Sapphire Blue Evolvulus

Sapphire Blue evolvulus (Evolvulus pilosus 'Sapphire Blue') is one of the few groundcovers that flowers a genuine blue rather than a washed out mauve. It makes a low silver green mat about 25cm tall and 60cm across, covered through the warm months in small sky blue trumpets. Planted 40cm apart it knits into continuous cover in a season, and it does it on very little water.

Why you'll love it

• True blue, and plenty of it. The flowers are a clear sapphire blue, a colour almost nothing else in the groundcover range delivers.
• Silver foliage between flushes. The leaves carry fine silvery hairs, so even out of flower the mat reads as soft grey green.
• It asks for very little. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant and happy in poor free draining ground once established.
• Coastal ready. Salt tolerant, so it holds up on exposed foreshore banks and beachside verges where softer groundcovers burn off.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 40cm apart, about six plants per square metre, for full cover. The plants meet by the end of the first warm season, and closer spacing costs money without closing the gap much faster.

Borders and edging. At 25cm tall it softens a path edge or driveway strip without ever needing to be cut back off the paving.

Pots, rockeries and retaining walls. It spills over an edge, so it suits the front of a mixed pot, a rockery pocket or the top of a low wall where drainage is sharp.

Growing Sapphire Blue evolvulus in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun: shade cuts flowering hard and makes growth leggy. It suits tropical, subtropical, warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and takes light frost only. In cold winter districts treat it as a warm season plant for pots.

Soil. Free draining is the one real requirement, and sandy or gravelly soils suit it. On clay, plant into a raised bed or mound and work coarse compost through, because wet feet through winter kills this plant, not cold.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer to get roots down, then only in long dry spells. One light application of slow release fertiliser in early spring gives more flower; rich soil and heavy feeding give leaf.

Pruning. Shear the whole planting back by about a third in early spring, and again after the heaviest flush if it opens up in the centre. It reshoots from the base and comes back denser.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as tube stock and in 140mm pots sold in packs of ten. Tube stock is the sensible choice for a large area: small on arrival but strongly rooted, and it catches bigger stock within a season. The 140mm pack is already branched and starts covering ground straight away.

The growth is wiry rather than soft, so it travels well. Water the day it lands, plant into moist soil and mulch lightly without burying the crowns. Expect visible spread within three to four weeks in warm weather, and flowers in the first season. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the groundcover range
• More drought tolerant plants
• Flowering plants for summer colour
• Preparing a garden bed before planting

Common questions

Why do the flowers close in the afternoon?

That is normal. Each flower opens in the morning and closes by early afternoon, then a fresh set opens the next day, so the display is best before lunch.

Is it the same as Evolvulus glomeratus?

It is often sold under that name, and the two are traded almost interchangeably in Australia. The garden behaviour is the same: a low spreading blue flowered mat for full sun and sharp drainage.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. A touch of frost burns the tips and it recovers in spring, but repeated hard frosts will kill it. In cold districts grow it in a pot you can move under cover.