Bees, butterflies and plant lovers arrive in droves to enjoy the tapering frosty tipped spires of tight-knit, vivid blue-violet flowers carried on branched leafy stems. Looking a bit like a Sage, the slender, toothed lance-shaped leaves create a tasteful, compact cool silver mass that is more tolerant of hot humid summers than other incana. An ideal low growing candidate for sharp-draining borders, pathway edging, walls or rock gardens, "Pure Silver" enhances companions such as Potentilla "Apricot Whisper" and Agastache "Firebird".

Blooms June–July

Size: 12" – 2' 0" high x 8" – 12" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Strong erect stems elevate a refreshing floral display of tall, slender pure white columns crowded with small tubular blossoms that taper into curvy green tips. Beloved by bees, butterflies and flower arrangers, the sophisticated spires bloom for several months, and last in a vase for 7 to 10 days. This clump-forming hardy perennial dons toothed and pointed, lance-shaped leaves, lending a lush green presence to the rockery or mixed border, especially when planted in eye-catching drifts.

Blooms June – August.

Size: 3' 0" high x 15" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Recently awarded a bronze medal by the Boskoop Horticultural Society, this vibrant new introduction comes to our country courtesy of the acclaimed Dutch nursery, Rijnbeek. Slender toothed green leaves, which are less prone than most Veronica to mildew and leaf spot, compose a tidy basal bed beneath plentiful dark blue spires. The plump electric-hued inflorescences seem to glitter as fanciful looking, long light-colored stamens unfurl, setting ‘Marietta’ apart from its Veronica longifolia cousins.

Blooms June-July

Size: 2' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

All the way from Asia Minor’s sunny Mediterranean haunts comes this irresistible yet hard working evergreen ground cover. Offering up hordes of endearing bright blue, white-eyed blooms over a long period, this prostate Speedwell crafts a gray-green, matting carpet defined by light hairy stems and fuzzy deep cut foliage that looks a bit like miniature oak leaves.

Veronica pectinata is tailor-made for softening steps, rock walls or a path’s edge and is a cinch to grow, requiring only minimal water and a well drained nook.

Blooms July–mid-September.

Size: 2' 0" – 4' 0" high x 12" – 15" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

With vibrant blue-violet flower spires, a well-groomed low growing appearance and exceptional cold hardiness, this hard-to-find reliable Siberian beauty captivates gardeners and butterflies alike. A slowly creeping dense mat of compact, somewhat round-tipped and widely toothed forest green leaves supports electrifying blooms all summer long and makes a resilient nofuss contender for a well-drained rockery, pathway or trough garden.

Blooms June–September.

Size: 8" – 12" high x 12" wide.

Hardy to zone 3.

Plentiful and sumptuously colored, the dense, dark violet-blue tapers crown a compact, noninvasive base of glossy deep green foliage that stays fresh well into fall. Show off this perky new British cultivar right up front with Achillea ‘Marmalade’s cheerful yellow flowers.

Blooms June–July.

Size: 15" – 18" high x 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

A hybrid between Veronica armena and Veronica pectinata, this stellar weed-suppressing evergreen ground cover was introduced in 2007 by Dr. Jim Ault from the Chicago Botanical Garden. ‘Tidal Pool’ touts its parents’ finest traits plus exhibits a more close-knit, faster-to-spread prostate habit that’s festooned with oodles of small, white-eyed, vivid blue-violet blossoms. Acquiescent to cold, heat, humidity and dry conditions, the petite, slightly pubescent oak-shaped green leaves are dusted with blue and emphasize versatile good looks for nuzzling against steps or rocks, edging pathways, draping over walls and any other sunny, well-drained nook. (pp#23,341)

Blooms April–May

Size: 2" – 4" high x 2' 0" – 2-1/2' wide.

Hardy to zone 4.

Discovered by John Wachter and introduced by the Chicago Botanic Garden, this lush-looking evergreen ground cover arose as a Veronica ‘Waterperry Blue’ sport. Creeping wiry stems plus glossy, notched dark green leaves are embellished with long-blooming petite pure white flowers that beckon butterflies, hummingbirds and plant lovers. Most effective when massed, ‘Whitewater’s steadfast mat-like habit appreciates good drainage, resists deer and rabbits, casts warm maroon-bronze tones during cool weather plus softens pathways, stone walls and containers.

Blooms June–July

Size: 4" – 8" high x 12" – 18" wide.

Hardy to zone 4.