All flowers
Lithodora Wikimedia Commons
Boraginaceae

Lithodora

Lithodora diffusa

Pure sky-blue devotion.

Family
Boraginaceae
Genus
Lithodora
Native to
southwestern Europe
Bloom season
Late Spring, Summer
Type
evergreen subshrub
Height
10–20 cm
Sunlight
full sun
Soil
acidic, gritty, well-drained
Water
low
Hardiness
6–8
Lifespan
long-lived perennial

Did you know

  • Its gentian-blue flowers are among the truest blues in the plant world — almost electric in sunlight.
  • It hugs the ground in a low evergreen mat, perfect tumbling over rock garden walls.
  • It belongs to the same family as forget-me-not, borage, and comfrey — all famous for blue pigments.
  • Despite its tough Mediterranean origins, it sulks in heavy clay or alkaline soil — a true lime-hater.
  • The cultivar 'Grace Ward' won the RHS Award of Garden Merit for its especially intense flower color.

Color meanings

Blue

radiant fidelity

Uses

  • rock gardens
  • trough plantings
  • edging acid borders