MBN 1Gal Calandrinia spectabilis 10525

it's quick, it's spectacular, and it's got blue foliage. This low, shrubby succulent is grown for its striking powdery blue foliage and iridescent magenta purple flowers to about an inch across that wave from long wand-like flower spikes well above the plant from spring through fall. In reality it seems to be a truly Daylength Neutral bloomer, depending simply on energy input for flower production, and can bloom through our cyclic warm, wet winters.. It is fast, easy, and rewarding, though it can fall apart with any physical damage, if overwatered, or from any frost. Still it is so easy and noticeable that it is easy to plug into any blank spot in your garden, usually rewarding you within a month with architectural foliage and very showy flowers. For best results grow it in full to part sun with at least reduced watering when established. Tops are pretty frost tender, damaged to near the ground at 25F in my garden in 2007, but established plants can take perhaps 5 degrees colder, maybe more if mulched or with overhead cover to reflect ground heat. In very high winter-rainfall areas it is likely to melt. To about 18" tall (foliage only), 3' across. It can get old and cruddy within 2-3 years and should be either cut back to within an inch of its life or replaced. USDA zone 9.