Cerinthe, Blue Shrimp Plant, Blue Wax Flower, Honeywort 'Purpurascens'

Cerinthe major 'purpurascens' is also known as salvia viridis (Clary Sage) 'Blue Denim'. It is an old fashioned perennial plant.
I...Read More was given a tiny piece to grow last summer, and now it is a metre tall by a metre and a half in width. It flowered all through winter here in Waihi New Zealand, and it seems to be a very hardy little plant indeed, as well as a joy to the eye. The bees have been visiting it also.

My healthy plant is 3 feet tall. I am still waiting for the intense blue color. It is not getting really cold at night, and I am wonderin...Read Moreg if this is a factor.

DANGERS OF TRANSPLANT FROM SEED:

My experience with planting from seed and successive transplant echos comments below, so ...Read MoreI am sharing my observations on the dangers of transplanting this species from seed.

The seeds grown in a single container were vigorous and ready for transplant - in hindsight I could have simply "thinned" and avoided the transplant problem which ensued, but I was eager to have multiple plants.

As I was transplanting I noticed there were nice long roots on some and not on others. I wondered if I was planting at the proper level. I think what happened next answered my question - alarming wilt with almost all seedlings (10). I used a commercial potting mix and had watered them well as I do with transplant of all my seedlings.

I came back and re-read the posts here and eventually re-transplanted the seedlings which all surely would have perished. I re-planted each seedling into a 2" container with a very fine seed starting mix and did not water them again. I propped the foliage of each plant up so there would be less stress on the stem. Overnight I had 4 of them recover. The rest - I took cuttings from the growth tips but not sure if they will root. After a few days and only a tiny bit of water to each seedling, they are still in some shock, but I think they will make it.

My impression is that the seedlings should not be transplanted very deeply in heavy soil mix and do not want a lot of water on transplant.

I think it's important for DG members to share information on species that are difficult to start from seed. Please pay this forward.

I live in Mill Valley, CA (the sunny part of Mill Valley) and am having wonderful success with Cerinthe. They are STUNNING.

...Read More> I bought 4 plants at the local nursery and just planted them in a mostly sunny area. It gets a little less sun in the late afternoon, but it's not shady. The days have been cooler, of late. The evenings are cooler, too. But, even when it's been in the mid-70's, they seem to be doing great.

They are nearly 3' high and I've done nothing special with them when planting. The blue/purple color is gorgeous and they look really healthy.

I am looking for more seeds to plant (or more plants I can plant), because I would like to make this the focus of my flower garden, interspered with other flowers.

I am also looking for the yellow/golden honeywort plants/seeds, as well.

Really unusual and beautiful.

This self sows reliably for me. The seedlings that germinated last fall remained evergreen throughout the winter.

I bought 1 plant of this from Annie's Annuals this year. It is doing great and has grown a lot and is blooming now. I may try to start so...Read Moreme from seed next year but I'd definitely recommend this beautiful flower.

This beautiful and unusual plant is very easy to start from seed. -A great plant for an informal cottage garden. I have it in a mixed b...Read Moreorder with Silene orientalis, variegated Money Plant, tall Snapdragons, Nasturtium 'Alaska' and Cineraria 'Stellata', and it is the star of the bed. It is supposedly a full sun plant, but it is blooming very well in an area that only gets 4 - 5 hours of sun.

I saw a picture of this plant in a seed catalog and loved it. I own a green house and am always looking for something new and different t...Read Moreo present to customers. I have had these plants in gallon pots on the bench for several months now with no sign of a blossom! Maybe they don't intend to bloom until they are planted into the ground, perhaps they are waiting for longer days to trigger their bloom cycle. I am just not sure. I live in Illinois and we have had a cold, cloudy spring so maybe that has had a effect also, but hey were raised in heated greenhouses. If anyone has a guesstamation fire away I am stumped. I haven't found a whole lot of info as to why they would not be blooming.

This plant is fantastic with its blue leaves, and it's so easy to grow!

Beautiful plant, got them from seed and as little potplants. The snails got one, ate it completely, and I had to put sluggo around the other ones.

We bought a small container of seedlings in Cambria, CA. We live in Laguna Niguel. We did not transplant yet because we wanted to show se...Read Moree some growth and let the plants get stronger. After about a month of cool nights and hot days (90-95 in partial shade) the 2 in. high plants have not grown and now apear to be damping off. Because of small size and heat we have been watering daily.
Can anyone comment on the problem? We notice that most positive comments come from (cool) northwest.

If there's another plant like the purple flowered honeywort then I cant think of it. It's strange beauty makes me think of things that m...Read Moreight have been found growing on some other planet. I've had no pest problems with them and 1 plant gone to seed will be more than enough to populate your whole yard with them if that is your disire. I had one plant last season and saved as much seed as I could, naturally some escaped my culling. Imagine my surprise when I made a random January walk of my yard (Z8b) and saw 5-6 purple honeyworts sprouting away happilly, some even were nestled happily in my lawn. Seed sprouting in January in a clay ridden lawn = impressive (for me.) I would advise caution with this plant as it's readyness to reseed could move it in the direction of a weed in some places, although, I have to admit, I wouldnt mind a weed that looks like this :)

The color display of this plant was fantastic. The cooler the night temperature gets the leaves get a deeper blue. I grew it from seeds a...Read Morend it has put on a beautiful display all summer. We have had frost several times and it just keeps going.

Cerinthe major purpurescens is a hardy annual. It reseeds in the fall and the seedlings survive the winter producing a grand display of ...Read Morecolor in April (zone 8b). The seeds are large and can be harvested when they are hard and gray/black and release easily from the plant. Seeds are ready in stages, beginning at the base of the plant where the flowers first appeared.

They turned brown and died. What did I do? I grew them from seeds, and out of six seeds I got two plants. I transplanted them to my front...Read More yard where they enjoyed full sun and much water. Since they were growing in San Diego climate I thought they would last at least through the summer. They grew to about two feet high, then shriveled up and died just as they were blooming. Couldn't find signs of bugs.

Planted in fall for early spring bloom, this is a really nifty addition to the garden. The bees and hummingbirds just love it. Looking ...Read Moreforward to more next year.

MAJOR HUMMINGBIRD MAGNET

Mine go leggy too at the end of the season - but it's not a problem. I just treat them as an annual as they self seed so easily. Mine a...Read Morere already coming into flower (1st March in Buckinghamshire, UK) which is amazing as we're still about -5C some nights. I pop the spare seedlings into any available gap - they're so pretty and go with anything. What amazes me is how much seed companies charge for such a small quantity of these seeds as each plant produces quite a lot of the large brown seeds and they're so easy to collect. Just four or five seeds from a friend is enough to get you going and germination is almost 100%.

I was very impressed with the way mine grew so easily from seed. And the plant grew very quickly. But then something happened and it bega...Read Moren leaning outward and has grown all bent over ever since. I've had to stake it, but that didn't really work. Now it's been looking so pathetic and I'm not sure what happened to begin with. I have it growing in a bed on the west side of my garden, so it gets afternoon shade (I'm in Texas). Any ideas?

Judging from the pictures I see here, maybe if I figure out the key, I'll learn to love this plant in my garden.

Grew easily from seed, lovely foliage... unfortunately something thinks that the foliage is tastey (perhaps the chipmunk who eat my sedum...Read More) and eats them to the point of killing them. Still it is a plant I'll grow again next year since it grew from seed to flowering in very few months, faster than everything except my poppies!

Zone 4: has the most beautiful blue/green stems/foliage, very unusual color in the garden. looks like a succulent-type plant. will buy again.

I live in Oakland California (Zone 9). I bought the plant in 2001. Since last year, it has spread and is very healthy. I'd say in my a...Read Morerea, it is a hardy perennial. It does tend to droop and become leggy, but I just tied (it)them to an upright form. It's a sun plant, but seems to live well in relatively poor soil.

Best of all, the deer have not touched it, and they eaten many plants in my yard, that are "Deer Resistant" -- even the thorny, furry ones.

I bought 2 more plants this year. They are a slighty deeper purple. They are doing very well. This isn't a formal plant, but it is an attractive free spirit.

this is one plant that I'd never be without, i have it out in my front garden with a low growing euphorbia and a ceonothus, the colours t...Read Moreogether are fab.