A touch of the blues

At the Sheen Falls Hotel in Kenmare, a fine powder-blue Ceanothus grows in a sheltered courtyard.

It would have grown in a neater fashion had the plant been pruned lightly after flowering each year, but even so, it draws favourable comment when it blooms.

An exciting aspect of gardening is that affections are never constant! Look at this way — in February, out come the daffodils and early snowdrops to positively vamp you and you’ll have eyes just for them and no other flower. Some weeks later you’ll be positively drooling over an early-flowering camellia or choice hellebore (whilst the daffs fade away) and when these have finished, the azaleas, rhododendrons, and exciting cut-leafed maples will vie for that pride of place in your heart. Secretly we acknowledge that whichever plant takes our fancy (in whatever season it may reveal its blooms) they will capture our hearts all over again. If this kind of happening sounds familiar, you are in very good company!

We gardeners certainly live in exciting times during spring, but when the herbaceous heavyweights such as peonies, lupins, and delphiniums begin to make ready and jostle readily with the trusting stems of lilies and stout alliums, I welcome the arrival of the gently spreading Californian lilac shrub sold as Ceanothus (pronounced see-an-o-tus).

There’s something delicate looking about all the Ceanothus, especially those varieties with soft tones of velvet lavender, colours so wispy and smoky-looking, that you feel a breeze could lift them away. Don’t for a moment think of the Californian lilac as being fussy or overly tender (despite the fact that many died in the winter of 2010/2011-so did many other ‘hardy’ plants!) for all are reliably hardy during ‘normal’ Irish winters.

The family Ceanothus belongs to one or other of two groups — the evergreens and the deciduous. The evergreen group are spring-flowering (in the main) having small, shiny leaves, and tight thimble-like clusters of tiny flowers. The deciduous group are a tougher lot, being notably hardier and better able to withstand cold and wind, but their leaves are larger and the blooms looser in form and density.

For a low, spreading effect in spring, look for the reliable Ceanothus sold as thyrsiflorus repens. This grows to about three feet high by as much across and spreads sideways into handsome layers of glossy evergreen leaves, with shoots covered in powder-blue flowers during late May. For a deeper blue, choose C. impressus but bear in mind that this grows to six feet and more by as much as eight feet across.

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus repens blooms on shoots made the previous year and these are pruned immediately after flowering (if required). Shrubs in the open need little more that the removal of dead and weak wood along with the removal of growths interfering with shape and form. Wall trained specimens should have all flowered breast wood (shoots growing outward from the wall) shortened to within a bud or two of their base as flowers fade.

None like their root systems disturbed at, or after planting time. Start with a young specimen which has been grown in a plastic pot. Simply slip the plant from this without breaking the root-ball, and place into the position chosen.

Hopefully, a warm, sunny spot will have been first choice. Planting stations need to be well prepared with the sub soil loosened and if necessary enriched with leaf-mould, peat, garden compost, or straw manure. Add a few ounces of Osmocote slow-release fertiliser when backfilling, firm the lot, and water to settle. Do not allow the plant to go short of water for the duration of summer.