A short Heliotrope cultivars with deep dark blue fragrant flowers. A tender perennial grown as an annual.
Pronunciation
(hee-li-oo-TROP-i-um)(ar-bo-RES-enz)
Plant Type
All Plants, Perennial Tender
Hardiness Zone
9-10
Sunlight
full is best for flowering, tolerates some shade
Moisture
average, moist, never soggy
Soil & Site
average, moist
Temperature
tolerates to the 40s F, killed by frost
Flowers
dark blue to blue-violet blossoms, borne in umbels, fragrant, flowers best during the warm parts of the growing season
Leaves
deep dark green
Roots
fibrous
Dimensions
12 inches tall
Propagation
seeds may not come true, cuttings
Native Site
Heliotrope arborescence is native to Peru.
Misc Facts
They became very popular during the Victoria era. They bedded out the plants and over wintered them in their conservatories. Helios is Greek for the sun, trope means to turn, arborescence means tree like, referring to its shrubby form.
Notes & Reference
#28-Cottage Garden Annuals(Clive Lane) #37-The Contained Garden (Kenneth A. Beckett, David Carr), #47-Annuals for the Connoisseurs (Wayne Winterrowd)
#48-Harrowsmiths Annual Garden (Bennet and Forsyth)
#51-Armitage's Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials (Alan Arimitage)