A favorite, really nice shrub. I cut it to about 8" tall in early spring, then it grows to about 4 ft tall. In late summer it is covered with flowers, the bees go nuts. I never do anything to it except cut it down every year, it tolerates terrible summer drought and soggy Seattle winters in clay. The leaves are fresh and nice all spring and summer. I think it might get huge if I did not cut it down, even in a cold winter it does not die back to the roots here. It does not spread out and take over the flowerbed, and I have had just one seedling in all these years. I had tried 'Dark Knight' twice, each time it only lasted one year. For this area, 'Blue Balloon' seems like a much tougher cultivar.

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