Plumbago

Year-round

Blue plumbago is a warm-season evergreen shrub that grows fast in full sun and well-drained soil and blooms sky-blue clusters from late spring into fall.

• Give it at least six hours of sun a day for the heaviest bloom; it flowers thinly in shade.
• Once established it handles heat and dry spells well, so water deeply but only when the top few inches of soil dry out.
• Shear it back by a third once or twice a season to keep it dense and full rather than leggy.
• In the Dallas area it usually freezes to the ground in winter and returns from the roots in spring, so treat it like a die-back perennial shrub.

Kept sheared into a rounded mound it reads as a tidy, intentional foundation or border shrub, which stays HOA-friendly in a front yard.

Summer

Summer is peak bloom; steady heat and sun keep the blue flowers coming through the hottest months.

• Water deeply during long dry spells, letting the soil dry between soakings rather than keeping it wet.
• Shear lightly after the first big flush to trigger a fresh round of blooms.
• A thin layer of mulch keeps the roots cooler and cuts down on watering.

Fall

Blooming winds down as nights cool; ease off watering and let the plant harden before winter.

• Stop feeding by early fall so the plant is not pushing tender new growth into the cold.
• Cut back on watering as temperatures drop and the plant slows down.
• Leave a final light shearing until spring so the top growth shelters the crown.

Winter

In the Dallas area blue plumbago usually dies back in winter and rests until spring; the goal is to protect the roots.

• Mound three to four inches of mulch over the base to shield the crown from hard freezes.
• Expect the top growth to brown after a hard freeze; that is normal and not a loss of the plant.
• Keep the soil on the dry side while the plant is dormant so the roots do not rot.

Frozen top growth can look untidy; a quick cleanup of the worst stems keeps the bed looking cared for through winter.

Spring

Cut back last year's frozen stems and let the fresh growth flush; spring is when blue plumbago rebuilds for the season.

• After the last frost, prune any winter-killed stems back to live wood or to the ground.
• Work a little compost into the soil and give one light feeding as new shoots appear.
• Water new growth steadily through spring until the plant is well rooted and leafing out.