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Trichostema 'Midnight Magic' (Midnight Magic Blue Curls) - An evergreen dense rounded shrub to 3 to 5 feet tall by as wide with dark green lightly aromatic 1 to 1 ½ long narrow lanceolate leaves. From late spring to mid fall appear the showy terminal spikes with rounded dark purple buds that open to display ½ inch wide by ¾ inch tall violet blue flowers with long exserted curving light violet-colored stamens – quite showy!
Plant in full to part sun in a moderately well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. Needs some protection from a hard frost but seems to be hardy to around 25° F. Can be used in an arrangement (best outdoors as foliage scent is strong) and the flowers are attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators while the plant itself is not browsed by deer or rabbits.
The genus Trichostema based on the type species Trichostema dichotomum from Virginia, was published in Linnaeus’ Corollarium Genera Plantarum in 1737 with the name credited to the Dutch botanist Johan Frederik Gronovius. The name for the genus is from the Latin words 'trichos' meaning "hair" and 'stema' meaning "stamens" in reference to its long hair-like stamens.
This attractive hybrid cross was created by Patrick Worley at the amazing but now closed Suncrest Nurseries in Watsonville. The seed parent was the finicky but beautiful California native Wooly Blue Curls, Trichostema lanatum that we also grow, crossed with the rose color flowered Mexican species Trichostema purpusii, a plant we grew from 2001 to 2006 that is thought to be extinct in the wild. This hybrid lacks the silvery hairs on the flower buds of Trichostema lanatum (which gives it the name "Wooly" Blue Curls) and it is a bit more purplish, but what it gains is a more compact habit, a much better garden tolerance and longevity that is rarely seen with Wooly Blue Curls. This plant is sometimes listed with the name trademarked, but there is no California or US trademark listed in the official databases.
The information displayed on this page about Trichostema 'Midnight Magic' 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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