Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, Blueblossom or Blue blossom ceanothus, is an evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 plant in the genus Ceanothus

Ceanothus

Ceanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...

and endemic to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Description

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus can grow more than 6 meters-20 feet tall in its native chaparral

Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

 habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

. Flowers vary from different shades of blue to close to white.
There are different varieties:

• 'Blue Mound' which can grow to 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall,
• 'Cascade' which may reach 8 meters (25 ft) of height,
• Repens which stays as a shrub around 1-3 meters (3-10 feet) tall.

Cultivation

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus has been used in gardens extensively, being widely grown in the horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 trade for decades. It is popular with birds, butterflies

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

, and other pollinator

Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...

s.
Popular garden varieties and cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus include:

• "Skylark", a tall type with blue flowers;
• "Snow Flurry", of equal height and spread with white flowers;
• "Repens Victoria", forming a sturdy evergreen mound and most useful groundcover with powder blue flowers.

Breeders of garden plants have also produce variegated types of this plant, the most noticeable being:

• "El Dorado" with gold edge foliage and powder blue flowers.

See also

• California chaparral and woodlands
  California chaparral and woodlands
  The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of lower northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California , located on the west coast of North America...
  
  
• California montane chaparral and woodlands
  California montane chaparral and woodlands
  The California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers , including the mountains of the Transverse, Peninsular, and Santa Lucia Ranges of California. It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers...
  
  
• California native plants
  California native plants
  California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...