Caryopteris is a shrub popular for its blue flowers that bloom in late summer and fall. Learn how to grow and care for caryopteris in your garden. That’s the delightful surprise of Caryopteris (bluebeard), a late-blooming shrub covered with fragrant clusters of airy blue flowers in late summer until the first chill of frost.

Understanding the Context

Caryopteris: How to Grow & Care for Bluebeard Plants | Garden ... Caryopteris should be cut back every spring to ensure sturdy, dense growth on this bluebeard shrub. You may give it a light trim in late autumn, once it has gone dormant, to remove the old flowers and eliminate possible seed spread. Find out how to grow caryopteris, including choosing, planting, overwintering, pruning and propagating.

Key Insights

Caryopteris (bluebeard; Chinese: 莸属 you shu) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae (formerly often placed in the family Verbenaceae). They are native to east Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia). [1][2][3][4][5] They are herbaceous plants or small shrubs growing to 1–4 m tall. Caryopteris × clandonensis, commonly called bluebeard, blue spirea or blue mist, is a low-mounded, deciduous shrub that is valued for its aromatic foliage and late summer flowers which are said to resemble clouds of blue smoke or mist.