Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'
Anchusa azurea 'Dropmore' · Boraginaceae
Branching stems covered in small flowers of pure gentian blue, the truest blue of early summer, over rough, bristly leaves.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to mid July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'
The planner designed this bed around Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 2 Winter heath × 5, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 8, blue
- 4 Wild quinine × 5, white
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Wild geranium × 5, pink
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are bells, dense clusters, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 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 wild geranium (20 in): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 5 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late May to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With wild geranium and star of Persia in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 29 of the 29 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. Winter heath repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Nothing else gives this depth of blue at this height in June. It is short-lived and flops without support, so stake it early, and let a few seedlings replace the parent.
- True blue for early summer
- Cottage borders
- Bees
What to plant with Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Oriental poppy: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks.
- Bearded iris: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for three weeks.
- Peony: in flower together for four weeks, from late May.
Questions about Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'
Does Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' need sun or shade?
Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °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 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid July. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to early July |
| Zone 8 | Early May to early July |
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 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
Is Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'?
Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' comes from East Central Europe, Caucasus to Mediterranean and Pakistan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Foxglove beardtongue: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 8 in shorter, white, not blue.
- Brown-eyed Susan: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late July to early October, yellow, not blue.
- False sunflower 'Summer Nights': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late June to early September, yellow, not blue.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Short-lived, and self-seeds in open soil. The seedlings may not match the parent.
What flowers after Italian bugloss 'Dropmore'?
Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Garden phlox: from mid July to early September, 3½ ft tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' look like in winter?
Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' good for bees and butterflies?
Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' is visited by bees.
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for bees
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Plants with blue flowers
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to mid July; airy sprays; blue
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- Comes from
- East Central Europe, Caucasus to Mediterranean and Pakistan
- Attracts
- Bees
- Stands up to
- Poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.