Plumbago auriculata Dark Blue

The Plumbago auriculata 'Dark Blue' or Cape Leadwort is a exuberant semi-climbing bush, popular among gardeners in mild regions, where frost does not occur too strongly or for too long. This plant, native to South Africa, loves the sun and needs warmth to provide its endless flowering, which hids the foliage for many months under a cloud of deep blue. This shade, which is actually quite rare among summer and autumn flowering bushes, wonderfully accompanies all the other shades of the garden, even late in the season. As it is not very hardy, it should be grown in a pot so that it can be brought indoors to a greenhouse at the first signs of cold weather outside the Mediterranean or Atlantic coast.

The Plumbago auriculata, Cape Leadwort, was recently called Plumbago capensis, due to its origins in the Cape region. It belongs to the family Plumbaginaceae and is a cousin of Armeria and Ceratostigma. Part bush-like and part climbing, with flexible branches, the Cape Leadwort quickly reaches a height of 2.50 to 4 m (8 to 13ft) and spreads 2.50 m (8ft) when not cut back by the cold. In a pot, its dimensions will remain more modest, around 1.50 m (5ft) in height and 1 m (3ft) in width. Its habit is dense, rounded, and a bit unruly if not trained against a wall. The flowering of this plant is its main asset: it starts in July and only ends with the first frosts. The bush then disappears under a multitude of intense blue panicles that succeed each other at the end of the branches, accompanying the growth. Each bouquet, 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6in) long, is composed of dozens of small flowers with 5 fused petals, 2 to 4 cm (1 to 2in) long, resembling those of phlox, with a calyx covered in sticky glandular hairs. The leaves, evergreen in mild climates, are entire, oblong, light green and vivid, measuring about 5 cm (2in) in length and 2 cm (1in) in width.

The Plumbago auriculata 'Dark Blue' adapts to all applications and proves to be an easy bush to cultivate, in the ground or in pots, after careful installation, as long as it is not lacking in food, water, or sunlight. It can be used in a mass planting or as a standalone plant in a warm location, or as a ground cover where it will form a beautiful mass, or even trained on a support such as a trellis or a fence. Some gardeners also install it at the top of a retaining wall to admire its cascade of sky blue flowers, so soothing under the July sun. The neutral and pastel colour of its flowers easily pairs with many flowering bushes in mild climates: the bright orange flowers of Sesbania punicea, the mauve flowers of Melaleuca gibbosa, the white flowers of Gomphostigma virgatum, the red flowers of ivy geraniums or dwarf pomegranate, or even the yellow flowers of oleander. The Indian lilacs, in all their splendor at the height of summer, will create a beautiful ensemble with vibrant colours.