Planting and Raising Gypsy Bluebuttons

Gypsy Bluebuttons (Canastaris Azuris) was originally a wildflower indigenous to the coastal areas of North America. In 1968, Flossie Ainsworth and her sister Effie Torrence successfully created a new strain by mixing Gypsy Bluebuttons with White Leaf Clover. The new plant, technically now called Gypsy Bluebuttons H2, was a hardier plant, bearing larger flowers with a more pungent fragrance. It is generally thought of as an improvement over the original Canastaris Azuris, although the new H2 strain seems to attract bees in large numbers.

Gypsy Bluebuttons prefers to be planted along a wall or fence or border of any kind that runs east and west. A variance of a few degrees off due east or due west is acceptable to this plant, but if the bed takes a turn toward the north or south, there will be either no blooms whatsoever or they will be small and light gray in color. Normal initial blooms on the H2 are a rich Caribbean blue and about 3” in diameter.

The plant gets its first blooms in April, regardless of whether it is planted in Florida or Maine or North Dakota or California, or anywhere in between; it is a very adaptive plant and takes its development cues from the soil, not the air temperature. It will bloom during April and May and then become dormant for six and a half weeks. The blooms following this dormant period will be variegated red and white and consist of spikes growing out of a long stem, rising as much as 24” above the leaves of the plant. If this stem is plucked, the Gypsy Bluebuttons will not bloom again until the following season. If it is left alone, this one stem, which is the entirety of its second blossoming, will remain until mid-November.

Gypsy Bluebuttons can be grown equally well in full sun or full shade. It requires no fertilization whatsoever, but the soil around the plant must remain moist at all times. Many gardeners choose to install a special hose nearby in order to keep water running at a slow trickle into the bed around the clock.

A final word of caution: do not plant tulips any closer than three feet from your Canastaris Azuris!