Pycnostachys urticifolia
“Blue Witch’s Hat”

Stunning, bright cobalt blue, “Witch’s Hat” blooms delight us Fall through early Spring on this easy-to-grow, evergreen perennial/shrub from South Africa. Fast growing to 4’ or 5’ tall & almost as wide, it creates a multi-branching shrub, eventually forming quite a solid, woody, main trunk. The soft, sage green leaves look pretty year-around & are slightly toothed & roundish. Sometime in late Summer to Fall, the tip of each stem or branch forms a squat, dense, conical “hat” elongating to 5” tall as it matures. The intense, cobalt blue (not purple) flowers emerge from the bottom – working their way up the hat. Soon, the plant displays many of these fascinating flower clusters held perfectly upright at stem ends. Each “hat” lasts a long time & new ones keep appearing all through Winter! We have grown our Pycnostachys urticifolia for 2 years & found it’s happy with 4-5 hours of sun here at the nursery in Richmond, as well as part shade. In all-day bright shade it gets a little leggy but is still worth the fun! It can easily be cut back to form a smaller shape after the bloom season is over. It’s fairly drought tolerant too, but looks best with some water & a top dressing of compost once or twice a year. We are so happy to offer this fabulous, rare, exciting plant much lusted over by so many of our own visitors.