Azure Bluet (Houstonia pusilla)

Azure Bluet: Houstonia pusilla, or the azure bluet, is an herbaceous native woodland perennial species that greets you in the last days of winter or early spring, depending on your growing zone.

Azure bluets also have several other common names, including the following:

• Common bluets
• Innocence
• Star violet
• Tiny bluets
• Small bluets

Bluets grow well in almost all USDA growing zones, from New England to the south and across the plains to the west--it's an adaptable little plant that will make itself at home almost anywhere.

How to Use Houstonia pusilla in Your Landscape

Azure bluets will emerge as the snow melts under the first warm rays of spring sunshine. They provide camouflage and nectar to the earliest-arriving insects and bees. When these blooms open, you can feel the promise of spring.

Azure bluets prefer a sunny to partial sun location that loves well-drained but moist soil and a little bit of added shredded leaves or hardwood mulch. Unless you are in an arid region, you rarely need to tend this plant. That's because the melting snow and spring rainfall provides ample water.

It is drought-resistant, disease-resistant, and deer-resistant. Here are three ways to utilize them in your landscape:

• Use azure bluet in a front row of a border, with daffodils as companion plants behind them.
• Plant this little beauty near a water garden that gets plenty of sunshine.
• Add them to a natural area--even after the flowers fade, they will add lovely, carefree green color.

Azure Bluets and the Lavish Blossoms of Early Spring

The stem of azure bluet is a lovely dark green and tops out at between four to six inches. The tiny spade-shaped leaves are green with burgundy or purple tinges.

The tiny lavender or violet flowers create a six-petal pattern and measure under an inch across. The flower's center is spring green and white, creating eye-appealing contrast with the purple petals.

Order Your Azure Bluets From TN Nursery Today

Your winter-bleary eyes will appreciate the significance of such beauty in the still-cool temperatures. Order your azure bluets from TN Nursery