Caryopteris × clandonensis 'BLUE BALLOON' bluebeard
Caryopteris
The genus Caryopteris belongs to the mint family and includes only a handful of species native to the mountainous and dry regions of eastern Asia, from China across Mongolia to Japan. In the wild they grow on rocky slopes, river terraces and steppe margins, where hot summers alternate with cold but mostly dry winters. The first botanical descriptions appeared in the 19th century, when European herbaria began to fill with plants brought back from expeditions to then little‑explored parts of Asia. The genus was described with a degree of uncertainty, as the species were similar to one another and herbarium collections often contained transitional forms. This ambiguity later allowed the formation of a hybrid complex that became the foundation of modern garden bluebeards. Although botanically modest, the genus gained a reputation in horticulture as a reliable late‑season source of nectar and colour at a time when most shrubs have long finished flowering.
Caryopteris × clandonensis originated from a chance cross between two Asian species, C. incana and C. mongholica, in the garden of Arthur Simmonds (1877–1937) in Clandon, England, in the 1930s. Simmonds was an amateur grower with an exceptional eye for plants, and he noticed that the seedlings in his garden shared a uniform appearance and unusually long flowering. The hybrid quickly spread among growers because it combined the drought tolerance and resilience of one parent with the finer texture and richer flowering of the other. In temperate climates it became valued not only for its late colour but also for its ability to attract bees and butterflies at a time when other nectar sources are fading. Over time it gave rise to a whole group of cultivars that today form a distinct chapter of the garden assortment, alongside shrubs with similar requirements such as buddlejas, perovskias or hypericums.
Blue Balloon bluebeard stands out at first glance. Perfectly round, almost improbably so. It is a deciduous, compact shrub with an almost spherical habit that lights up in late summer with deep blue flowers opening gradually from the bottom upwards, creating the impression of a slow rising wave. The leaves are narrow, grey‑green and lightly silvery, a tone that in dry summers enhances the contrast between the cool foliage and the saturated blue of the flowers. They are strongly aromatic. Growth is slow to moderate, with a natural tendency to branch from the base, so the shrub remains dense even without regular pruning. Compared with common forms of the hybrid, BLUE BALLOON appears firmer, more compact and better able to hold its shape even in poorer soils where other cultivars lose structure. The cultivar originated as a seedling at HBLVA Wien–Schönbrunn, where it was selected for its regular shape and intense flower colour.
BLUE BALLOON is an excellent choice for places where you want summer flowering and a naturally tidy shape. It works well at the front of borders, where loose cultivars might look untidy. It shows best when combined with perennials or shrubs with similar requirements, and with good planning you can create a border flowering from spring to autumn: creeping phlox, pasque flowers, catmints, centranthus, coneflowers, hypericums and even indigoferas will give you something for every season. It looks beautiful in bark mulch as well as gravel.
Bluebeards need full sun and light, well‑drained soil that warms up quickly in spring. In heavy clay they suffer from winter wetness, so in compacted ground it is better to plant them slightly raised so the roots never sit in water. Watering is needed only during establishment; later they tolerate drought better than waterlogging. Feeding should be modest, ideally a small amount of compost or slow‑release fertiliser in spring. Pruning is done early in the season, removing old wood and shortening the previous year’s growth to about 20 percent of its length to encourage strong new shoots with flowers. They are unreliable in containers because they need excellent drainage yet are sensitive to drying out in pots. Wind is not a problem. Hardiness is around –25 °C, but the main risk is winter moisture rather than cold itself (USDA zone 6).
Last update 14-01-2009; 29-04-2026
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
