Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Blue Blossom)

The hardiest of the California wild lilacs, Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Blue Blossom) is a large, upright, evergreen shrub noted for its large fluffy clusters, 8 in. long (20 cm), packed with pale to dark blue flowers dotted with yellow stamens. Blooming from mid-spring to early summer, the flowers are so profuse that they literally cover the shrub, transforming the plant into an explosion of blue. The blossoms are borne on arching branches clad with small, lustrous green, oval leaves. Fast-growing, Blue Blossom is native to the coastal chaparral and rocky, maritime, open, and wooded slopes, bluffs, and flats along the western coast of the United States from California north to Oregon. Its flowers are important for bees, moths, and butterflies, and its seed pods are an important food source for birds and small mammals. Adding exquisite beauty to the landscape, it can be grown in sunny shrub borders, screens, hedges, against walls, and open slopes.

• Grows up to 15-20 ft. tall and wide (450-600 cm).
• Thrives in average, moist to dry, well-drained soils in full sun. Appreciates afternoon shade in hot summer areas. Tolerant to salt spray, and poor, shallow, rocky to sandy soils. Established plants need little summer water (once or twice a month). Drought tolerant once established.
• Excellent choice for wall-side borders, beds and borders, city gardens, coastal gardens, cottage gardens, and Mediterranean gardens.
• Prune immediately after flowering.
• Propagate by seed or semi-hardwood cuttings.
• Keep an eye out for scale insects, honey fungus, and Phytophthora root disease.
• Native to California, Oregon.