Veronica Baby Blue

Veronica spicata 'Baby Blue' is a small, compact and low, campanulate Veronica which forms a creeping clump. It is topped in summer by long, elegant, sculptural  flowering spikes in beautiful indigo blue to deep violet. A robust and hardy perennial plant, it thrives and spreads in sunny or partially shaded flower beds, slopes and rockeries, in ordinary but well-drained soil. It is a beautiful border plant and also looks lovely in summer bouquets.

Veronica spicata, commonly known as spike speedwell, is a perennial plant belonging to the Plantaginaceae family, formerly classified in the Scrophulariaceae family. It is mainly found from Europe to Turkey, in central and eastern Asia, where it grows in mountains, up to 2000 metres (6562 feet) above sea level and occasionally in plains. It can be found growing in meadows, dry grasslands, rocky slopes and at the edge of forests, mostly on limestone soil. It adapts very well to most gardens, in well-drained soil. 'Baby Blue' is a selection obtained by Walter Blom in the Netherlands in 2006. It is a cross-breeding between Veronica spicata and V. austriaca. It is compact, bushy and vigorous, reaching 15 cm (6in) high for the foliage and 30 cm (12in) when flowering, spreading over a diameter of 30-40 m (98-131ft) from its powerful semi-woody crown. Its hairy stems are branched towards the top and bear ovate to linear, beautiful dark green leaves, with finely toothed edges that often persist in winter. Between June and August, under good conditions, it produces floral stems covered with densely packed, tiny star-shaped flowers in indigo blue to dark violet. These nectar-rich flowers are attractive to bees. The plant can self-seed in the garden, in light soil, but not always faithfully to the parent plant.

This Baby Blue spike speedwell should be planted in well-drained, even rocky and limestone soil that stays slightly moist in summer, in full sun or light shade. It is particularly suitable for an alpine garden with rocky soil. It can be planted in raised flower beds, at the base of taller plants, on a slope, in a rockery, or even in a pot. It can be paired with perennial echinaceas, perennial or shrubby salvias, scabious and lavender in matching tones. Its relatively flexible blue spikes add height and colour to a low-growing flower bed composed of creeping plants like aubrietias, wall bellflowers, soapwort or snow-in-summer. The dwarf spike speedwell can also be used en masse, as a standalone plant, or in the gaps between paving stones.