If you are like me and simply MUST have a ceanothus in your garden in Albuquerque, go for the Ceanothus x delilianus hybrids. This hybrid is a cross between the lusciously blue but tender C. caeruleus from Mexico and the very hardy white C. americanus from the eastern United States You can expect it to shrug off the winter cold and the summer heat, but don't expect a performance like those ceanothus in California. I searched a long time for my Ceanothus x delilianus 'Gloire de Versailles' and it has tolerated winter here like no other ceanothus that I've tried. It isn't even deciduous as it is supposed to be in "colder winters" but the bloom is a very pale blue, and the flowers, though constant throughout the summer, are sparse. Try one of the darker hybrids, if you can find one, like 'Indigo' or 'Topaze'. You may remember my Ceanothus caeruleus from last year, and wonder why it's not my first mention. Although I love this plant, it only performs like gangbusters after a particularly mild winter, and is worth it if you are willing to miss years of this wall of sky blue. This past year was too cold and there was severe dieback. I expect a nice August showing though, the later bloom being the benefit of the dieback, but at the cost of potential disfigurement of the shrub.
Maybe as my 'Gloire de Versailles' gets larger, it will live up to its name.
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