Using plants with blue foliage in garden design means there will be color even when nothing is in flower.
Grasses with Blue Foliage
Many ornamental grasses are decidedly blue in hue. Leymus arenarius 'Blue Dune' and 'Glaucus' (Blue Lyme Grass) have beautiful metallic blue foliage - although they both tend to be a bit over-enthusiastic about claiming garden space.
Less vigorous are Sorghastrum nutans 'Sioux Blue' (Indian Grass) with bright blue-gray foliage, and the tiny, porcupine-like powder blue ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue, Festuca glauca. Carex glauca is also good – a powdery blue grass that spreads slowly by rhizomes.
Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’ - Blue Switch Grass is nearly baby blue in color – and is sometimes called the “bluest of the blues,” Panicum virgatum ‘Dallas Blues’ is a close second that has nice red seed-heads in autumn.
Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ is another good blue grass that contrasts beautifully with the small blue leaves of Caryopteris.
These grasses have a relatively fine texture and so are best contrasted with plants with broad or medium foliage.
Shrubs with Blue Foliage
The bluest Caryopteris is ‘Longwood Blue’ (with blue flowers). Its fine, very early spring foliage is almost turquoise! A small shrub, it holds that blue tone all summer, and looks spectacular with burgundy and purple heuchera.
Shrubs that are undeniably blue are most plentiful in the juniper family. Juniperus squamata is a family of rug junipers including 'Meyeri', 'Blue Star', Blue Carpet 'Wiltonii', and ‘New Blue Tam' – all of look wonderful as an under-planting for red Japanese maples.
More upright specimens include J. Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Trails', ‘Blue Heaven, ‘Moonglow’ and ‘Wichita Blue’. All of these are silvery blue to blue gray and tend to get rather large – best saved for a background planting or a very large bed.
Spruces also have a number of blue cultivars, from Picea pungens 'Glauca Pendula', which is a weeping blue spruce to Picea pungens 'Glauca Procumbens' (spreading blue spruce) and upright ones in the Picea pungens family, including 'Iseli Fastigate', ‘Montgomery’, ‘Mrs. Cessarini’ and ‘Royal Knight’. Once again, the uprights can get quite large so pay attention to plant placement and spacing.
Rosa glauca is an old garden rose with steely blue foliage outlined on burgundy. It flowers once in June but then produces spectacular hips in a burgundy that matches the leaf outline. It will bloom in sun or part shade.
Perennials in Blue
Rue (Ruta graveolens) is a small shrub (no bigger than a medium hosta) with spectacular but tiny powder blue leaves. It has inconsequential yellow flowers in summer. Some people are sensitive to the touch of rue leaves, so wear gloves if you are prone to plant allergies.
There are many blue toned hostas if the garden has a good shady spot. The blue look comes from a waxy coating on the leaves that the sun can burn off – turning it into a plain green hosta.
Among the best of the blues are ‘Blue Angel’ with a 6 foot spread. ‘Blue Cup’ – which has fragrant white flowers and deeply cupped leaves, H. ‘Glacier Lake’ with an unusual upright form and intense blue foliage and H. ‘Elvis Lives’ – which plantsman Tony Avent swears is the color of those famous blue suede shoes. H. ‘Halcyon’ and H.’Hadspen Blue’ are other good choices when it comes to solid blue hostas.
Blue hostas, with their broad leaves, contrast well with ferns, heuchera or the golden grass that is the 2009 perennial of the year, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'
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