Plants with blue flowers are not abundant in nature.
But when you’ve got some, they’re eye-catching and really earn their keep.
Blue Hydrangea
A big, bluehydrangea(Hydrangea macrophylla)is absolutely breathtaking.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
you’re able to get your bigleafhydrangeas to turn sky blueby increasing soil acidity.
Adding soil sulfur is one way to do this.
Thislong-bloominggeranium flowers from June until frost, producing a nearly endless supply of violet-blue flowers.
Credit: Erica George Dines
Delphinium
Delphiniums offer some of the truest blue-color blooms available.
Stake tallerdelphiniumvarieties to keep their flower spikes from toppling over in the wind.
Grow them in soil rich inorganic matterand provide a balanced fertilizer to encourage the best blue flowers.
Credit: Justin Hancock
you could also find varieties that bear purple, white, or yellow flowers.
Clematis
Blooming in a range of colors,clematisis abeautiful vine to add to your garden.
The true blue-flowering varieties include Crystal Fountain, Ice Blue, or Arabella.
Credit: Kindra Clineff
Give these vines atrellis or another support to climb.
This native plant is also heat, drought, deer, and rabbit resistant.
Thefoliage turns a beautiful shade of yellowat the end of the season.
Credit: Jacob Fox
Create a harmonious color scheme by planting blue- or white-flowering columbines; create contrast with yellow varieties.
Leadwort
Also called hardy plumbago,leadwort(Ceratostigma plumbaginoides)is avigorous perennial groundcover.
This plant grows more slowly in shade but still blooms well.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Many of the longer-stemmed varieties makeexcellent cut flowers.
Dwarf types, such as Pearl Deep Blue work well as groundcovers.
Bonus: Both are great for cutting.
Credit: Bob Stefko
For true blue flowers, look forSalvia azureaorS.
patens(shown here).
Othervarieties of salvia, such as May Night or Blue Mound, offer more violet-blue flowers.
Credit: Rob Cardillo
These perennials also makelong-lasting cut flowers.
This vigorousannual vineiseasy to grow from seedand can self-seed prolifically in situations where its happy.
These small bulbs will naturalize over time, meaning theyll slowly spread tocreate a beautiful blooming carpet.
Credit: Scott Little
It also mixes well with other small early bulbs, such as snowdrops.
The large dark seedpods that follow also look interesting.
Iris
With myriad types to choose from, irises come in nearly every shade.
Credit: Kindra Clineff
For a monochromatic look, try planting iris with purple-bluelupineordelphiniums.
Its long-lasting, steel-blue, spherical blooms appear in summer, and are good cut flowers.
Bonus: They’ll look great in a vase together, too.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Give it plenty of space in your yardrose of Sharon grows quite large.
Size:8-12 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide
Plant it with:For another nectar-rich shrub, tryweigela.
It flowers in spring to mid-summer, stopping right around when rose of Sharon’s blooming kicks into gear.
Credit: Denny Schrock
For foliage contrast, pair rose of Sharon withsmoke tree.
Red flowers: For bold, look-at-me blooms, nothing can compete with bright red flowers.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Credit: Bob Stefko
Credit: Nancy Rotenberg
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Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Credit:Marty Baldwin
