people share and help with everything home & garden

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Laura, The Shed blog by Pet Scribbles
Laura, The Shed blog by P... Blogger Little Egg Harbor, NJ on Feb 20, 2013
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Lithodora: Evergreen and Electric Blue Radiance

So many of you enjoyed my post about Candytuft, that I'm sharing another plant recommendation for your gardens: Lithodora. I had never heard of Lithodora before we moved here to our furrever home, and in fact when I first saw it at a garden nursery assumed it was the annual flower Lobelia. I was told by the nursery that Lithodora can handle our hot and humid southern New Jersey Shore Summers, that it will bloom profusely all Summer long, and that it was an evergreen perennial. That was in 2008. Now that I have the hindsight of the past several years, I can share with you the realities of what this plant does and doesn't do. Some of my observations differ from the experts, or at least the experts that told me about this plant! (There's more pictures and details in the blog post, just click the link below.) #itching4Spring
Difficulty: Easy
  • Like Clip
    These photos were taken in mid-April 2012, here in southern New Jersey. The electric blue is a welcome jolt of Spring color in my front garden!
  • Like Clip
    A baby Monarch butterfly kept me company while I was planting a new patch of Lithodora. I love having butterflies around all Spring, Summer and early Fall en...
  • Like Clip
    This is what a typical Lithodora plant will look like at the nursery. You can read lots of specifics about this plant in my blog post.

To see more: http://petscribbles.blogspot.com/2012/04/lithodora-evergreen-and-electric-blue.html

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15 Comments
  • Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL
    Lithodora is a new one on me as well, but perhaps that's because I used to garden where it is too cold for it (zone 5) and now I garden where it is too warm (zone 9).
    on Feb 21, 2013 · Like 1
  • At The Picket Fence Florence, KY
    Gorgeous! ~Heather
    on Feb 21, 2013 · Like 1
  • Laura, The Shed blog by P... Little Egg Harbor, NJ
    Douglas Hunt - I've seen catalogs claim this will work up to zone 10 or 11, but truly wonder about that. It can handle our heat and humidity, however it will start coughing and sputtering for some water during those hottest of times.
    on Feb 21, 2013 · Like 0
  • Karen - The Graphics Fairy Frederick, MD
    I like these a lot Laura! I have a thing for blue flowers for some reason!
    on Feb 21, 2013 · Like 1
  • Miriam I New York, NY
    I'm partial to the blue, too! I enjoyed your post, Laura!
    on Feb 21, 2013 · Like 1
  • Janis Lawrenceville, GA
    I have a large patch of these next to my front steps, that have spread reliably each year. Love them! They get covered with pine straw during fall and winter, and though I'll stop and pick some of the straw off now and then, I mostly forget they're there til springtime, when they pop out in that wonderful, bright blue color. I have not been as successful getting them as happy on the other side of the steps, but good golly, I'll persist!
    on Feb 22, 2013 · Like 1
  • Molly F Pittsford, NY
    definitely will look for these at the nursery - can't plant till May here, but I can plan till then and hope it comes early....
    on Feb 22, 2013 · Like 1
  • Laura, The Shed blog by P... Little Egg Harbor, NJ
    Janis - you never know: that section on your "other side of the steps" just might surprise you one day and you'll have lots of blue flowers! I had thought ours was dying, ripped it out (or so I thought) and was pleasantly surprised one day by a new crop that seemed to pop up overnight in the same spot! Molly F - I love the planning part of gardening too - so many catalogs with so many pages marked up! :)
    on Feb 24, 2013 · Like 0
  • Janis Lawrenceville, GA
    Thanks, Laura, I am optimistic about that spot this Spring. It's still alive, so I will look forward to it spreading gradually. Each year, the gardens get better; some things fade away, and some things flourish, and I am always adding my favorites, getting new ideas and "visions".
    on Feb 25, 2013 · Like 1
  • Laura, The Shed blog by P... Little Egg Harbor, NJ
    I experience the same thing Janis - there are plants that I didn't expect to thrive that continue to amaze me, and there are plants I thought would be so easy to grow yet I fail at maintaining them. I need to think of those as plants just fading away, as you say. It sounds much better! ;)
    on Feb 25, 2013 · Like 0
  • Janis Lawrenceville, GA
    So often, the reason for them fading away for me in Georgia, is not watering them well enough in our droughts, to get them well-established... The survivors survive through the tough love that I give them!
    on Feb 25, 2013 · Like 1
  • Laura, The Shed blog by P... Little Egg Harbor, NJ
    "tough love" - another good description! :)
    on Feb 26, 2013 · Like 0
  • Barbara S Las Vegas, NV
    I live in Las Vegas, will they grow here??????
    on Feb 26, 2013 · Like 0
  • Susy Olsen Rochester, MN
    it's a zone 5 plant... we MAY be able to keep it alive in Minnesota... depending on it's tolerance to heat, you should be able to grow it in Las Vegas. If it requires full sun, give it partial sun in your area and make sure it gets watered regularly.
    on Mar 11, 2013 · Like 1
  • Laura, The Shed blog by P... Little Egg Harbor, NJ
    Thanks Susy Olsen for jumping in here! :)
    on Mar 11, 2013 · Like 1

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