Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'
Fothergilla x intermedia 'Blue Shadow' ·
Leaves of a powdery, steel blue all summer, an unusual colour in a deciduous shrub, with white bottlebrushes in spring and fiery autumn tints.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late April to mid May
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'
The planner designed this bed around fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' × 1, white
- 2 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 13, red
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 40, yellow
- 4 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' × 4, pink
- 5 Siberian iris 'Caesar's Brother' × 3, purple
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 8, pink
- 8 Camassia × 3, blue
- 9 Spring snowflake × 5, white
- 10 Easter lily × 3, white
Why this plant
- The only globes. The others are airy sprays, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does palm sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late April to mid May.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 10 of the 11 groups (91%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Something is in flower for 28 weeks between early March and late September, with a pause of 3 weeks from early April. Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
A sport of 'Mount Airy' with the same flowers and autumn colour. The blue foliage makes it a three-season plant. The colour is best in sun.
- Blue summer foliage
- Autumn colour
- Mixed shrub borders in acid soil
What to plant with fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Oakleaf hydrangea: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid June; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese forest grass 'Aureola': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Summersweet: carries the spot on into mid August; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'
Does fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' need sun or shade?
Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to mid May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Late April to mid May |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 8 | Early April to late April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is there a native plant like fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'?
Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Black chokeberry: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; wants average soil.
- Smooth hydrangea 'Incrediball': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to early September, bold leaves, not medium.
- Virginia sweetspire: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early June to early July.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'?
Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' is over by mid May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Oakleaf hydrangea: from mid June to early August, 6½ ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Blue false indigo: from late May to mid June, 4 ft tall.
- Foxglove: from early June to mid July, 4 ft tall.
What does fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' look like in winter?
Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Fothergilla
- Dwarf fothergilla Fothergilla gardenii
- Fothergilla 'Mount Airy' Fothergilla x intermedia 'Mount Airy'
- Large fothergilla Fothergilla major
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late April to mid May; globes; white, cream
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; blue-green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.