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It was first introduced in the 1980s by Bert Wilson of Las Pilitas Nursery who felt the plant was a spontaneous hybrid between Ceanothus hearstiorum and C. 'Joyce Coulter'. Unfortunately the nursery lost all of its plants to the December 1990 freeze when temperatures dropped to -4° F at there Santa Marguerita location. Fortunately, some plants had already made it out into landscapes and the variety was not lost. Some suggest it may be a mutant form of Ceanothus hearstiorum because of its very short internodes but whatever has caused this look, it is quite attractive.
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. Our thanks go out to Robert Abe of Chia Nursery who promoted this plant after noting its longevity in his nursery and then shared it with us.
We also thank Antonio Sanchez at Nopalito Native Plant Nursery who planted and observed it doing particularly well in a garden he planted close to the coast in Oxnard. We offered this plant in 2012 and 2013 but unfortunately the tight growth characteristics of this variety seemed to be actually caused by a virus. This possibility was pointed out to us by Ceanothus expert Dave Fross and we also noted other indications of this as the plant aged, so we have discontinued production of it - sad to see you go Lolita!
This information about Ceanothus 'Blue Lolita' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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