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James H. Schutte
Verbenaceae
Caryopteris x clandonensis
Blue Mist Shrub, Blue Spirea, Bluebeard
The beautiful bluebeard offers amazing violet-blue flowers for fall. This vigorous small flowering shrub is as tough and drought tolerant as it is pretty. The hybrid originates from a cross between the two Asian species Caryopteris incana and C. mongholica.
The deciduous shrub has a mounding, rounded habit and becomes covered with many small green to gray-green toothed leaves that have a minty scent if crushed. In the fall, the leafy stems become lined with many colorful whorls of flowers in fall. These are most commonly violet-blue but white and pink-flowered cultivars are also available. The flowers draw pollinators in masses and are sweetly scented. The fruits are small, winged and have seeds that will readily sprout in the garden.
Plant bluebeard in sites with full to partial sun and average soil with good drainage. It is root-hardy to USDA Zone 5 where it will resprout from the ground in the spring. In warmer areas, it should be hard-pruned low to the ground after flowering to keep next year's growth compact and neat. It makes a nice accent plant in the mixed border and looks great planted in rows as a low ornamental summer hedge.
9 - 1
5 - 9
2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Shrub
Full Sun, Partial Sun
2'-4' / 0.6m - 1.2m
Early Fall, Fall
Hybrid Origin
Neutral
Well Drained
Loam
Drought
Fast
Drought Tolerant, Average Water
Cushion/Mound-forming
Summer, Fall
Showy
White, Pink, Blue Violet
Gray Green
Green, Gray Green
Green, Gray Green, Light Yellow
Sandy Brown
Yes
No
Single
Medium
Matte
Smooth
Feature Plant, Foundation, Hedges, Mixed Border
Sometimes
Butterflies
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