Corydalis flexuosa Porcelain Blue

The 'Porcelain Blue' Corydalis is an interesting new variety of Corydalis for its robustness, fragrant and well-flowering blue flowers, beautiful bronze-tinged foliage, and non-dormant growth in summer. In late spring and again in late summer or autumn, beautiful clusters of tubular flowers, pale and translucent, with a tendency towards turquoise, bloom above its finely cut foliage. It is a perennial plant of rare delicacy and relatively easy to grow in shaded and cool areas of the garden. It also thrives in flower pots on the terrace or balcony.

The 'Porcelain Blue' Corydalis belongs to the Fumariaceae family. It is a descendant of the Corydalis flexuosa recently obtained in England and presented at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2017. Its ancestor is native to the moist forests of western China. The moderately fast growth of this corydalis allows it to spread 30 cm (12in) in all directions in two years. This plant forms a compact and dense shrub and can spread as ground cover thanks to its stolons. The foliage, carried by reddish stems, has a fairly dark green colour mixed with bronze. Finely cut, it resembles that of bleeding hearts, ferns, or chervil. The flowering begins in May or June and ends around July. Then, it resumes in September-October and only stops with frost. In mild and humid climates, it is capable of flowering almost all year round. The flowers, similar to small tubes about 2.5 cm (1in) long, have a long spur. Each flower has areas that take on different shades of light blue. This elusive range of colours, painted on translucent petals, gives the flowering its unique turquoise and sky blue watercolour-like colour. This flowering exhales a sweet honey fragrance that attracts pollinating insects. The vegetation disappears in winter, depending on the climate.

The 'Porcelain Blue' Corydalis is a shade or semi-shade plant that thrives in humus-rich soil and expresses its full potential in a woodland setting, slowly forming large shrubs. It thrives in shade or semi-shade exposure in the morning sun, under trees or bushes without fearing competition as long as the soil remains moist. It forms beautiful borders along a path or a bed of perennials exposed to semi-shade. It can be paired with other perennials that appreciate the same environments, such as the cousin of Solomon's Seal (Uvularia grandiflora), hardy fuchsias, creeping bugle, Japanese anemones, bleeding hearts, tricyrtis, and a carpet of periwinkles. Plant this lovely variety in a pot on the terrace, in semi-shade, and don't forget to water it regularly. The plant tends to go dormant in summer and flowers again in autumn in warmer climates.