Veronica / Speedwell

June 7, 2010

Veronica 

'Royal Candles' and others
 (see below)

Veronica gentianoides variegata

Just got the variegated speedwell from Broken Arrow in 2012.

The standard deep blue candle speedwells that I planted in 2009 did not do well in my garden.  They are gone now, but here was the history:

June 15, 2011

You can just see 'Royal Candles' at the edge of the Birch Garden.  It has very deep blue flower spikes in summer.  It lives, but just barely, and never looks very happy, and hasn't filled in much.

It would look lovely in June, but then disappear as summer got hotter.  The foliage just crisped up.  In 2010 Bartlett sprayed for Ascomycete leaf spot fungus because they were treating the shrubs nearby for powdery mildew.  Much improved!  The foliage didn’t melt away even in a very hot summer.

I also planted 'Goodness Grows' in the Birch Garden (a very low, small veronica with deep blue spikes) and 'Giles van Hees" in Meadow's Edge (a soft pink), but they did not come back.

I planted 'Twilight' in the new garden near the west walk.  It has light silvery blue flower spikes, and looks a little looser than 'Royal Candles', but did not survive a garden re-do of that area.

So --- here it is 2012, all the speedwells I tried are gone from the garden, and I am trying again, this time with a pink margined variegated form, called gentianoides.   We'll see.  I will put it behind the Birch Garden, out of the way, under the 'Orange Dream' Japanese maple and see how it does.  Must remember to keep it wet back there, they don't like drought.