Plant of the Month: Blue Daze

With beautiful true blue flowers, Blue Daze is unique, hardy, and easy to maintain. It loves the heat and the sun, making it a wonderful plant for the summer-- or basically most of the year in Florida! This low-spreading tropical plant is used as a summer annual, providing flowers all summer long.Blue Daze has gray-green foliage, with fuzzy, silvery green egg-shaped leaves. This soft backdrop is perfect for the brilliant multitude of sky-blue, funnel-shaped flowers. These blue flowers, with small white centers, bloom during the day, closing when it rains, on cloudy days, and as the sun goes down.      

Also known as dwarf morning-glory or Hawaiian blue eyes, Blue Daze has even been named a Texas Superstar. To qualify, Texas Superstars must be beautiful, perform well for growers throughout the state, and be easy to propagate. But Blue Daze isn't just easy and well-performing in Texas. It's also very well-suited for Florida landscaping.

If you have a hotspot in your garden that might stress less hardy plants, consider using Blue Daze in those areas, as it grows and blooms best in full sun. It tolerates all kinds of soil, even soils with poor nutrients, but it is vital that the soil is well-drained. If too wet, Blue Daze can contract fungal diseases that are detrimental to its lifespan. Watering regularly and using fertilizer will help establish the plants. Plants grow 9-18 inches tall, and up to 36 inches wide. Because of this horizontal and downward spreading nature, Blue Daze should be spaced 18 to 24 inches apart when planted.During the growing season, mulching, watering, and monthly fertilization will help this plant keep on blooming, regardless of soil deficiency.

It's best to plant Blue Daze in the spring, so their roots are well established by summer, making them more drought tolerant for the sunniest season. Blue Daze, ever adaptable, can handle anything. It thrives in salty conditions, making it a great fit for coastal gardens, and it can fight even the most unyielding or difficult patch of soil in your yard. It has a variety of uses, from ground cover or bordering in your Gainesville landscape design, to containers, hanging baskets, or cascading down walls.  Consider using Blue Daze in your landscaping! For more information about how this plant would work in your yard, as well tips on fertilization and maintenance, contact the friendly professionals at LawnMore today.