Blue Butterfly Plant

I really enjoy the spring season. Today I’m at Pine Hills Nursery looking for new plants for Mississippi gardeners. A plant that is sure to find a place in my landscape this year is blue butterfly plant. Known botanically as Clerodendrum ugandense, blue butterfly plant has intricate flowers that actually resemble little blue butterflies in flight. The flowers are arranged in multiples on long arching branches. Individual flowers are about an inch in diameter with several pale blue lobes and a single darker blue-violet. I really like the way the stamens and pistil arch out and upward and remind you of eyelashes. Blue butterfly plant should be planted in full sun to partial shade in the landscape and needs consistent soil moisture during the hot summer months. This plant will have an open and airy growth habit and flowers on the current season growth. This is a good attribute since blue butterfly plant can become gangly, potentially getting upwards of 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. So pruning at any time to keep the plant neat and tidy will not impact flowering. This plant will flower from planting to the first frost in the fall. Though blue butterfly plant is considered tropical it is tolerant of cooler conditions and is hardy down to about 20F. For most gardens in Mississippi this plant will return from the roots like many of our other perennial plants. For possibly the best performance grow in a large container that can be protected during freezing weather. Blue butterfly plant is sure to attract interest and since it easily propagates from stem cuttings you can share with all of your gardening neighbors. I’m Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.