"Jasper" wrote in message
...
It sounds like you have Johnson's Blue (or Johnson Blue or Blue Johnson
whatever the dang this is called --- trying to put it out of my memory).
IMO
it's an awful plant, almost a noxious weed. It sprawls all over, takes
over
the garden, and is nigh unto impossible to kill. I tried to rid a garden
patch of them over two years ago, and I found some still trying to grow
this
spring.

Does anybody really like this plant? I'd really like to know. I imagine
that
if you had a big space to fill and liked a bit of wildness, it might have
its uses. Naw!

I have several and I do like them. One variety called "Splish Splash" has
been marginal. It survives and blooms but never gets very large and looks
weedy. My "New Hampshire Purple" is well behaved, forming a neat mound and
flowering freely for weeks with the occasional bloom from early spring
though fall. The trouble child is "Clairdge Druce." It spreads quite
freely forming mounds approaching 3 feet in diameter. It is covered with
flowers right now and will remain in bloom for weeks. This one self seeds
and I have found new plants in remote beds. You can divide it in the spring
to control its size. I find that it wilts dramatically after being divided,
but will recover in a couple of weeks. I got this one as three very small
plants from Bluestone Perennials. I was worried that it wouldn't do much
but the second year it spread like crazy. By the third year I was dividing
it and giving away pieces. I think I would grow them just for the foliage.