Zone: 4-9
Height: 3-4' x 4-5'
Light Needs: Part shade
A deciduous shrub with a rounded habit and large clusters of long blooming Summer flowers. Dark-green serrated foliage that turns reddish-purple in the Fall. The shrub is best grown in rich, well-drained soil, and tolerates full sun only if grown in consistently moist soil. The soil pH affects the color of the flower, it's blue in highly acidic soil and lilac to pink in slightly more alkaline soil. You can add aluminum sulfate to make the flowers bluer or lime to make the flowers pinker, begin soil treatments well in advance of blooming in late Fall or early Spring. If needed, prune immediately after flowering by cutting back flowering stems to a pair of healthy buds. Prune out weak or winter-damaged stems in late winter/early spring. For added protection, however, plants grown in USDA Zone 5 should be sited in sheltered locations and given additional winter protection, as needed, for the purposes of minimizing the risk of loss of significant numbers of flower buds or possible die-back to the ground in an extremely harsh winter. Low temperatures, sudden wide temperature fluctuations, icy conditions, or late frosts can effect the possibility of blooms for the season. Makes a great cut-flower and dried flower. Incredible enmasse in the shrub border or hedge, a specimen or accent in a foundation planting near a patio or home, or a container.
Category: Shrubs
