There's a pretty flowering shrub that I've seen with clusters of small, light blue flowers...?

and I can't remember the name for anything! I keep wanting to call it plumeria, but that's that tropical plant thats used for lei's. My question is, does anyone have any clue what I might be referring to, and if so, do you know if it will grow in the Bay Area (Northern CA)?





thanks!!!

There's a pretty flowering shrub that I've seen with clusters of small, light blue flowers...?
Could it be PLUMbago? That sounds a bit like PLUMeria (commonly known as Frangipani), and it's a gorgeous light blue flowering shrub. If that's what you mean, you're in luck! It grows like wild fire in the Bay Area- it just needs sun most of the day, and water. Once it's well established, it isn't really even all that picky about water! There is one growing (and thriving) along a fence on the asphalt parking lot of an antique store in DT San Jose that must be apx. 8' h by 6' w, and it doesn't appear to be maintained by anyone. It has asphalt on one side and railroad tracks on the other, so they appear to be pretty hardy.





They grew all over my neighborhood when I lived in SJ, and every once in a blue moon, I would see one with dark blue-purplish (like a violet) flowers- STUNNING!! (Of course, I can't remember the name right now!) It's not as common looking as the light blue, although the light blue is absolutely gorgeous- the flower color is just more common than the darker one. I've been searching for the dark one for a couple years now.





If you happen to live in one of those funny pockets in the BA (Mt. Hamilton, the Marina in SF) where you get very little sun, heavy freezes or even snow, I would ask at your local nursery for advice, and what will happen to the bush in the winter. You may be able to simply put a cover over it during freezes.





Well I hope that's it, and it helped. Even if it's not, check out Plumbago- it's gorgeous! If you like light blue flowering shrubs, I think you will like this one a lot. You can buy it at OSH, but call ahead to make sure they have it in stock.





peas out





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I added another site below (wiki) so that you would have a pictorial reference. The 2 pics on the right side of the page are indicative of what grows in the BA, especially the one at the bottom. Also, I remembered the name of the darker blue version of the bush, it's called "Royal Cape" Plumbago and it is breath-taking.
Reply:Nikko blue hydrangea?
Reply:what does "you were close" mean? I hate it when people take the right answer from one of the first answerers, and acts like they came up with it on their own. She wasn't CLOSE, she was right ON THE MONEY!!!! get a clue SPOOKY! good name.
Reply:Sounds like a Ceanothus to me...look this up on google images to see if it matches what you saw. Ceanothus is evergreen, with very pretty blue flower clusters and is very hardy so should be able to grow in north CA easily.
Reply:You were close! Try looking at this site about PLUMBAGO. Yes, it will grow up there. It thrives in SoCal so long as you water it, so Bay Area should be fine.