Your TRUEST blues for bouquets

16 years ago

I have been trying to search this site for the TRUEST blues available.....but can't find a post that I saw a few years ago that gave specific suggestions.

I have:

Centaurea cyanus (bb)

Centaurea montana

Salvia Blue Bedder (but still too purple for what I need)

Stokesia Peachie's Pick (" " " " ")

Baptisia australis

Some blue siberian iris

(And possibly a blue hydrangea-with acid soil of course)

Any SPECIFIC larkspur/delphiniums/lupine that I could grow from seed?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks SO much for any help you can give me.

:0)Phyl

Comments (13)

goodscents
16 years ago
Phyl - The belladonna delphiniums, in particular Bellamosum, is a really intense, deep blue. Clivenden Beauty is very pale true blue. I also really like the mid-blue of Delphinium 'Clear Springs'. There is some variablilty but they are all definitely blue, not purple. I also like Clear Springs because they are not so tall as to require staking. I grow all these from seed and they will bloom a bit this year if you start them soon.
flowers4u
16 years ago
I'd add Scabiosa FAMA, Gentiana, and second the recommendations for Delphiniums!
Wendy
Related Professionals
New Bedford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Kenmore Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Marina Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Prairie Ridge Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Roxbury Crossing Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Waterbury Landscape Contractors · Cerritos Landscape Contractors · Forest Hills Landscape Contractors · Fort Wayne Landscape Contractors · Indio Landscape Contractors · Metairie Landscape Contractors · Milton Landscape Contractors · Riverhead Landscape Contractors · Smyrna Landscape Contractors · Oxon Hill Landscape Contractors
thinman
16 years ago
Phylrae wrote: I have been trying to search this site for the TRUEST blues available.....but can't find a post that I saw a few years ago that gave specific suggestions.

Sadly, iVillage seems to discard our posts after a certain length of time, or more likely, after the archive builds up to a certain storage size. Different forums have different numbers of pages that remain available for viewing -- I've seen as many as 67 pages on one, compared to the Cutting Garden's 24. The Cutting Garden Forum looks like it's cut off around April of '05, so I think that anything before that is a goner. Also, I believe if you "clip" a post it will only stay clipped until it is shoved off the bottom of the stack by iVillage. Kind of cheesy, if you ask me. Some other free online forums I know of keep users' posts forever.

Oh, well, at least it's free, but it would be nice to be able to refer to those older gems when you need to.

Climbing creakily down off the soapbox now.

ThinMan
phylrae
Original Author
16 years ago
Goodscents,
Thanks for the info on the specific delph varieties...I copied it down.
Wendy,
I appreciate the advice on FAMA and will look up gentians...have heard of them, but never seen up close.
Thinman,
So that's why I couldn't find the old thread I was looking for! I remember it being a LONG one too! Thanks for taking the time to tell me about it.
:0) Phyl
teresa_b
16 years ago
I really like peach leaf bellflower--campanulas. Gorgeous blues. I could never get enough of them.

Teresa
phylrae
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you, Teresa! :0) Phyl
triple_b
15 years ago
It is funny but I got a copy of Horticulture Magazine a few weeks ago. They had an article on 'blue' flowers. To a one, they were all lavenders, lilacs and such; cool purples. But I would have to stretch my imagination PRETTY FAR to call any of them BLUE. They should check out this forum instead. :O)
muffienh
15 years ago
The post is still here for blue flowers. Do a search on BLUEST and the saved posts will show up. It's a FAQ from Perennials Forum.

My favorite blues from seeds:

Anagallis monellii Blue Pimpernel
Anchusa capensis
Centaurea Bachelor buttons
Cynoglossum Chinese forget me nots
Delphinium Butterfly
Linum Blue Flax (biennialS)
Lobelia Cambridge Blue
Myosotis forget me nots (biennials)
Nigella Miss Jekyll
Salvia patens Blue Angel
and of course, Heavenly Blue morning glory!
vannie
15 years ago
How about Blue Daze and Plumbago? I have both and they are gorgeous. I'm in East Texas if that makes a difference.
buyorsell888
15 years ago
When I was a florist I used Delphinium belladonna year 'round because of it's fabulous color and lasting quality. Many of the other true blues just don't last well as cut flowers.
northerner_on
15 years ago
Just found this forum and am a blue-flower lover. My bluest is Delphonium 'Blue Elf'. Not your usual tall delphinium - shrub-like, 18 inches tall and filled with blooms in mid-summer. Short-lived perennial.
Northerner.
forestwench
15 years ago
I too, just found this post.
Can anyone recommend sources for the delphinium seeds?

I admit, I haven't done a blowout search, but if anyone has a favorite vendor, I'd love to hear about it.

After years of admiring Delphiniums, I finally planted some I found for sale in a 4 pack! They actually survived and are on their 3rd summer. (NJ isn't known for it's friendly Delphinium climate)
I am now ready to experiment further and these blues sound fantastic.

ps - used to work for a greenhouse. Growers always called purple flowers "blue". Annoying, especially when I would hear of an exciting new Blue anything and it was just another lavender. Lavender is great, but not blue.
buyorsell888
15 years ago
I feel your pain on the purples being called blue. I find a lot that are called red are really hot pink or magenta too. Not true red. It bothers me.