Ceanothus Lemon & Lime

Ceanothus impressus Lemon & Lime owes its name to the beautiful lemon-yellow variegation of its evergreen foliage. This recent variety will also charm with its vigour and generous, intense blue, flowering that will animate the garden from April onwards. Decorative all year round, it is a very beautiful bush for the seaside as well as for dry gardens in climates which are not too cold. Give it sunshine and well-drained, light soil.

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The Lemon & Lime Ceanothus is a horticultural hybrid originating from, among others, the Ceanothus impressus, a botanical species native to California. All ceanothus belong to the rhamnaceae family, they are cousins of our buckthorn (Neprun purgatif) and once well rooted, only rely on rainwater. They dislike heavy and permanently wet soil and grow fast but do not live very long.

This 'Lemon & Lime' variety forms a beautiful bush with a bushy, slightly upright, dense habit, which tends to widen a bit with age. It will reach a height of about 2.50m (8ft 2in) in the space of 5 years, with a width of 2m (6ft 7in) to 2.25m (7ft 5in). Flowers appear abundantly in April-May at the tips of the branches in the form of dense panicles of tiny intensely blue flowers with prominent stamens. This abundant and slightly fragrant flowering attracts many pollinating insects. The foliage, which persists in winter, is composed of small, glossy, alternate, ovate and elongated leaves, bordered in lemon yellow to light yellow on a dark green background. This variety tolerates light pruning after flowering. Its hardiness is around -7 to -10°C (19.4 to 14°F) when the plant has been established in the garden for several years, in a position sheltered from the wind.

In recent years, horticulturists have 'invented' beautiful varieties of ceanothus that are easier to acclimate and smaller in size, so more suitable for our gardens and terraces. Resistant to summer drought and tolerant of poor or sandy soils, the Lemon & Lime Ceanothus is a beautiful plant to be sited alone or in a mass of easy-to-grow shrubs in a coastal garden or in warm climates, even hot and dry during summer. It will also look good in an informal hedge, associated with other evergreen shrubs (laurustinus, eleagnus, oleander, photinias, privet, Mexican orange blossom...). To accompany it, consider the Buddleia officinalis (pale pink, from February-March), Fremontodendron californicum (from April-May-June), coronillas (in April), shrubby cistus (Cistus laurifolius, in May), or botanical roses and small-sized strawberry trees.