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Royal Cape Plumbago

$5295 $11995
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Your Plants are Guaranteed to Grow

Your plants are guaranteed to arrive happy & healthy with our 1 Year Warranty. Your order will arrive healthy and stay healthy while they adapt to your climate. If your tree arrives damaged or dies within 30 days, we'll replace it for free. If it dies after 30 days, but before 1 year, we will replace it for just 50% of the current price.

Free Shipping on All Orders

Relax... we've got you covered with free shipping on every order! We ship out so many huge plants, we've negotiated a low rate with our carriers... and we pass those savings on to you! Your plants will ship out the next business day... expertly packed so that your plants will arrive happy and healthy!

Is Now a Good Time to Plant?

Yes! Fall is one of the best times to plant!

Landscaping experts often recommend planting in fall instead of waiting until spring. Here’s why:

  • Cooler weather puts less stress on newly planted trees and shrubs.
  • Fall soil is still warm, which helps roots grow and get established.
  • Cooler temperatures mean less water is lost through the leaves, making it easier for plants to stay hydrated.
  • Even after top growth slows for winter, roots continue developing below ground.
  • Fall weather often brings more rain and less heat, making new plants easier to care for.
  • By spring, your plants already have a head start. Their established roots can support strong new leaves, branches, and flowers.
  • Trees planted in spring must establish their roots while also dealing with rising temperatures and summer heat.

Plant this fall, and your trees can spend the cooler months getting settled instead of waiting until spring to get started!

Planting your Royal Cape Plumbago

Growth Info & Care Tips

Sunlight: Full sun (6+ hours of direct sunlight per day) is ideal.
Soil: Prefers well-draining soil, but isn’t picky about soil type.
Water: Drought tolerant once established, but regular watering helps boost blooming.
Pruning: Light trimming helps maintain shape if you’re growing it as a hedge or want to encourage bushier growth. No intensive pruning needed.
Fertilizing: A balanced fertilizer in spring can jumpstart blooming, but overfeeding isn’t necessary

What Customers say about the Royal Cape Plumbago:

The Royal Cape Plumbago thrives in Zones 9-11

Growing Zones for the Royal Cape Plumbago

If you live in the green area above, we recommend the Royal Cape Plumbago.

Your Growing Zone
Recommended Zones 9-11
Mature Height 5 ft.
Mature Width 6-8 ft.
Cannot Ship To AZ, OR
Sunlight Full Sun
Botanical Name Plumbago auriculata 'Monott'

Plants that Make a Difference

For 20+ years, our team has shipped healthy, established plants to gardeners like you- all across the country. Every plant is selected and cared for by our plant experts before it ships to your door.

  • 20+ Years Experience

  • Superior Quality

  • Free Shipping on All Orders

  • Guaranteed to Grow

Royal Cape Blue Plumbago with lots of green foliage.

Beware- not all Royal Cape Plumbagos are the same.

Be sure to get superior flowering shrubs, grown by experts.

Better Roots Make Stronger Plants: Some nurseries send you "bare root" flowering shrubs to save on shipping. Even worse, others have started digging them right out of the ground before shipping. This causes major transplant shock and long-term damage. We send you Royal Cape Plumbagos in soil-filled containers- ensuring a well-developed root system that will explode with growth and blooms!

Healthy Plants: We've seen other nurseries grow tall flowering shrubs in tiny pots to save on shipping. This leads to a "root bound" shrub, where the roots have outgrown their pot- they cannot absorb water and nutrients. They quickly dry out during shipment, leading to an unhealthy shrub.

Large row of Royal Cape Plumbago growing along fence line.

Royal Cape Plumbago delivers rich, true-blue flower clusters- a color few plants can match- from spring all the way through fall.

  • True-blue blooms from spring through fall, with little deadheading
  • Lush, mounding shrub about 5 ft. tall and 6-8 ft. wide- or train it up a trellis
  • Heat loving and drought tolerant once established
  • Hardy in zones 9-11, and great in containers you bring indoors in colder areas

Not all plants are created equal

The Difference Is in the Roots

Every plant we ship has grown in a nursery container with its roots protected, so it arrives healthy, established and ready to thrive in your yard.

A full, branched Nationwide Plants tree in a nursery pot next to a thin bare-root tree with exposed roots Ours: container grown Theirs: bare root
Nationwide Plants Other Nurseries
How it's grown Grown in a nursery container, roots protected the whole time Pulled or dug from the field, tearing fragile roots
How it arrives Arrives in its pot with soil intact Arrives bare root, exposed and drying out
Before shipping Growing naturally until it ships Held dormant in a cooler, then shocked by a hot shipping box
Root health Strong, well-developed roots with room to grow Crammed into a small pot until it's root bound
Height Measured from the top of the soil Often includes the pot and roots
After planting Settles in quickly with less transplant shock Arrives stressed and can take years to recover, if it does

The height you see is the height you plant.

We measure every plant from the top of the soil, not the bottom of the pot. Many nurseries include the pot and roots, so a "5–6 ft." tree from them might stand only 4 ft. tall once it's planted.

Comparisons reflect common practices across the online plant industry, not any single company.

Honest Measurements: Some nurseries measure plants including the pot and roots, so the plant you receive is much smaller than you expected. We measure all of our plants from the soil line, so the height you see is what you can expect after planting.

From our nursery to your door

How We Ship Your Plants

Every order is hand-selected, watered and carefully packed so it arrives healthy and ready to plant. Here's what happens after you place your order.

  1. Hand-Picked for You

    Our team selects the best plant available for your order. For privacy trees, that's the tallest and fullest. For fruit trees, it's the best branched.

    Why it matters: Many online nurseries ship whatever is next in the row.

  2. A Deep Drink Before the Trip

    Every plant gets a thorough watering right before it's packed, so it starts the journey fully hydrated.

  3. Roots Sealed In

    We wrap the pot and roots in plastic to lock in moisture, so your plant has water to drink all the way to your door.

    Why it matters: Bare-root plants are often shipped with their roots exposed and drying out.

  4. Braced for the Ride

    Cardboard inserts are secured inside every box to hold your plant in place, so it won't slide, tip or get damaged in transit.

  5. Shipped Only by FedEx

    We ship your trees exclusively with FedEx. We've found they deliver the fastest and handle live plants the most gently.

And if anything goes wrong, every plant is backed by our 1 Year Warranty.

Healthy Roots Make a Huge Difference

  • Never buy bare-root plants. These trees are starved of nutrients, and have a low survival rate.
  • Beware of nurseries cut corners by growing in small pots. These "rootbound" plants are weak, struggle to absorb nutrients, and die quickly after planting.
  • Some nurseries try to sell oversized plants, but chop off vital roots so they can cram the rootball into a narrow box to save on shipping!

You Want Royal Cape Plumbagos Grown by Experts

Some nurseries ship small, weak shrubs grown in tiny pots to save money. These "root bound" plants struggle after planting and take longer to bloom well.

Nationwide Plants only sends you strong Royal Cape Plumbagos, selected and cared for by our plant experts, with healthy, developed root systems. That means they settle in quickly and start covering themselves in blue flowers sooner.

Read more about the Royal Cape Plumbago

Royal Cape® Plumbago – Brilliant Blue That Brings Life to Every Landscape

If you’re looking to make your outdoor space more vibrant without adding more to your to-do list, Royal Cape® Plumbago is your go-to plant. This vivid, blue-blooming powerhouse combines visual impact with adaptability, and it’s just as happy cascading from containers as it is filling out a garden bed or sprawling over a trellis. With its dynamic color, resilience in heat, and consistent blooming habit, this plumbago is a standout performer—especially in warm climates.

Plant Highlights – What Makes Royal Cape® Plumbago Special

  • Unmatched Blue Blooms: Few plants offer the same rich, true-blue flower clusters you get with Royal Cape® Plumbago. These blooms show up in abundance and stick around from spring all the way through fall.
  • Tough Yet Beautiful: You won’t need to baby this plant. Once established, it’s drought-tolerant and thrives in full sun with little input.
  • Multi-Form Growth Habit: Unlike other plumbagos, this cultivar is exceptionally versatile—plant it as a shrub, let it trail, or train it up a support. It adapts easily to the form that works best for your space.
  • Pollinator Approved: Butterflies are frequent visitors to Royal Cape® Plumbago, and you may even spot the occasional hummingbird stopping by.
  • Perfect for Containers: Not in Zone 9 or warmer? No problem. Use this plant in a container and overwinter it indoors. It transitions well and continues to impress season after season.

What You’ll Gain with This Plant

Color That Lasts
Your garden will get a months-long dose of saturated blue, a color that’s surprisingly hard to find in the plant world. While many blue flowers lean toward violet or purple, Royal Cape® Plumbago holds a truer, deeper blue that instantly pops against green foliage or neutral hardscaping.

Ease of Maintenance
This is one of those plants that rewards you even when you forget about it. Once it’s rooted in well-draining soil and gets a regular dose of sun, it takes off. Deadheading is minimal—many gardeners let the old blooms fade naturally, as the plant keeps producing new flowers regardless.

Landscape Flexibility
Whether you’re filling in a tough corner, adding interest to a wall, or creating a pollinator-friendly patio design, Royal Cape® Plumbago fits. Use it as:

  • A low hedge or foundation planting
  • A sprawling groundcover over slopes
  • A vining shrub over arbors or fences
  • A hanging container showstopper
    It gives you the freedom to get creative.

Season-Spanning Interest
Because this plant starts blooming in early spring and continues right through to frost (in warm zones), you won’t have gaps in color like you might with other shrubs or vines. It fills the seasonal space with a near-constant flow of flowers.

Climate Zones & Indoor Growing

Hardiness Zones: Best in USDA Zones 9–11.

  • In zones 9 and up, this plant acts as a perennial shrub or vine and can be used in landscapes year-round.
  • In colder zones, grow it in pots and bring it indoors before the first frost. It handles the transition well, especially with bright light and regular watering.

If you have a sunroom or a bright window, it can even continue blooming indoors during the off-season.

Unique Features Compared to Other Plumbagos

While other varieties of plumbago often feature lighter or more purplish blooms, Royal Cape® is distinct for its:

  • Darker, richer blue coloration—not just in full bloom, but even when backlit or viewed from a distance.
  • More compact, mounding habit, which makes it easier to manage in small gardens or containers without compromising bloom power.
  • Improved drought tolerance, meaning you can rely on this plant in tough summers or low-water situations.
  • Thicker foliage—which enhances its ornamental appeal even when not in full flower.

These differences make Royal Cape® Plumbago not just another blue-flowered option, but one of the best all-around performers for consistent, striking color with minimal care.

Interesting Facts

  • The species name Plumbago auriculata is derived from the Latin plumbum, meaning “lead,” because early herbalists believed it treated lead poisoning.
  • The deep blue flower color is sometimes used in traditional gardens to attract good energy or ward off pests symbolically—though this plant does a great job of attracting beauty in the form of butterflies in the real world.
  • In tropical and subtropical regions, plumbago is sometimes used as a living privacy screen thanks to its fast-growing, mounding form.

Why It Works in Today’s Gardens

You want plants that perform without constant intervention—and Royal Cape® Plumbago delivers. With rising temperatures and unpredictable rain, this plant stays in bloom when others fade. Its low care needs, impressive flower display, and pollinator appeal check every box for gardeners who want beautiful results without sacrificing time.

Whether you’re planting along a sunny border, filling a window box, or spilling over a container, this is a plant that turns heads. It's lush, bold, and best of all—easy.

Bring color, pollinators, and simplicity into your garden with Royal Cape® Plumbago.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Royal Cape Plumbago

How big does Royal Cape Plumbago get?

Royal Cape Plumbago grows about 5 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. It has a lush, mounding habit that can be kept as a shrub or low hedge, allowed to sprawl as a groundcover on slopes, or trained up a trellis or fence. In containers it stays smaller and easier to manage.

What zones does Royal Cape Plumbago grow in?

Royal Cape Plumbago is hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11, where it grows as a perennial shrub or vine year-round. In colder zones, grow it in a pot and bring it indoors before the first frost. With bright light, it can even keep blooming indoors during the off season.

When does Royal Cape Plumbago bloom?

Royal Cape Plumbago blooms from spring all the way through fall, and right up to frost in warm zones. Its clusters of rich, true-blue flowers keep coming with little deadheading, since the plant continues producing new blooms as older ones fade naturally.

Does Royal Cape Plumbago need full sun?

Yes, Royal Cape Plumbago blooms best in full sun, with 6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day. It thrives in heat and is well suited to hot, sunny borders, walls, and patios. In too much shade it will produce fewer flowers and grow more loosely.

How often should I water Royal Cape Plumbago?

Water Royal Cape Plumbago regularly until it is established, then it becomes drought tolerant. Even so, consistent watering during long dry spells helps boost blooming. Plant it in well-draining soil and let the top of the soil dry between waterings to avoid soggy roots.

How do you prune Royal Cape Plumbago?

Royal Cape Plumbago needs only light trimming to keep its shape or encourage bushier growth, especially when grown as a hedge. No intensive pruning is required. Plumbago flowers on new growth, so the best time for a shaping cut is late winter or early spring before the main flush of blooms.

Can I grow Royal Cape Plumbago in a pot?

Yes, Royal Cape Plumbago is perfect for containers and hanging baskets, where its blue flowers can spill over the edges. Use a pot with drainage holes and well-draining mix, and place it in full sun. Containers make it easy to overwinter indoors in zones colder than 9.

Does Royal Cape Plumbago attract butterflies?

Yes, butterflies are frequent visitors to Royal Cape Plumbago, and hummingbirds may stop by as well. Its long bloom season provides a steady nectar source from spring into fall, making it a great addition to pollinator gardens and patio plantings in sunny spots.

How far apart should I plant Royal Cape Plumbago?

Space Royal Cape Plumbago about 5 to 6 feet apart for a continuous hedge or mass planting, based on its 6 to 8 foot mature spread. For a looser, more natural look or as individual shrubs, give each plant a bit more room so it can mound out fully.

Should I fertilize Royal Cape Plumbago?

Royal Cape Plumbago benefits from a balanced fertilizer applied in spring to jumpstart blooming, but heavy feeding is not necessary. It is not picky about soil type as long as it drains well. Too much fertilizer can push leafy growth at the expense of flowers.
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