Polemonium reptans Blue Pearl

Polemonium reptans 'Blue Pearl' is a variety of creeping Greek valerian with a compact and non-creeping habit, adorned with a particularly bright lavender-blue flowering and elegant, finely cut, light green foliage, gathered in a dense tuft, as elegant as that of a fern. This perennial plant chooses the end of spring to offer its panicles of small, very blue flowers in the shape of hanging cups. Like other polemoniums, it is very hardy and easy to grow in fertile, well-drained and moist soil in a sunny or semi-shaded exposure.

The creeping 'Blue Pearl' polemonium belongs to the Polemoniaceae family. It is a cultivar derived from Polemonium reptans, native to the eastern United States, from Minnesota to New Hampshire, Georgia, Mississippi and west of the Appalachians, where it is usually found in rich and humid undergrowth, often along banks. This perennial forms a prostrate tuft of 40 cm (16 in) in all directions. Completely dormant in winter, the plant quickly completes its growth in spring and early summer, until flowering. Its deciduous foliage is composed of finely cut, flexible pinnate leaves, reminiscent of ferns in shape, with 7 to 9 ovate and pointed, almost glabrous leaflets. They are distinguished by their light green and shiny colour. They are continuously renewed from spring to summer, before disappearing in winter. During the months of June to July, erect floral stems emerge from the foliage, bearing buds that open into small light lavender-blue flowers with white throats, punctuated by yellow-orange anthers. These honey-bearing flowers are heavily visited by bees and butterflies.

Plant Polemonium reptans 'Blue Pearl' in a mixed border or at the edge of a flower bed in association with anemones, pulsatillas or at the base of shrubs or old roses. This variety prefers sunny to semi-shaded exposures to flower well. To brighten up a rock garden, a border of a path, or a light woodland, this selection has no rival. Associate it with corydalis, bleeding hearts, Geranium nodosum, and epimediums. It blends well with different foliage and flower colours and adapts well in a flower pot when placed prominently as a specimen, its light blue flowering attracting attention above the dense mass of its foliage. It is a particularly good plant for decorating the surroundings of water points.

In the past, the dried roots of Polemonium reptans were used in herbal medicine. They were harvested in autumn and then dried for later use.