Hit the Dirt; Mid-Summer Blues

Hi. This is Claire Ackroyd and you're listening to hit the dirt. I thought it was time to talk about the midsummer blues. And by that I don't mean oh my god if it's midsummer that means that the first frost is two weeks away and if I don't start recreating all gardening pretty soon is going to be winter again. I was thinking more about the blue flowers for summer. I get asked a lot about blue flowers and I think oh that's easy all that boring why does everybody want blue. When you would get right down to it there's not a lot of really good blues there's a lot of pinky blues and purple blues. But when you're looking for the really good clear sort of Sky Blues. I sort of compiled a short list of things here that I think are really tremendous blues for midsummer. They're all perennials with a few annuals at the end they're really they're blue flowering shrubs in England and I put it on the coast. Somebody should call the station one day and tell us where you can go see an eye with us. The blue flowered midsummer flowering so you know this it's a seaside shrub and it's very blue and it's lovely and it blooms with the roses and I don't think you or I can grow

it right now but somebody down Portland anybody out there on the islands listening who can go see a notice anyway. Otherwise other than to notice I can't think of any blues I can think of are perennial So here are my picks for some really good blues. The first one is an unusual one it's a new plant to me it's absolutely wonderful thing it's an Allium it's a bulb that you buy in the fall at the you know grocery stores and hard words for the Dutch bulbs and it's alliums So a ruling meaning blue sky. So I think actually in the Dutch packets it's known as Allium as Zuri M which should give you another hint as well as your being blue and it's in blue right now I think. Most people don't buy bulbs expecting them to bloom in mid summer they buy bulbs for spring bloom so don't ignore the alums and especially don't ignore Allium serenely and it's a wonderful thing it is a bright brilliant clear sky blue. It's a very skinny little thing it's tall thin stem with a bright blue puff on the end and it's gorgeous and it's very hardy and it's very

durable it likes a hot dry sunny spot. The Veronicas are in full bloom now. They're lovely Veronicas in lots of different forms. The spring Veronica is a little low ones there's one called Creative blue which is the bluest thing in the world that's already gone by for midsummer they're the Veronicas spectator the tall skinny ones. There's a lovely one called Sunny border blue the fact thing very blue a very nice gnuplot to me this year is a thing called the Pettus a barrack of the petal is the cat. Nip catmint thing. There's the the traditional good one has been a petal blue wonder and then six Hills giant is another great big one but the SABERA is very different it grows more like a salvia very straight up and with a lovely blue little sort of typical of the mint family flowers very bright clear blue very straight standing up a sort of plant. The delphiniums are in bloom now and boy are they gorgeous. And my favorite has always been you know the blacks and the whites notwithstanding is the really really brilliant bright clear sort of pastel blues I love them and there

are some months the ones I've seen recently this winter seems to have been last winter kind delphiniums in the delphiniums are gorgeous. Those of you not growing companion lawyers should be companion was a lovely my favorite being the little one combining the car Paktika with the little Mundine thing with a little blue fact bluebells that look sort of straight up at the sky and very big flowers on a relatively small plant which is rather a cute combination and I love them. Those of you out on the island can grow gentians probably. I have trouble with them in our no they don't like clay soils and they don't like the heat of summer nor the cold of winter. There are more moderated climate as on the islands most of the gentians would be great and there are some beautiful things in the gentian. One of the prime class groups of flowers. So then. Annuals home has become a popular annual I'm happy to say little tiny brilliant deep blue flowers with a new yellow center. They make a little bushy

among the plants that might sort of fill the same slot as the annual Diantha's. There's a little bun she loathing that likes to grow in the heat. Very pretty all sort of spill out over a window box and then the liner which is sold as a hanging basket often which is an incredible clear sky blue bell. Very difficult plant to grow. And then of course it will end with the easiest of all its bachelor buttons and you can laugh at bachelor buttons and shun them as common things but they are wonderful especially if they live to naturalize. So there you go. Enjoy the midsummer blues and have fun with the summer. And I'll talk to you again next week.