Perennial · North Texas care guide
Plumbago auriculata
Nursery Pro tip: Cool blue blooms through the hottest weeks. Sprawls nicely over a wall.
Clouds of true sky-blue phlox-like flowers from May to frost on a loose 2–4 ft mound — one of the few genuinely blue flowers that blooms through a Texas August. Root-hardy here; it dies back in winter and returns.
Full sun to part shade; a little afternoon shade keeps the color from bleaching. Any drained soil. Space 3 ft apart. Beautiful spilling out of a raised bed or a big pot.
Spring after the soil warms. Hole twice the pot width, ball at grade, native soil, Root Stimulator, mulch — and mulch the crown deeply in late fall.
Weekly through summer; it likes more water than most of the sun-loving crowd.
Spring feeding and a midsummer bloom fertilizer.
Shear lightly through the season to keep it compact and blooming. Leave the top growth for winter protection and cut it to the ground in late February. Leafs out late — May.
Winter loss in an exposed bed without mulch. The sticky seed capsules cling to clothes and pet fur. Spider mites in a dry spell.
Blue and gold with esperanza and lantana; blue and pink with Gulf muhly and autumn sage. Lovely under crape myrtle.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.