Dwarf Spike Speedwell

Dwarf Spike Speedwell
Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
(veh-RON-ih-ka) (spi-KAH-tuh)
Synonyms: ‘Glory’

One of the reasons I like this plant is it stays shorter and is less rampant then the other cultivars. It can really fill a bright, sunny, dry place very well. After blooming a light shearing will help clean up the look and give a nice uniform ground cover. This isn’t the best flower picture I have ever shot it does give that forest of blue look that this plant can give. It is really a lovely color.

Pink Veronica

Spike Speedwell

Veronica spicata 'Fairytale'

(veh-RON-ih-ka) (spi-KAH-tuh)

Synonyms: Speedwell, Veronica

“There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October”

Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804-1864)

Dwarf Spike Speedwell

Dwarf Spike Speedwell
Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
(veh-RON-ih-ka) (spi-KAH-tuh)
Synonyms: ‘Glory’

This is a perennial that I have been using more and more over the years. My favorite and seemingly most available is ‘Red Fox’. It has taken some explaining sometimes to be allowed to plant Veronica, which is a name a lot of older gardeners associate with a terrible weed (Veronica persia) that infests lawns and planting beds. This perennial is a much more refined and gracious plant and a good garden citizen. It seems very hardy and able to grow in difficult areas. I am very excited to try this dwarf version (8-12 inches tall). The flower color is an awesome blue and it seems very prolific.

This is a low maintenance flower that blooms in the late spring and summer. The flowering season can be extended by deadheading. It has average soil and water needs. One trick I have learned is that Speedwell likes well drained soil, especially in the winter. Some sources say that it will grow in light shade but I have found it likes full sun better.

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Blue Creeping Speedwell

Creeping Speedwell
Veronica austriaca subsp. teucrium 'Crater Lake Blue'
(veh-RON-ih-ka)

It is always nice to feature a plant genus that hasn’t been on this blog before. Veronicas have come a long way in the time I have been gardening. There are many nice horticultural types now. This hardy cultivar is nice to have mainly for its almost true blue color. It only blooms for a short period so it is best to plant it somewhere it can kind of fade away gracefully for the rest of the season. We often deadhead it by shearing but that has not produced a second flush of flowers. It can be grown in part shade but looks best in full sun. Not fussy about soil except it doesn’t like wet, poorly drained types. If you like blue flowers this one is exceptional.