Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Beardtongue

Group/Class:  Rock Candy Series

Brand:  Darwin Perennials

Description:

A vigorous and attractive compact plant with large eye-catching bluish-purple flowers with striped white throats; stunning as a complement to pastel yellow perennials; great for border fronts and along walkways

Ornamental Features

Rock Candy® Blue Beard Tongue has masses of beautiful spikes of sky blue tubular flowers with fuchsia overtones, white throats and violet stripes rising above the foliage from early to late summer, which emerge from distinctive deep purple flower buds, and which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its narrow leaves remain green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Rock Candy® Blue Beard Tongue is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Rock Candy® Blue Beard Tongue is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Rock Candy® Blue Beard Tongue will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 8 inches apart. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Rock Candy® Blue Beard Tongue is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.