Caryopteris divaricata

Caryopteris divaricata is one of the exceptions among these mostly woody plants called blue spireas. Quite different from its woody cousins, it emerges from the ground every spring, forming a large leafy bushy mass dotted with small blue-violet flowers with white egrettes, fragrant and worth contemplating up close. This particularly hardy Nepalese botanical species should be planted more often in our gardens, as it possesses the inimitable charm of wild plants and requires no maintenance. Sometimes a bit slow to establish itself if the location does not suit it, it is precious for a weekend garden, a little corner of the countryside in the sun, as it blooms all summer.

Caryopteris divaricata is a plant of the family Lamiaceae, just like salvias and rosemary, with which it shares its small fragrant and very honey-bearing bilabiate flowers. This large herbaceous perennial is native to Nepal, China, Japan, and Korea. It grows in mixed forests, on mountain slopes, and along roadsides at an altitude between 700 and 2900m. The plant produces semi-woody stems from spring, reaching a height of up to 1.50m (4ft 11in), forming a rounded and slightly erect bush, very elegant, about 70cm (27.6in) wide. The flowers, more numerous if the plant grows in the sun, appear in mid-summer at the ends of the stems and continue for at least a month. These elongated, tubular, blue-purple flowers have an original, almost exotic shape and are topped by their large, curved, white stamens. The deciduous leaves are quite large, triangular, with toothed edges, and a slightly greyish green colour. They sometimes emit an odour that may be unpleasant.

Caryopteris divaricata, a lover of limestone and rather moist soils, is mainly used in flower beds, in a garden that leaves room for nature. It can be associated, for example, with other large carefree perennials that bloom before it, such as Gerznium 'Rozanne', large Astrantias, hybrid foxgloves, but also with other plants that will accompany its summer flowering, such as Verbena bonariensis, tall asters (Aster laterifolius 'Lady in Black'), Pycnanthemum muticum (a highly aromatic silver mint genus), meadow rues (Thalictrum delavayi var.decorum), or shrubby salvias (Salvia x jamensis). It is sometimes capricious, perhaps because it prefers the wild corners of the garden that suit it so well, those that remind it of its region of origin.