True Blue Flowers
True blue flowers are not common in most of our gardens. But they could be! Here’s a look at some of the plants with blue flowers available for us to grow in our home gardens.
Chinodoxa Luciliae
Glory of the Snow grows from a small bulb to a 15cm height. Individually they are pretty flowers, but plant in groups or drifts to get the best visual effect. Grow prefer fertile and well-drained soil, making rockeries or pots ideal. They flower between February and April and require direct sun or partial sun to produce the best flower display. As with all bulbs, allow the foliage to die back naturally. Chinodxoa Luciliae will naturalise, forming a spreading display year after year.
Salvia
Salvias have become increasingly popular over the last few years and rightly so! There are several blue flowering varieties including ‘Blue Butterflies’, ‘Black and Blue’ or Amistad, and Salvia bullulata, which is the bluest of the blue salvias that I have growing in my garden.
They vary in height from 50cm to 150cm and spread up to 1m. Conditions and flowering time varies according variety. Many are not very hardy, so should be taken under cover before the first frost.
You may also like Salvia patens ‘Blue Angel’ which I spotted for sale online.
Lobelia pedunculata
I spotted this beautiful blue flower at Kew Gardens, where it had formed a large carpet of colour across the ground. Also known as Pratia pendunculata, it grows to 2cm – 4cm tall and 150cm spread. It forms an evergreen mat of small leaves above which the small blue flowers appear in summer. It is hardy throughout most of the UK and prefers a sheltered site in shade or partial shade. Although the plants I saw at Kew, where I took this photograph, had little shade and were thriving.
Meconopsis betonicifolia Franch.
As a young gardener I tried several times to grow this Himalayan poppy, with true blue flowers, without success. If you can provide neutral to slightly acid, clay or loamy soil that is moist, but well-drained and is in an east or west-facing spot in partial shade and sheltered from cold winds, then you may find that they grow well in your garden. They tend to be short-lived perennials, often dying after they have flowered in June and July. Height 120cm and spread 50cm.
Echinops bannaticus
Although the colour of these flowers edge towards purple, they make it on to my blues list for the interest in shape and form that they offer. The globes of flowers are held above the thistle-like foliage and attract bees and other pollinating insects to feed on them. The clump of Echinops in my garden provides an audible reminder of this plants value to wildlife each time I walk past. Height 1-1.5m and spread up to 1m. I find it easiest to propagate by dividing clumps in spring or autumn.
Glandora diffusa ‘Heavenly Blue’
Every time I see the intensity of the blue of these flowers I am impressed. A low-growing, evergreen shrub that is ideal as ground cover in a sunny spot. It prefers well-drained, neutral or acid soil in a south- or west-facing position. If your soil does not drain well, try growing in a raised bed or large container. It reaches 50cm and spread. It is often listed at Lithodora diffusa ‘Heavenly Blue’.
Corydalis flexuosa ‘Craigton Blue’
I spotted this plant at Llysdinam Gardens in Powys on the edge of their woodland garden. A great plant for partial shade, the leaves and flowers grow on red stems up to 40cm height and spread during spring and early summer, after which the plant dies back until the following year. Corydalis flexuosa ‘Craigton Blue’ grows on most soil types in most situations, except a south-facing spot, preferring moist, but well-drained soil. You may also like Corydalis ‘Blue Heron’.
Amsonia Tabernaemontana
Here’s a good blue flowered plant for all but north-facing gardens. It even has some drought tolerance for drier areas of the country. Amsonia Tabernaemontana relatively unfussy about soil type, will tolerate partial shade, but thrives in full sun. The clusters of small grey-blue flowers appear from May to July. Height 60cm and 40cm spread. If you prefer to grow from seed, I’ve spotted them for sale on Amazon.
Plumbago auriculata
If you have a frost-free area greenhouse or unheated conservatory, this evergreen shrub may be the one for you. Provide it with some support and it can grow to 4m or more in height, 1.5m spread. The sky-blue flowers appear during summer and autumn. It is happy in all but a north-facing site and requires well-draining soil in full sun to thrive. I saw this Plumbago auriculata on a visit to Aberglasney Gardens, where they have it growing in a large container against a south-facing wall.
Linum
Cooked flax seeds are edible and have a nutty flavour. Perennial flax, Linum perenne, is a semi-evergreen plant that carries pale blue flowers during the summer months. It prefers well drained soil and a south-facing position and will fail to thrive on heavy and clay soils. The annual flax, Linum usitatissimum, produces an equally blue flower. Sow seeds in spring for flowers from June to September. Height up to 100cm. I once saw an entire field of blue flax undulating in the breeze, it looked like a shimmering sea-scape.
More information
The article about true blue flowers was written for Amateur Gardening magazine and published in January 2025. I have updated some of the specific varieties and images. Links are included to help you find the suggested plants. If you’d like to find other specific colour plants for your garden, read Great Plants with Pink Leaves.
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