Ceratostigma (Plumbaginaceae) BWJ8140

willmottianum

Valued for its late summer and autumn colour of flower and foliage, a bushy sub-shrubby perennial that I collected seed of near Baoxing in Western Sichuan, China in 2000. Where this species inhabited the base of steep rocky cliffs forming small colonies of flexuous slender stems to 1m tall, bearing small ovate leaves which turn a rich-red in autumn after bearing bright blue flowers from June to autumn. Best grown in a free draining soil in full sun. The roots may require mulching in cold areas.