Point Reyes Ceanothus

Point Reyes ceanothus is a California native evergreen shrub that brings genuine blue to the Western Washington garden, not the muted blue of lavender or the gray-blue of Russian sage, but deep, saturated blue-to-purple flower clusters that cover the plant in spring. It grows to about six feet with a dense, spreading form, and the flowers appear in large clusters along the branches, creating a display that stops traffic. In its native habitat along the Sonoma and Marin County coast, it grows on exposed, windy bluffs, which gives you a sense of the conditions it actually prefers.

The key requirement for ceanothus in Western Washington is drainage. Like all California chaparral species planted in the maritime Northwest, it will rot out in the saturated winter soils that define most of our lowland residential sites. Plant it on a slope, in a raised bed, or in any spot where water never pools. Full sun is essential, shade produces leggy, sparse growth and few flowers. Two diseases and three pests are tracked, including Phytophthora root rot, which is the killer in wet soils. Get the drainage and sun right and you get one of the most visually striking shrubs available in the regional palette. Get it wrong and you lose the plant within a year or two. There is no middle ground with ceanothus.