I am very pleased with my Plumbago shrubs this year, they have burst forth with a display of flowers like no other. Why this happened is another mystery of the gardening universe. They inhabit the “hell strip” – a dry area between the street and my driveway. There is no irrigation, I am pretty sure I forgot about the fertilizer and they are growing under some good sized trees. Yet they prosper. My neighbor gave me the original shrub about 10 years ago, offspring of the one her grandmother planted in the 60’s. I added a darker blue variety last year and that is what I have in the vase.
The two Plumbagos, the darker one on the left. The lighter blue one is at least eight feet wide and five feet tall.
A closer view of the vase:
I was taught in my college perennial garden design class (by a very old school design professor) that the classic Southern (the Southeastern US) summer color scheme for a garden is yellow, blue and white. I decided against the yellow in favor of grey green. I am pretty sure my professor wouldn’t consider Florida part of the south, so he is probably not spinning in his grave over the lack of yellow. The only yellow in the garden currently is daisies and the shape of the flower needed to provide some contrast as all the other flowers are daisy shaped.
The gray green flowers are the buds of the Adonidia Palm (Adonidia veitchii). The flowers eventually open, turn nearly white and then produce bright red fruit. The white flowers and glossy green foliage belong to the Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana divaricata). The vase was a thrift store find I have enjoyed immensely. It is my favorite for the Gardenias as they lounge over the side so well.
That’s all from my simmering summer South Florida garden. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. To see more vases follow the link.
Happy Gardening!
The Shrub Queen 
Ooh, this is absolutely gorgeous. I love that deep blue color – delicious!
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Thanks, Eliza. It almost makes up for no hydrangeas.
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Love the flower combo especially that blue shrub. Now that is a hardy plant. I’d say a perfect combo from your garden.
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Thank you, it is amazingly hardy and hard to beat in the garden.
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Ha ha your description of the neglected ‘Hell Strip’ made me laugh. Oh well, good for the plants to survive in all of that.
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It is and it makes me wonder why I don’t just do the whole garden with the hell strip plants?!
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I was going to say that this arrangement is absolutely gorgeous but Eliza beat me to it! Your Plumbagos are spectacular and I’m very envious. Those I usually see growing here, including the tiny one struggling on the top of a slope our property line (which I don’t think I planted), are much paler. Yours look perfect with the bright white flowers and the shiny black vase.
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Thank you, Kris. It seems weird to me Plumbago wouldn’t like it there? This one is unusually blue, though I like the lighter ones as well.
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The dark blue is striking. How long will they last in a vase?
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At least a day, so far. The Gardenias don’t last very long so it could be very ephemeral.
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Heavenly! That colour is absolutely gorgeous and I love those flowers. Your front drive must look a picture right now! This is another plant I occasionally see on sale as a summer container plant, but overwintering this kind of plant puts me off buying one. (And the price!😉)
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I had these in containers further north and they never lasted the winter!
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You know, I still prefer the formerly common lighter blue plumbago. It is such a perfect blue. I likely mentioned that before. White plumbago is not so impressive, and seems to have more yellowish foliage.
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It is still really common here and I have yet to see a white one.
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White is unimpressive, and its foliage is typically relatively pale.
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What a beautiful color combo…so soothing and pretty.
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thank you
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