If you are searching for a groundcover that blooms reliably and profusely in early spring, appears to be like excellent yr-round with no chopping back again, wants small or no supplemental water, is dense ample to continue to keep down weeds, and is commonly ignored by deer, you can hardly do better than Ceanothus ‘Valley Violet’. Its only requirements seem to be very good drainage and just the suitable volume of sunshine.
This is a range of Ceanothus maritimus, which is endemic to coastal hills and bluffs in San Luis Obispo County, California. The species prefers a coastal setting in total solar, but ‘Valley Violet’ does high-quality perfectly inland with a minimal afternoon shade.
Compact for a ceanothus, ‘Valley Violet’ grows quite gradually to 1-2 toes tall and 3-4 feet extensive. Its leaves are tiny to really little, dark environmentally friendly and leathery, with rather prickly margins. Bouquets, which commence to surface in late wintertime, are a loaded purplish blue, darker than these of lots of other blue-flowered ceanothus. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are attracted to the flowers.
This tough and adaptable choice grows fortunately in numerous locations in my northern California garden. It has been extended-lived and very profitable at the top rated of a steep bank in soil that is fundamentally sterile street reduce. It also appears material in raised beds with a couple feet of reasonably respectable soil put in around an underlay of densely packed, write-up-building subsoil. In these tough circumstances ‘Valley Violet’ performs admirably with zero assistance from me.
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