Blue plumbago is easy to grow; let me teach you how to grow a sea of flowers
Summer is here, and you want to harvest a huge sea of flowers, but you feel that many flowers are too delicate and hard to care for. So for some beginners or lazy gardeners, blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) is a very good choice. Blue plumbago grows well, can withstand the high temperatures of summer, and has few pests and diseases. If cared for well, its flowering period can even run from April to November.
The flowers of blue plumbago are generally blue or blue-purple, and the color is very fresh and elegant, bringing a sense of coolness to summer. This flower was once used as one of the main decorative flower varieties during the Beijing Olympics. Blue plumbago grows very fast. Usually it is still a small seedling in spring, and after one summer it can grow wildly into a large pot.
For planting blue plumbago, it is best to choose a slightly larger flower pot. If it is planted in the ground, even better, as this gives it enough space to grow. Blue plumbago is a vine-like plant, so you can make a flower support for it, or plant it along a fence, railing or wall corner, letting the plant climb upward and grow into a sea of flowers.
Blue plumbago likes sunlight. In a sunny spot it grows easily and blooms abundantly, but it should not be exposed to overly harsh sun; if it lacks light it can still grow well, but the flower color will become slightly duller and the number of blooms will be smaller. At the same time, it is also heat-tolerant. The high temperatures of summer are fairly acceptable to it, and it will not easily die off in summer like succulent plants do.
Blue plumbago likes a moist environment, and dry soil is very unfavorable for its growth. When watering, water thoroughly once the soil has dried out. In summer, water once every one or two days; in spring and autumn, two to three times a week; in winter, once every several days depending on the situation.
If the plant blooms little or the flower color is dull despite sufficient sunlight and a healthy plant, you can supplement it with fertilizer, applying a dilute liquid fertilizer once every half month. Before flowering, use Huaduoduo No. 2 to promote blooming, and after the flowers fade, supplement with dilute liquid fertilizer again.
After the flowers fade, also promptly cut off the spent flowers and withered branches to reduce the loss of nutrients. In fact, the more you prune, the more flowers it may produce. After autumn, it basically will not bloom anymore, so you can do a major pruning, letting the plant conserve energy and overwinter in winter, so that in the following spring it is easier for it to grow more new branches and leaves.