Perennials with blue flowers are prized in gardens for their calming and soothing hues, which create a sense of tranquility and elegance. Blue is a rare color in the plant world, making these plants particularly valuable for adding distinctive color contrast in borders, rock gardens, and containers. Their blooms can range from soft sky blue to deep indigo.
These plants often serve as excellent companions for warmer-colored flowers such as yellows, oranges, and pinks. The cool tones of blue blooms provide balance and harmony, helping to highlight brighter shades in mixed beds. In addition to their color, many of these plants offer extended flowering periods, sometimes lasting from late spring into summer or even fall.
Many perennials with blue flowers are versatile in their growing requirements, thriving in full sun to partial shade depending on the variety. They are often hardy and low-maintenance. Their ability to attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies also makes them valuable for ecological gardens.
Whether used as focal points, background plantings, or in mixed borders, their calming blue tones bring elegance and depth to any landscape.
Perennials With Blue Flowers
Delphinium
Delphiniums are tall, stately perennials admired for their striking spires of blue blooms. They thrive in cooler climates and add dramatic vertical accents to borders. Their vivid blue shades range from sky blue to deep indigo, making them favorites in cottage and cutting gardens.
Campanula (Bellflower)
Campanulas are versatile perennials that produce bell-shaped blue flowers in clusters. They bloom from early summer into fall, depending on the variety, and are suitable for rock gardens, borders, or containers. Their charming, nodding blooms bring a soft, whimsical touch to landscapes.
Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian Bugloss)
Known for its heart-shaped, often silver-patterned leaves, this perennial also produces delicate, forget-me-not-like blue flowers in spring. The blooms appear in airy clusters above the foliage, brightening shady corners with their sky-blue tones.
Veronica (Speedwell)
Veronicas are low-maintenance perennials with upright spikes of tiny blue flowers that bloom in summer. Their long flowering season and tidy growth habit make them excellent for borders, containers, and pollinator gardens.
Nepeta (Catmint)
Nepeta produces masses of small, lavender-blue flowers from late spring into summer. It’s drought-tolerant, fragrant, and attracts bees and butterflies. The soft blue hues pair beautifully with roses and other warm-colored flowers in mixed beds.
Platycodon grandiflorus (Balloon Flower)
This perennial gets its name from balloon-like buds that open into star-shaped blue flowers. Blooming in midsummer, it adds charm and unique structure to borders. Its long-lasting blooms make it a favorite for gardeners who want reliable summer color.
Gentiana
Gentians are admired for their intensely rich, true-blue trumpet-shaped flowers. They often bloom in late summer to fall and thrive in alpine or rock garden settings. Their saturated blue is considered one of the truest blues in the plant world.
Salvia (Perennial Sage)
Perennial salvias are loved for their spiky clusters of deep blue to violet flowers. They bloom from summer to fall, attracting pollinators while withstanding drought and heat. Their upright growth habit makes them versatile in both borders and naturalized plantings.
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Russian sage produces airy clouds of tiny blue-purple flowers on tall stems. Its long blooming season, combined with silvery foliage, gives gardens a cool, breezy feel. It thrives in hot, dry conditions and pairs well with ornamental grasses.
Scabiosa caucasica (Pincushion Flower)
This perennial displays elegant, pincushion-like flowers in shades of blue and lavender. Blooming from summer into fall, its long stems make it an excellent cut flower, while its delicate form adds charm to borders and pollinator gardens.
Caryopteris (Bluebeard)
Bluebeard is a shrub-like perennial with clusters of small blue flowers that appear in late summer. Its vivid blooms stand out when many other perennials are fading, providing late-season nectar for pollinators.
Iris (Blue Varieties)
Many iris varieties produce stunning blue flowers, ranging from pale sky tones to deep sapphire. Their elegant blooms appear in late spring to early summer, and their sword-like foliage provides structural interest long after the flowers fade.
Aconitum (Monkshood)
This perennial is known for its tall spikes of hood-shaped flowers, often in striking shades of deep blue. Blooming in late summer to early fall, monkshood adds elegance and height to borders. Its intense blue coloration makes it a standout when many other plants are fading.
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
Pulmonaria produces clusters of small blue flowers in early spring, sometimes shifting from pink to blue as they mature. Its spotted or silvery foliage adds extra interest, making it a valuable plant for shady spots where blue blooms are rare.
Corydalis flexuosa
This perennial offers delicate, fern-like foliage topped with tubular, cobalt-blue flowers in spring and early summer. Its blooms bring a splash of cool color to woodland gardens and pair beautifully with yellow or white spring flowers.
Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo)
Baptisia features spires of pea-like blue flowers in late spring to early summer. Its tall, bushy habit and long-lived nature make it a reliable backbone plant in borders. After flowering, it also produces attractive seed pods for added interest.
Lithodora diffusa
Lithodora is a low-growing groundcover perennial with masses of star-shaped blue flowers. It blooms heavily in spring and intermittently through summer, carpeting sunny slopes, borders, or rock gardens with vibrant blue.
Eryngium (Sea Holly)
Sea holly produces thistle-like flowers in metallic blue tones, accompanied by spiky blue-tinted bracts. Blooming in summer, it thrives in dry, sunny soils and adds unusual texture and color contrast to perennial beds.
Stokesia laevis (Stokes’ Aster)
This perennial features large, fringed, daisy-like blue flowers that appear in summer. It’s a long-blooming plant that thrives in sunny areas, offering a softer, pastel blue that complements brighter flowers.
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Leadwort)
Leadwort blooms in late summer with brilliant blue flowers that persist into fall. As the season progresses, its green foliage often turns red or bronze, providing a beautiful mix of blue blooms and colorful foliage.
Echinops ritro (Globe Thistle)
This hardy perennial produces spherical, steel-blue flower heads on tall stems. Blooming in mid to late summer, its unique globes add striking form and a modern touch to borders, while also attracting pollinators.
Anchusa azurea (Italian Bugloss)
This plant produces clusters of vivid, true-blue flowers similar to forget-me-nots but larger. Blooming from late spring into summer, its bright flowers stand out dramatically against green foliage, offering a strong burst of color.
Amsonia hubrichtii (Blue Star)
Blue star blooms in spring with clusters of pale blue, star-shaped flowers. Its airy flowers are complemented by fine-textured foliage that later turns golden in fall, offering multi-season appeal.
Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
This perennial is known for its ladder-like foliage and clusters of bell-shaped blue flowers. Blooming in late spring to early summer, it thrives in partial shade and brings both foliage texture and soft color to borders.