Frosty Dawn Mountain Lilac, Ceanothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn'

About Frosty Dawn Mountain Lilac (Ceanothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn') 20 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Horticultural selection from Ceanothus maritimus. Frosty Dawn California Lilac, also known as Maritime ceanothus, is a small, evergreen groundcover 2'-3' x 5'-6'. Its low, compact and creeping habit make this an excellent choice for coastal gardens. Like it's parent, Frosty Dawn is slow growing but long lived, try planting Frosty Dawn Ceanothus on hills, mixed in with boulders, or in a border that has plants that also prefer low water. Leaves are greyish green above, nearly white with wool beneath. It produces dense clusters of lavender-blue flowers in spring, even as early as December. Provide additional water and protection from afternoon sun inland.

Horticultural selection C. maritimus; intro David Fross, Native sons Nursery Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Selected from cuttings collected by Austin Griffiths and David Fross south of Arroyo de la Cruz in 1985.

Thanks to Moosa Creek Nursery and the Theodore Payne Foundation for sharing information about this plant

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

1 - 2 ft tall
3 - 5 ft wide

Form

prostrate

Growth Rate

Moderate

Dormancy

Evergreen

Fragrance

Fragrant - Pleasant, Slight

Flower Color

Purple, Blue

Flowering Season

Spring

Wildlife Supported

Insects, especially bees and butterflies, are attracted to the flowers. Plants in the Ceanothus genus are host plants to the Spring Azure, Echo Blue, Pacuvius Duskywing, California Tortoiseshell, Pale Swallowtail, and Hedgerow Hairstreak butterflies.
Bird gardens

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part shade

Moisture

Low, Moderate

Nurseries

Carried by 20

Ease of Care

Very Easy

Cold Tolerance

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerates a wide variety of soils. Tolerates Saline Soil. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Groundcovers, Bank Stabilization, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), Coffee Berry (Frangula californica), Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Iris douglasiana, Coast Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata var. ledebourii), Black Sage (Salvia mellifera), Sticky Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus) and Lupinus species

Maintenance

Tip prune if a compact shape is desired.

Site Characteristics

Alternative Names

Common Names: Frosty Dawn Maritime Ceanothus

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Frosty Dawn Mountain Lilac

Ceanothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn'

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Frosty Dawn Mountain LilacCeanothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn'

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Frosty Dawn Mountain Lilac

Ceanothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn'