I love the blues. Well, those in the garden, that is.
There is something irresistible about blue flowers. So as you can imagine, I have been collecting quite a few. But there is one that stands out from the rest – the Otacanthus Caeruleus.
It gives a vivid splash of blue to liven up the floral bed and doesn’t take up much space. Its long stems weave through other plants and appear here and there to show off its blue flowers.
The vibrant blue flowers are two-lipped, with the lower lip sporting a white streak at the throat. The flowers are slightly bigger than a penny, and grow in whorls around the end of the stem.
The flowers are lovely in a vase. Whenever I pick them, the typically sticky leaves emit a pleasant scent. Some people think they smell of pine. I think they smell of camphor.
The Otacanthus is tough and relatively pest free. In fact, I can’t think of any. I have not seen any sign of caterpillars, mites or rust … and snails don’t seem to like it either.
You won’t need to fuss over the Otacanthus once you plant it. Leave it to grow at will or give the weak, lanky stems some support if you want a neater shape. Either way, the plant will make a statement in the garden.
I plant the Otacanthus Caeruleus in a mixed bed with the angelonia, pentas, asystacia, plumbago and impatiens. Try mass-planting if you want a drift of blue.
This plant is a favourite with the family. Mum likes its flowers, but she doesn’t like its name. “Can’t remember it,” she says. Maybe I should tell her it’s also called Amazon Blue or Brazilian Snapdragon. She calls it the blue ribbon flower. I don’t think the blooms resemble blue ribbons, but I do think they deserve one.
Care and propagation: well drained soil, full sun, water moderately; propagate using cuttings
I like these too. I have many pots of these and the crushed leaves have a peculiar smell. Easy to propagate and relatively resistant to pests. They simply spring back after a hard pruning. Love these blues!
Hi, I have this plant too and I grow it in a pot.. I find the bottom leaves start to turn yellow very quickly recently.. do u know what could be wrong?
if it’s just the bottom leaves, it could be quite normal. it’s a tough plant so there shouldn’t be any problem. 🙂
Is the ribbon flower variety “Atlantis” a shorter thing. Just its marketed as a small shrub 2″ tall, that’s two foot I assume being metric. Good for bedding etc. Not that I’m particularily into bedding but we do get typhoons and apocalyptic monsoon showers so something shorter would be good. For the same reason Verbena bonariensis “lollipop” does well for me, it can take anything as can V. rigida. I bought a Brazilian snapdragon “Atlantis” so here’s hoping. If it’s the lanky one I will go out and get a couple more and grow through the blood red hibiscus, that sometimes works, with a little help. Probably Atlantis is just a trade name…….would be good to know, so I can know how to actualy plant the thing,though.
I thought I left a comment but it appears to have been lost. I just discovered this charming plant Otacanthus (now officialy) azureus instead of “caeruleus”.
Both lovely descriptive names for celestial blue, and it is.
Your mum might have been right not to get used to the Latin names the speed with which they change. It’s becoming infuriating. Entire genera are being switched about and surplanted. DNA testing is a marvelously progressive but also a complete curse. When Acacia becomes Vachellia you know its out of control. Politics shouldn’t have a place in botany IMO but there it is the Australians and their gormless, sneaky botanical coup d’état to corner the name Acacia. For no other reason than they simply didn’t like the sound of “Racosperma” for their wattles.
This blog is 2009 which makes me think I’ve been living under a rock not to have known about this stunning blue number. Im not sure I absolutely didn’t know as I think I’ve seen it for sale in Thailand before but just assumed it was a short lived annual so not worth the smuggle. I also seem to remeber there are two, one a pale blue and the other the this lovely dark blue. Of course I could also be dreaming.
Anyway I now have one, its supposedly a variety or selection called O. azureus “Atlantis” that grows to just 30cm in the garden but with bigger flowers same colour. At least this is what I can work out…..this outdated (I believe) link is not a plug but for verification.
http://www.highsunexpress.com/Otacanthus-Atlantis-Pellets-p/3927-pell.htm
Seems to indicate “garden height” thirty centimeters doesn’t it? That’s just a foot tall. Which would be very handy, for me at least with super typhoons and apocalyptical monsoon down pours.
Something I must add to the story for those new to the splendours of this rare true blue in our wet tropical summers. As far as my research goes it must have fairly acidic soil conditions or the tips and old leaves yellow and die back/fall off. I discovered this too late for planting, sigh. It was a research paper into the micro propergation/production of this plant for it’s leaf oils. I might have to replant %(**!!!##!! Anyway Im heading off to buy the second one I saw for sale here. Only two ever got here in a shipment from the Netherlands. Mysterious, not three, six or eight but two.
Im puzzled why this plant hasn’t yet become the Gruyère in the garden fondue. Maybe gardeners got tired of it’s yellowing and collapsing due to it’s not widely known preferances for acidic soils? If so hope I’ve been able to spread the message as fingers crossed as I can’t imagine living without this colour myself! Thanks for the blog entry its about as detailed as there is.
Amazon Blues are amazing eye-catching purple-flowered plants. They don’t seem to be able to stop flowering even when the weak stems collapse, which is a weak point about the plant. Also, stems tend to grow straggly with a barren sock-less feet appearance. One way to stop the collapse is to create a thin trellis system where the stems are secured by using twist or cable ties. To hide the ugly barren feet, it would be a good idea to place a second but younger row of the plant, if they are all container-grown, in front of the older plants, and, then yet another row as the other two rows grow taller and taller. in this way, it is possible to create a wall of purple as tall as 1.5-2.0 metres tall to last for a long, long time.
thanks for the practical tips, Simon.