Give a beautiful cloud of blue flowers that earned it the name of "blue jasmine": the Plumbago is an evergreen, climbing shrub, of South African origin, which is grown outdoors only in a mild climate because it is delicate.
Form magnificent bushes or thick flowery coverings on walls or pergolas. The sky-blue flowers, gathered in rounded ears, appear from April to the end of October.
Plumbago should be placed in full sun, but it also tolerates the partial shade. Suitable for the mild climate, it resists heat, but must be protected from wind and cold (below 5 ° C): in hard areas, it must be grown in pots, in greenhouses or even in apartments.
It can be used as a bush, in groups, for flowering hedges, as a climber on pergolas or walls; in capacious vases on the terrace.
Irrigate regularly from April to the end of October, daily in summer, especially potted plants, more sensitive to drought. The substratum is barely moist in winter. From May to September, administer a liquid fertilizer for flowering plants every 15 days. Repot each year in the spring.
The leaves are small, oblong or elliptical, of a beautiful intense green, carried on thin, semi-woody stems, up to 1.52 meters long. It loves the loose soil, not too fertile, well drained, slightly acid. It multiplies by semi-woody cutting in spring and summer. Once the flowering is finished, a pruning is carried out to keep the plant more orderly and thick, cutting the branches to a third of the length.
In addition to flowers, the leaflets are small, bright green, carried on thin stems up to 2 meters long. A lover of the sun, it resists the mid-shade if it is bright, while if placed in the shade it cannot flower. n In addition to the more widespread P. capensis (blue jasmine), there are splendid P. auriculata, with blue or white flowers, and P. rosea, with scarlet flowers.