Other flower colours may come and go according to the fickle dictates of fashion, but blue flowers have that special charm which makes them timeless favourites. The best blues of all will have you crossing a garden to admire them and Veronica ‘Oxford Blue’ comes into this category. I can just imagine it making a traffic-stopping picture spreading beneath the Chatham Island forget-me-not, Myosotidium hortensia, which has flowers the same shade of blue, and luscious, heavy textured, deep green leaves as well. Add the vivid lime yellow flowers of the low growing Euphorbia polychroma off to one side and the picture becomes amazing.

There are lots of ways of using this beautiful plant, if you can provide it with a good, moist soil and sun to semi-shade. With pink azaleas and deep blue, ground covering Lithodora ‘Heavenly Blue’ is one idea to contemplate, or how about with yellow daffodils and blue muscari, blue or white pansies and violas, or the little native shrub Parahabe ‘Snowcap, which has white flowers of a very similar shape. Veronica ‘Oxford Blue’ is also pretty exciting in pots and its cascading habit makes it suitable for baskets and to hang over the edges of walls too.