Ceanothus arboreus

Tree Lilac or  Island Mt. Lilac, Ceanothus arboreus, grows fast to 20' high 10' wide with large dark green leaves, medimum blue flowers in 6" spikes, good where you want a large fast filler. Use where you want another slower plant ultimately but you need a fast filler. Grows 5-10'/year. Stagger plant with oaks or other slow plants like so . ' . ' . ' . ' . Island Mt. Lilac has done well here for years. It was severely frost burned at 15 deg. f.and froze to the ground at 0, and it has come back better than before. Deer love this and its hybrids. A lot of customers do not believe this is a native as it looks 'too lush' to not be watered. We had a customer come in to replace his originals, after 25 years, he'd lost one. He was growing his in clay and shale, we are growing them in decomposed granite. It has proven to be very drought tolerant. Most people overwater. If you have rainfall greater than 15 inches/year, water the first year only. Butterflies like the flowers and the quail eat the seeds. Click here for more about Mountain Lilacs.
Ceanothus arboreus, Tree Lilac, or Island Lilac makes a good screen or fence line plant.