Which Ceanothus?

robatwork

As we walk around our town we see lots of Ceanothus plants and trees, and would like to plant one. I have seen there are several varieties. The one we really like has the rounder flowers and turns into a tree once grown - something like this one:


Couple of questions - 
What variety is it?
Can it grow from a cutting?
thanks!

calleyw

I had one like that but due to the postion had to cut it down it attracts so many bee's and flowers for a long time.  I picked up last year or the year before ones like that in morrions of all places for only a couple of pound and they had white ones as well.  But don't seem that keen on being in pots.   Not sure they are easy to do via cuttings.

Yours

Calley x

twopenny

Ceanothus can take a couple to three years to bloom from a cutting and if you want a full sized tree you're going to be waiting some years.

I've bought a large shrub and a small groundcover one from supermarkets. The large one has romped away, to almost 4ft in one year but hasn't bloomed yet.

If you want a tree and they do look nice, it might be better to splash out and get one from a nursery or garden centre that you can see has a nice central stem to start you off.

Just created a garden from nothing last year and the special plants I bought from growers thrived immediately. Those I bought from supermarkets mostly are still trying to establish. They tend to be the ones growers dismiss and not vigorous but time and patience can pay off.

[Deleted User]

Don't limit your purchasing from garden centres etc, searching online for established/mature version will yield you some excellent companies and when comparing like-for-like are far and away better value for money, and, are mostly independents so you're supporting smaller businesses. - which i'm a big fan of.
Our money is hard enough to earn without spending more than you have to so shop around and get the best price.

Determine which variety you're after, then search.
Some are evergreen, some deciduous, colours vary as does habit and aspect.

I too am going to be looking for one soon, a 2-3' version though. 

A book suitable for beginners is the 'Expert' series (the Flowering Shrub one), find them inexpensively on amazon.

silvercar

Article in The Times today (9/5/2020), 'Blue beauty: my top shrub for May colour'. Includes a list of the writer's top 8 Ceanothus. Can be found on p15 of the Weekend section or online at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/weekend/californian-lilac-the-best-shrub-for-may-colour-5769ghv0b 
(May be behind a paywall; you may get a couple of free articles by login)

Ganga

Our local Wilko store has them in at the moment, they are selling Ceanothus Repens which are blue in colour, cost £5.00, small plant in a plastic plant pot but hopefully will grow.

Mojisola

Ganga said:

Our local Wilko store has them in at the moment, they are selling Ceanothus Repens which are blue in colour, cost £5.00, small plant in a plastic plant pot but hopefully will grow.

A lovely plant but relatively low-growing - it won't make a tree.

in_my_wellies

Are they naturally short lived plants? I ask because I had a seemingly healthy 10 year old dark blue tree variety. In early spring it was covered in flower buds ready to open then within a week it started to look dried up, then another week and it died. It wasn't frost. The leaves just looked dried up and crunchy.
(I dug/cut it down and the log was just about the heaviest I've carried given its size, much heavier than fir trees of the same size.)