Speedwell 'Georgia Blue'
Veronica umbrosa 'Georgia Blue' ·
A low, trailing mat sprinkled with small, intense blue, white-eyed flowers in early spring. The leaves turn bronze-purple in winter.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early April to mid May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around speedwell 'Georgia Blue'
The planner designed this bed around speedwell 'Georgia Blue' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why speedwell 'Georgia Blue' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' × 8, blue
- 2 Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' × 8, red
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Switchgrass 'Shenandoah' × 1, green leaves
- 5 Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' × 1, white
- 6 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are daisies, bells, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 6 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 64% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From early April to mid May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' and spring starflower in early May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The back corners are held by wild quinine and false sunflower 'Summer Sun', the tallest plants on the plan. The scheme leans cool (blue and purple) and uses red and yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 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 speedwell 'Georgia Blue' goes in a border
At 6 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
True blue in March and April, just when the daffodils are out: the two together are hard to beat.
- Blue groundcover under spring bulbs
- Edging and rock gardens
- Trailing over a wall
What to plant with speedwell 'Georgia Blue'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daffodil: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; tall enough (16 in) to stand behind it.
- Tulip: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
- Candytuft: in flower together for five weeks, from mid April; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about speedwell 'Georgia Blue'
Does speedwell 'Georgia Blue' need sun or shade?
Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does speedwell 'Georgia Blue' 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 speedwell 'Georgia Blue' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early 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 | Early April to mid May |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late March to early May |
| Zone 7 | Late March to early May |
| Zone 8 | Mid March 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 speedwell 'Georgia Blue' 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 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many speedwell 'Georgia Blue' 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 threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is speedwell 'Georgia Blue' 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 speedwell 'Georgia Blue'?
Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Creeping phlox: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; pink, purple or white, not blue.
- Rock cress: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in narrower, white or pink, not blue.
- Wild strawberry: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to early June, white, not blue.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after speedwell 'Georgia Blue'?
Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' is over by mid May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': from mid May to mid September, 24 in tall.
What does speedwell 'Georgia Blue' look like in winter?
Speedwell 'Georgia Blue' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Veronica
- Gentian speedwell Veronica gentianoides
- Long-leaved speedwell Veronica longifolia
- Speedwell 'Red Fox' Veronica spicata 'Rotfuchs'
- Speedwell 'Royal Candles' Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
- Speedwell 'Sunny Border Blue' Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'
- Spike speedwell Veronica spicata
- Woolly speedwell Veronica incana
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Plants with blue flowers
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early April to mid May; open bowls; blue
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.