Perfectly Picasso has paintbrush-like spikes with white buds opening into medium pink flowers, so each spike shows two colors at once. The flowers cover the top half of a nicely rounded plant of healthy medium green leaves.
At about 2 feet tall it fits the middle of a sunny border and blooms from midsummer into late summer. Pair it with a violet speedwell like Royal Rembrandt. Bees love it, and deer usually do not.
What it looks like
Thick, paintbrush-like flower spikes 4 to 6 inches long with white buds at the tips and medium pink open florets below, giving each spike a pink-and-white bicolor look. Spikes cover the top half of the plant. Leaves are lance-shaped, finely toothed and medium green, 2 to 3 inches long. The plant is a rounded clump 22 to 26 inches tall and 22 to 24 inches wide. At peak it looks like a round green mound bristling with pink brushes dipped in white.
Growing it with lavender
Speedwell likes full sun like lavender but appreciates a little more moisture, so set it at the edge of a lavender bed where it gets occasional water; its slender spikes echo lavender's form and extend the season of spiky color.
Care
Plant in full sun to part shade in average, well-drained soil that does not stay dry for long. Hardy in zones 4-8; cut spent spikes back to the next set of side buds to keep new flowers coming, and divide crowded clumps every few years in spring.
At a glance
-
Botanical name: Veronica
-
Flower color: Medium pink with white buds
-
Foliage: Medium green
-
Growth habit: Rounded clump
-
Mature size: 22–26 in tall × 22–24 in wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
-
Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
-
Bloom start: Early-July
-
Peak bloom: Late-July
-
Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
-
Deer resistance: Resistant
-
Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.