Blue Sea Lavender

Blue Sea Lavender (Limonium perezii) is a clumping perennial around 60cm tall and wide that carries wide, airy sprays of deep violet flowers above leathery dark green leaves. It was built for hard coastal positions, where salt spray, wind and sandy soil barely register. Few plants this tough flower for this long.

Why you'll love it

• Months of colour from one plant. Flower heads open through spring and summer and hold their violet tone for weeks, even as they dry on the stem.
• Salt and wind are not a problem. It grows on exposed dunes in its native Canary Islands, so a windy beachside verge is easy by comparison.
• Almost no maintenance. Once established it wants nothing but sun, sharp drainage and an annual tidy up of spent stems.
• It fills space quickly. Fast growing for a perennial, so a bare bed reads as planted within a season.

Where it works best

Coastal gardens. Use it on the front line where salt burns softer plants: fence lines, driveway edges and sandy slopes that never get watered.

Borders, edging and mass planting. Plant 50cm apart for a solid drift. At that spacing the clumps knit together and the flower stems read as one violet layer.

Rockeries and pots. The low mound suits gravel gardens and dry rockeries, and it grows well in a pot on a hot balcony if the mix drains freely.

Growing Blue Sea Lavender in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day. This is a plant for Mediterranean, warm temperate, subtropical and arid gardens. It takes light frost only, so in cool temperate and frost prone districts grow it in a pot that can shift under cover for winter.

Soil. Drainage matters more than fertility. Sandy and gravelly soils are ideal. On clay, plant on a raised mound with coarse sand worked through, because wet winter soil is the one thing that kills it.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer while the roots take hold, then only in long dry spells. A light handful of complete fertiliser in early spring is all it needs.

Pruning. Cut spent flower stems back to the base once they brown off, and pull away tired outer leaves.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as tube stock, or in packs of ten 140mm pots and packs of six 200mm pots. Tubes are young rosettes and the economical choice for a large drift, usually flowering in their second season. The 140mm and 200mm plants are established clumps and many will flower in their first spring.

Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect a few weeks of stillness after planting, then rapid leaf growth. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• What to plant in a salt exposed coastal garden
• Browse salt tolerant coastal plants
• Plants suited to rockeries and gravel gardens
• Ideas for low growing border planting

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Fifty centimetres apart for a continuous drift. Wider spacing keeps each clump as a distinct mound, which suits a rockery better than a border.

How long does it live?

Three to five years is typical, and often longer in sandy coastal soil. Clumps that thin in the middle can be divided in autumn, or simply replaced from tube stock.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. It comes through the occasional cold morning in a warm temperate garden, but repeated hard frosts will cut it down. In cold districts, treat it as a potted plant.

Can I grow it in a pot?

Yes, and it is a good balcony plant. Use a free draining mix, a pot with real drainage holes, and let the top of the mix dry between waterings.