Plant Height: 28 inches
Flower Height: 4 feet
Spacing: 18 inches
Sunlight: Full sun
Hardiness Zone: 3
Description:
An impressive display of luxurious blue-violet flowers on towering spikes with a white bee; good vertical form, dense flower spikes and strong stems; excellent uniformity
Ornamental Features
Cherry Fountain Bee Larkspur features bold spikes of blue flowers with violet overtones and white centers rising above the foliage from early to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its deeply cut lobed leaves remain dark green in color throughout the season. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Cherry Fountain Bee Larkspur is an herbaceous perennial with a rigidly upright and towering form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.
This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;
- Insects
- Disease
Cherry Fountain Bee Larkspur is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Vertical Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
Cherry Fountain Bee Larkspur will grow to be about 28 inches tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.
This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Cherry Fountain Bee Larkspur is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.