Dichroa febrifuga
“Blue Evergreen Hydrangea”

Gorgeous blue-to-lavender Hydrangea-like flowers and showy blue berries on an evergreen shrub! Native to Nepal, it has a rounded compact habit 3-7’ tall and 5’ wide with 6” long elliptic foliage. Blooming from early to late Summer with 6” wide inflorescences packed with tiny bi-color flowers – color depends on soil acidity, blooming more blue in lower pH soil and more purpley-pink in higher pH soil. Metallic blue fruits follow, often hanging on until first frost and providing food for birds. Plant this hardy shrub as a focal point, as a broad-leaved contrast to fine-leaved Japanese maples, or to add volume to a woodland bed. Plant in fertile well-drained soil. For more intensely blue flowers, add soil acidifier and feed with an acidic fertilizer, as you do with Hydrangeas.