#sky blue commelina

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Commelina coelestis

The genus Commelina belongs to the Spiderwort Family (Commelinaceae), and the species pictured (Commelina coelestis) comes from Central America down into South America. It has somewhat succulent stems and narrow trough-like leaves, but its principal appeal lies in its sky-blue flowers. In our northern California climate, it dies back to the ground each winter, but it shoots back in the spring and makes lots of flowers in the late spring and all through the summer.

-Brian

[louisianaplantnut]

True Blue: Dayflower, Commelina communis

Have I mentioned that blue is my favorite color? In the horticultural world, what is usually called “blue” turns out to be some shade of purple. True blue flowers are pretty rare, but there are a few out there - some morningglories are strikingly blue, and there’s always Lobelia for cool-weather growing here. The famous Himalayan Blue Poppy (Meconopsis) is a breathtaking shade of sky blue, but requires growing conditions where the temperatures generally stay below 80 degrees, which is decidedly NOT an attribute of Louisiana summers!

Several years back, I was strolling through the French Quarter in New Orleans early one morning and came across an overgrown sidewalk planter that was partly overrun with dayflowers. It reminded me of my childhood, when I would come across patches of these along a railroad track near our house. So, against my better judgment - knowing how weedy dayflowers can be - nostalgia and my love of blue got the upper hand and I ended up taking a piece back to Baton Rouge. Of course, it got a foothold in the garden and never looked back. I routinely pull out clumps of it, but there are always some escapees, and I am happy to see the almost-unearthly blue blooms gracing the garden in the relative cool of the mornings. The flowers don’t last long, though - as the day warms up, they wither away, and are gone by the afternoon.