The Blue Beauty That Won't Sweat The Heat Or Drought & Will Deter Deer

When you're dealing with both heat and drought in summer, and you also have deer visiting your garden and munching on your plants without a care in the world, it can be difficult to find species that will thrive under these conditions and also look amazing in your yard. To help you out, we've come across a blue beauty that won't sweat the heat, is drought-tolerant, and best of all, also deer-resistant. This outstanding hybrid is commonly known as blue mist or bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis), and for those who love a gorgeous deep azure, there's a specific cultivar called 'Beyond Midnight', that you're going to adore.

This beauty has dark green glossy foliage and the most stunning indigo flowers that will compliment almost every other flowering plant in your garden. It can be grown in USDA hardiness zones 6 through 9 and needs to be planted in full sun to thrive. The blooms appear in late summer and are an absolute magnet for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. In fact, this is one blue-flowering companion shrub you'll want to plant near Joe Pye weed. 'Beyond Midnight' is a compact shrub with a height and spread of up to 3 feet. It has a lovely rounded growth habit with blooming cymes on the ends of the branches. These are actually fragrant and make excellent cut flowers. As the foliage has a mild sage-like fragrance, it might even deter the deer from venturing further into your garden beds.

This Caryopteris hybrid is easy to grow in your yard as long as you plant it in a sunny spot that has well-draining soil. You could even add this to your list of herbs and flowers you should be growing near zinnias in the garden. If you live in zone 5 and you want to try growing this delightful plant, be prepared for it to die back to the ground in winter. But don't worry, because new growth will sprout up in the spring so you can enjoy its pretty blue flowers again in the summer and fall. Those in milder zones should cut back the shrub in late winter to ensure it maintains its beautiful rounded shape. This is ideal because it blooms on new growth. You can even give it a light trim once the blooms are past their peak and you might end up with even more flowers.

Avoid giving your plant too much fertilizer as this can result in lanky and untidy growth. A scant application of some slow-release fertilizer once a bloom cycle is finished, should be all that's needed. Another benefit of this plant is that it's also regarded as fire-resistant, so it's excellent for planting around the borders of any large garden beds you have near your house. This is just one place you can plant stunning bluebeard to attract more birds to your yard, as well.