Caryopteris 'Blue Mist' or ‘Dark Knight’

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Botanical name: Caryopteris x clandonensis • Bloom season: Summer to fall‍ ‍• Bloom color: Powder to deep blue‍ ‍•

Pollinator value: Exceptional late-season nectar when little else is blooming; magnet for bumble and honey bees‍ ‍•

A low mound of gray-green aromatic foliage that disappears under a haze of blue in late summer, in shades from powder to deep indigo depending on the selection. The timing is what makes it valuable: it opens in August and September, right when the summer perennials are finishing and before the fall natives get going, and it is covered in bumblebees the entire time.

Botanical name: Caryopteris x clandonensis • Bloom season: Summer to fall‍ ‍• Bloom color: Powder to deep blue‍ ‍•

Pollinator value: Exceptional late-season nectar when little else is blooming; magnet for bumble and honey bees‍ ‍•

A low mound of gray-green aromatic foliage that disappears under a haze of blue in late summer, in shades from powder to deep indigo depending on the selection. The timing is what makes it valuable: it opens in August and September, right when the summer perennials are finishing and before the fall natives get going, and it is covered in bumblebees the entire time.

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Caryopteris x clandonensis

Cultivar: 'Blue Mist' / 'Dark Knight'

Common Name: Bluebeard /

Native: Cultivar

Native Region: Not native to North America; origin Garden hybrid; parents from East Asia

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Moderate

Bloom Time: Summer to fall

Bloom Color: Powder to deep blue

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 2'-3' x H 2'-3'

Soil: Well-drained; lean soil

Pollinator Value: Exceptional late-season nectar when little else is blooming; magnet for bumble and honey bees

Plant Type: Deciduous subshrub

USDA Zones: 5 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping

Available As: Live plant

Growing Notes

Full sun and lean, well-drained soil. It flowers on new wood, which is what makes the spring cutback both safe and necessary. Space about 3 feet apart. It handles reflected heat off a wall or a driveway better than most shrubs here.

  • Water: Moderate

  • Sun: Full Sun

  • Soil: Well-drained; lean soil, cut back hard in spring

  • Mature size: W 3.5'-4’ x H 3.5'-4’

Maintenance

Cut it back every spring to about six or eight inches, once new growth appears at the base. This is not optional; an uncut bluebeard gets woody, sparse, and shy of flowering within a couple of seasons. Do not cut it in fall, since the old growth protects the crown through winter. It leafs out late, so wait for green before deciding it has died.