“A New Blue”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Today was my first day back at work after a long vacation. Of course, when I came home everything needed to be watered since it had been a hot, cloudless day. As I was watering the plants in the back garden, I received two delightful surprises.
One was a bud on the bird of paradise. I have been waiting years for that thing to bloom. I know I have had that plant at least four years and probably it is really more than that. I have kept it root bound, and did everything I had read to get it to bloom and nothing, that is until today. I can hardly wait for the bud to open and to share a photo with you.
The other nice surprise was the blooming of the Blue Butterfly plant (clerodendrum ugandense). This is my second summer with this plant, and last year it did not bloom until very late in the fall, and then only sparsely. Well, today I noticed the first blooms opening.
The flower is a lovely shade of blue and is supposed to resemble a butterfly. This is a tropical plant, and here it will freeze but does come back from the roots. Last year I covered it with about 12 inches of pine straw, and it did come back quicker in the spring which may be why it is blooming earlier this year.
I have this plant located about fifteen feet from a blue plumbago, and now that the Blue Butterfly plant is in bloom, it makes the plumbago stand out even more. As I wrote in an earlier post, I just love the true blue colored flowers and wish there were more of them.
So, finding these two little presents in my garden made going back to work not so bad. I wonder what surprise Mother Nature has for me tomorrow to reward me for going back to work.
Always Growing 
ashley said,
August 6, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Blue Plumbago!! that makes my day. something about baby blue flowers. congrats on bringing these treasures from god to earth!!
ash
http://www.flowerpaintingsonline.com
deb said,
August 6, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I love my butterfly flower. I grow it in a container and keep it in the greenhouse in the winter. The flowers are so pretty.
Anna said,
August 6, 2008 at 9:42 pm
That is good news. I’m waiting on a lacecap hydrangea to bloom. Seems like it’s taking forever and then when you lest expect it—-there it is.
Jan said,
August 7, 2008 at 4:01 am
Hi, Ashley, thanks for stopping by. True blue flowers really are something special.
Deb, I put mine in the ground because I just can’t take care of any more containers in the winter, but then blue butterfly is root hardy here. You are so right about the flowers; they are so pretty and delicate.
Anna, it is strange how some things can take so long to bloom one year and not the next. I know when it comes to the bird of paradise, the anticipation adds to the excitement of finally seeing a bloom.
Brenda Kula said,
August 7, 2008 at 3:55 pm
What a lovely, soft shade of blue in that photo too.
Brenda
Annie in Austin said,
August 8, 2008 at 2:28 pm
My blue butterfly clerodenrum’s been blooming for a couple of weeks, Jan – but it’s the first year. The friend who gave it to me has had it outside for several years and she lives less than a mile away. Hope it can make it – I’ll remember your advice to mulch it deep.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Jan said,
August 8, 2008 at 5:40 pm
It is a pretty shade of blue, isn’t it, Brenda? When I first saw this plant at the nursery, I knew I had to have it. The long stamins give the flower a very ethereal quality. I just love this plant and am so glad I found it.
Annie, I don’t know why mine has been so slow to bloom. All the info I’ve read said it should be blooming before now. Mine is located in the back of the garden away from any shelter, and it has made it through the winter just fine, so I am sure yours will too.