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Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' (Ray Hartman Wild Lilac) - A fast-growing, evergreen shrub or small tree that reaches 10 to 20 feet tall with an equal width. This popular cultivar has large, rounded, dark green leaves and medium blue flowers in 3 to 5 inch-long spikes that appear in late winter through early spring.
Plant in full sun to light shade in most any soil, as this cultivar is surprisingly tolerant of heavy clay as well as light, sandy soil. It is thoroughly drought tolerant but accepts periodic summer irrigation. Hardy to 10 degrees F and severely damaged below 5 degrees F. Will need protection from deer that browse the soft new growth. Thrives in cool coastal gardens but also tolerates inland heat. A beautiful, reliable, and long-lived ceanothus that can perform admirably as a focal point or screen for 20 years or more, especially when pruned occasionally to enhance its overall form.
Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' is a hybrid of Ceanothus arboreus and Ceanothus thyrsiflorus var. griseus that was collected near the town of Saratoga, a suburb of San Jose, and grown by Leonard Coates Nurseries, then owned by Ray Hartman and located in nearby Morgan Hill. The plant was originally introduced in the late 1940s under the name ‘Blue Sky’. In 1950 Hartman helped established the Saratoga Horticultural Research Foundation and in 1954 it was introduced by the foundation and renamed 'Ray Hartman' in recognition of all he had done on behalf of California’s native flora. We have offered this great plant since 1980 and grow it both as a shrub and also trained up as a small tree.
The genus name comes from the Greek word keanthos which was used to describe a type of thistle and meaning a "thorny plant" or "spiny plant" and first used by Linnaeus in 1753 to describe New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus.
The information displayed on this page about Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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