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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.
This information about Trichostema 'Midnight Magic' 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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