Caryopteris clandonensis First Choice - Bluebeard

Caryopteris x clandonensis 'First Choice'®, is a new variety of blue spirea with the most intense flower colour! It is a bushy, especially compact shrub. From August to October, its upright stems bear numerous tight clusters of deep blue flowers, beautifully adorned with stamens of the same colour. This late and spectacular flowering also attracts a large number of bees and butterflies. Its greyish-green, aromatic toothed foliage is also highly ornamental outside the flowering period and provides light and contrast among plants with darker foliage. This small-sized shrub is suitable for mass plantings, low hedges, or container planting on a terrace. Not demanding, it is an excellent plant for calcareous and dry soils as long as it enjoys good drainage and plenty of sunlight! Favorable conditions are even more necessary to ensure its hardiness. 

Caryopteris x clandonensis 'First Choice'® is one of the hybrids obtained by crossing Caryopteris incana, an Asian shrub known as 'Bluebeard', and Caryopteris mongolica, hardier and native to colder regions of Mongolia and northern China. All belong to the verbena family.

The variety 'First Choice'® is a recent selection. The plant forms a dense, compact bush of about 1m (39.4in) in all directions, with a bushy habit. It flowers in the second half of summer and up to the beginning of autumn. Its inflorescences appear on the upper half of the current year's branches. They are composed of countless small intense blue buds gathered in large whorls or dense clusters arranged in a staggered manner. The buds open into small flowers of a deep blue colour, sometimes purplish, with prominent stamens. This flowering is particularly attractive to bees and nectar-feeding insects, and the shrub is often visited by many colourful butterflies. The deciduous foliage, absent in winter, consists of thin, triangular leaves measuring 3 to 5cm (1.2 to 2in) long, aromatic, with irregularly toothed edges, arranged opposite each other on upright stems. They display a more or less silvery greyish-green colour depending on the soil's dryness and the heat. When crushed, they release a resinous aroma.

Caryopteris 'First Choice'® is used in mass plantings and low hedges, along with other summer-flowering shrubs that are as frugal as it is: Russian sage (Perovskia), Potentillas, St. John's wort, catmints, Ceratostigma griffithii, lavenders, dwarf buddleias, perennial or shrubby salvias... In a more natural-style dry garden, plant it with grasses and silver-leaved shrubs such as Stipas and Artemisias. A very romantic scene can be created in late summer by combining pink Caryopteris with shrubby Lavateras ('Barnsley', 'Princesse de Ligne', 'Blue Bird'), shrubby Artemisias, and asters. A group of 3 shrubs surrounding a pastel reblooming rose is a splendid sight in September, as their very different styles of flowering perfectly complement each other. It can also be placed in a beautiful pot on the terrace or balcony, in a sheltered position.