{"id":251,"date":"2011-04-14T05:49:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T13:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=251"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:32:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:32:57","slug":"lithodora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/lithodora\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithodora"},"content":{"rendered":"

LITHODORA
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At this time of the year, it is hard to curb your enthusiasm.\u00a0 While trolling the local garden centers for interesting pansies and violas, I was nearly overcome by the sight of all the freshly-delivered perennials, annuals, trees and shrubs.\u00a0 If I were either Warren Buffett or a Power Ball Lottery winner, I would have cut to the chase and just made an offer for the entire inventory of my favorite plant emporium.\u00a0 Of course that would have left me with an unconscionable amount of dusty miller, but I am sure I would have found a way to use it.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Plants with true blue–not blue-purple–flowers are among the most desirable and rare in the garden.\u00a0 Members of the borage or Boraginaceae family often boast these true blue blooms.\u00a0 In addition to the herb borage, for which the genus is named, family members include forget-me-not or Myosotis, lungwort, known botanically as Pulmonaria; and bluebells or Mertensia.\u00a0 The flowers are not always large, but they are usually an eye-catching shade of blue.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While staggering through the garden center with flats of early spring annuals, I came face to face with a beautiful borage relative–Lithodora.\u00a0 The flowers reminded me of very large forget-me nots and the small leaves made me think of rosemary or thyme.\u00a0 The plant was a low grower and bore a tag claiming that it would reach no more than twelve inches tall, with a potential spread of up to six feet.\u00a0 Since I have been desperately seeking good groundcovers, I snatched it up.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My new plant is more formally known as Lithodora diffusa ‘Grace Ward’.\u00a0 Its shrubby genus, Lithodora, contains seven species, all native to Eastern Europe.\u00a0 Of those seven, only diffusa is commonly cultivated.\u00a0 In addition to ‘Grace Ward’, there is cultivar called ‘Heavenly Blue’ and another, sold as ‘White Star’.\u00a0 ‘Heavenly Blue’ has an even deeper color than ‘Grace Ward’; while ‘White Star’ is blue with white markings.\u00a0 All three varieties have similar dimensions and cultural requirements.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As is often the case, the Latin name tells a lot about the plant.\u00a0 “Litho”\u009d is the Latin word meaning “stone.”\u009d\u00a0 Generally plants with “litho”\u009d in the name are low-growers that thrive in crevices between stones.\u00a0 They are good rock garden specimens and like the kind of well-drained soil found in alpine situations.\u00a0 Lithodora fills this bill perfectly.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Odora”\u009d is generally associated with fragrance, but the leaves of my ‘Grace Ward’ do not have any discernable scent.\u00a0 Perhaps the species’ foliage is more fragrant.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Diffusa”\u009d signifies that the plant is loosely branched.\u00a0 In the case of Lithodora diffusa, the loose, branching habit is what enables it to spread nimbly along the ground.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only thing the Latin name does not tell you is whether the plant needs sun or shade.\u00a0 The answer is “sun,”\u009d though in southern climates, it may thrive better with a little afternoon shade.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My research suggests that lithodora is easy to grow, but has one potential problem.\u00a0 As it spreads, the plant’s growth can become sparse in the middle.\u00a0 You can disguise this sparseness by planting new lithodora plugs in the bare spots or by combining lithodora with other ground covers.\u00a0 Ajuga, with its blue purple flowers and mat-forming habit would be a nice companion.\u00a0 By choosing a variety of groundcovers that contrast in color and texture, you can fill a large area with a tapestry-like array of plants.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lithodora blooms in the summer, giving you something to look forward to after the riot of spring flowers is over.\u00a0 It is also, reputedly, deer and critter resistant.\u00a0 I always take such claims with a large grain of salt, but if deer or other varmints are a problem where you live, you might want to try a plant or two and see what happens.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Groundcovers of all kinds are very fashionable, from little mosses to larger species like big leaf geranium.\u00a0 Lawns overall are shrinking and people want low-growing plants that are like perfect spouses–good looking and easy to care for.\u00a0 Lithodora is an ideal choice, as long as no one wants to walk on it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My ‘Grace Ward’ lithodora was marketed by Monrovia, one of the biggest plant wholesalers and brand leaders in the horticultural world.\u00a0 This means that the plants should be available in large and small nurseries and garden centers this spring.\u00a0 Buy ‘Heavenly Blue’ from White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, Connecticut 06759;(800) 503-9624; www\/whiteflowerfarm.com.\u00a0 Fre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LITHODORA \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At this time of the year, it is hard to curb your enthusiasm.\u00a0 While trolling the local garden centers for interesting pansies and violas, I was nearly overcome by the sight of all the freshly-delivered perennials, annuals, trees and shrubs.\u00a0 If I were either Warren Buffett or a Power Ball Lottery winner, I … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-spring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1540,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/1540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}