Cerinthe major var. purpurescens
Blue Honeywort
Cerinthe is in the Borage family, Boraginaceae, along with Forget-me-nots, Virginia bluebells, Comfrey and Lungwort. One of their common characteristics is their inflorescence type, a helicoid cyme. It’s a spiral that continues putting out new buds at the tip, which bloom as they unfurl. It might be good as a cut flower. Bees love it. The name Cerinthe comes from the Latin words for ‘wax’ and ‘flower’. It’s also known as Blue shrimp plant and Blue wax flower. The large, fleshy leaves and clusters of bell shaped flowers turn cobalt and violet as they mature. Now the leaves on my little plant are a light seafoam green. It likes full sun to part shade, and is recommended for containers and baskets. It grows 18 to 36 inches tall.
I saw seeds for this plant at Kew, and considered bringing them back for my friend Nancy at the St.Paul farmer’s market. (www.thevagary.com) But she specializes in perennials and herbs. Thomson & Morgan seed company has a special line of Kew seeds- this is one of them. A packet of 10 seeds costs $4.49 online, plus S&H.
Today I bought one 4″ pot of blue honeywort for my garden plot. Interestingly, the tag said “Cerinthe purpescens.” Did they run out of room and just leave 7 letters out of the botanical name? It also states that it is an
“Heirloom annual from New Zealand.” According to the T&M/Kew description, this is an evergreen plant from the Mediterranean. Let me say I put more stock in their information than the folks at Langley Fine Gardens in Vashon Island, WA. But Paghat’s Garden cleared it all up for me, not only does she/they garden in zone 8, she does a good job of telling both sides of a story about a plant. So, she says it’s been categorized as a half-hardy annual, biennial, short-lived or tender perennial, but in the Northwest it can be a reliable perennial if given adequate summer moisture. As Bebbhin told me from her own experience, it reseeds very well. I also read that it doesn’t appreciate being transplanted, so pick the seedlings out very carefully when they are still small or just toss branches of the ripening seeds where you want them to grow and thin them out when they come up.
I planted mine next to the Crambe maritima. Hopefully it won’t mind the cool weather- our official last frost date is still over three weeks away. I might get some Cobaea scandens to grow next to them. Getting carried away already…
Last weekend I helped a customer put together a combination of tropical looking plants for four planters around her poolside, each 2.5 feet in diameter. The surrounding garden is blue and white. The planters will be in the sun and the color scheme is pink, blue, white and some purple. And it’s the middle in March, Yikes. Even in zone 8 it’s hard to come up with tropicals that fit that description this time of year. Perfect world- I would have recommended big, spiky-flowered pink Dahlias, purple callas, salmon flowered or purple leaved cannas, purple Phormium, pink spotted or white streaked Caladium, pink Bougainvillea, Passiflora cerulea on an obelisk trellis. Tropical blue, blue, blue? How about Agapanthus, Lily of the Nile, or young Eucalyptus. Maybe Eryngium, Salvia patens or Trachelium.
Here’s what I did do, with what I had on to work with. Pink Dierama, purple Eucomis, white Tuberose, Cerinthe major var. purpurescens, and Agapanthus mollis. And I told her if the planters don’t look full enough at first, try some white bacopa or pink Diascia hanging over the edges.
