Kiwi Blue Honeywort is a recently rediscovered heirloom flower that has captivated floral designers and gardeners alike with its silvery blue foliage and nodding indigo blooms. A relative of borage, this European garden staple has been grown since the Middle Ages and comes alive in full sun across zones 9 through 11. Each flower produces a drop of nectar that draws pollinators like a magnet, while the plant itself deepens to an even richer blue as temperatures cool. Growing 24 inches tall and spreading 12 to 18 inches, it reaches full bloom in 84 to 98 days from seed, rewarding patient gardeners with flowers from June through November.
Full Sun
Moderate
9-11
24in H x 18in W
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Moderate
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The real magic happens in autumn when the already-striking silvery foliage shifts to deeper, jewel-toned blue that intensifies with the first cool nights. Floral designers have embraced this plant precisely for this quality, using it as a sophisticated foliage filler that transforms arrangements from summer through fall. Unlike many ornamentals, it's a genuine pollinator magnet, each nodding bloom dangles a sweet drop of nectar that bees and other insects find irresistible. Growing it requires nothing fancy: just full sun, moderate water, and temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Kiwi Blue Honeywort serves primarily as an ornamental flower and foliage plant. Floral designers have embraced it as a sophisticated filler for fresh and dried arrangements, valued for its cool silvery blue tones and the way its color deepens with cooler weather. In the garden itself, it functions as a pollinator attractor, making it valuable for anyone looking to support bees and other beneficial insects through the summer and fall months.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before your last spring frost. Soak seeds overnight before sowing, then plant at 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds will sprout in 7 to 10 days.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after the last frost date has passed. Harden off plants gradually by exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7 to 10 days before planting in the garden.
In warm areas (zones 8 and warmer), you can sow seeds directly outdoors in fall, allowing them to establish before winter.
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“Kiwi Blue Honeywort's story is one of rediscovery. Though grown throughout European gardens since the Middle Ages, this subtle stunner faded from common cultivation until recent years when seed savers and gardeners brought it back into the spotlight. Its heirloom status reflects not a long tradition in one place, but rather a plant that has survived in gardens across generations, passed from hand to hand, seed to seed, until modern gardeners recognized its quiet beauty and ecological value. Today it represents a small but meaningful resurrection of medieval flower garden traditions.”