The name Leadwort may not sound flattering, but this beautiful, hardworking perennial always deserves a place in a home garden.
Its tolerance of droughty soil, harsh growing conditions, deer, and all kinds of pests, the bright blue flowers and green foliage, along with fiery fall colors, make Leadwort a highly sought-after garden plant.
The hardy blue-flowered Leitwurz (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is a species of flowering plant in the Plumbaginaceae (Plumbago) family, native to tropical, temperate, and warm regions of Asia and Africa. Ceratostigma is a genus of 8 different species[1] of flowering plants.
The specific Latin epithet plumbaginoides denotes its similarity to plants of the closely linked Plumbago genus. Leadwort, or plumbago, is a thread-like perennial that spreads through rhizomes to create an attractive ground cover.
Typically, it grows 6 to 10 inches tall on upright stalks protruding from rhizomes. The medium green, oval to obovate, glossy leaves (up to 2-inches long) turn bronze-red in fall.
The terminal clumps of five-petalled gentian blue flowers (1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter) appear on the foliage during a long flowering period from summer to frost.
