General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun. Prefers loose loams. Tolerates some drought. Intolerant of wet, poorly-drained soils. Roots are winter hardy to USDA Zone 5, but top growth is only reliably winter hardy to USDA Zone 7. Thus, stems will often die to the ground in the cold winters of Zones 5 and 6, with roots surviving to push up new stems in spring. Many gardeners in Zones 5 and 6 simply assume stems will be damaged in winter and automatically prune back hard all stems each year in early spring. Moreover, even in warm winter climates where the stems usually survive winter, gardeners still frequently prune the plants back hard in early spring to promote vigorous new stem growth. Flowering is unaffected by spring pruning because plants bloom on new growth.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Bluebeard (also commonly called blue spirea or blue mist) is a low-mounded, deciduous shrub that is valued for its aromatic foliage and late summer flowers which are said to resemble clouds of blue smoke or mist. Clandonensis hybrids typically produce about 18-30” of growth per year, so total shrub height (usually from 2-3’) depends in large part upon the extent of winter dieback and/or the annual spring pruning. ‘Summer Sorbet’ is a variegated cultivar that is noted for its green leaves with gold edging and its blue flowers in late summer. It was discovered at West End Nurseries in Devon, England in 1998 as a naturally occurring plant mutation of C. x clandonensis ‘Kew Blue’. It typically grows to 2-3’ tall and as wide. Oval to elliptic leaves retain good variegated color during the growing season. Foliage is aromatic when brushed with a hand. Blue flowers in terminal and axillary clusters (cymes) bloom from late summer into fall (July-September in St. Louis). Flowers are very attractive to butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects. U. S. Plant Patent PP15,935 issued August 30, 2005.