Name: Sunshine Blue Caryopteris, aka Caryoperis incana ‘Jason’

Type of Plant: A fall-flowering shrub for full sun that’s hardy in Zones 5-9.  

Why I Love This Plant: I love plants that bring both foliage and flowers to the party, and this is one such shrub. The leaves are bright yellow/lime all summer, and their fine texture contrasts with larger and darker foliage. I also love that this shrub is smaller – 2-3 feet tall and wide in the garden, so perfect for planting in perennial gardens, foundation beds and at the front of mixed shrub borders.  

This shrub flowers in the fall, blue flowers on top of the yellow foliage, and the bees love it. I have picked the stems for bouquets, in summer and fall, and I appreciate how the plant mingles with others.

A Word to the Wise:   Caryopteris shrubs like sunny spots and well-drained soil. Leave the stems in place all winter, and then cut the plant back by half in the early spring, shaping it into a ball, not giving it a “flat top.”

Bright, fine-textured foliage! Color that adds to the garden from spring on, even without flowers. How can you not love this plant? Caryopteris Sunshine Blue.

Some people use the common name of bluebeard for this plant, but I think that in these days when everyone carries Google in their pockets, the botanic names often work the best. Caryopteris – pronounced carry-OP-ter-us, is easy and accurate. Not to mention a LOVELY plant. Here you can see how it looks in my front flower garden where it mingles with the annuals and perennials.

Whenever you can add bright spots of foliage into a garden, DO IT!

Do you see the bees in this photo? Two are clearly visible, but I know that when I took the picture there were five foraging here….some a a bit more camera-shy.