More than any other color, everybody seems to love and appreciate the color blue.

Color can evoke a mood. Light blue flowers in your garden will bring a sense of comfort and tranquility, while cobalt blue flowers offer a dramatic punch of color.

More than half the colors described as blue are actually some shade of mauve, lavender or purple. This column will concentrate on those flowers that are a true blue.

A few years ago, one of the biggest landscape trends was to design a monochromatic garden. While blue is a favorite flower color, it is best displayed with other complementary colors. An all-blue garden can have a somewhat dull appearance but can be greatly enhanced with the addition of contrasting colors such as yellow and orange.

What can blue do for us in our home gardens? Shades of blue can tie a garden together. Blues are social and combine well with other colors.

Even though true blue is a unique flower, I was able to find some examples of annuals, perennials, shrubs and vines.

Annual bachelor button is a good choice for the middle of the garden and is very easy to grow.

Lobelia has many uses and is especially effective as a front-of-the-border edging plant. Trailing lobelia is a lovely addition to a container or hanging basket.

Less-known cupid’s dart is a great addition to your border garden with its best asset being that it can be dried and used for winter arrangements without losing shape and color.

There is a much longer selection of blue plants that are perennials.

The most dramatic of the blue perennials has to be the baby blue version of the delphinium. These stately plants reaching 3 to 4 feet provide an awesome display in the early summer garden. Also attractive but more diminutive, the cobalt blue belladonna delphiniums are colorful plants for the front of the border.

Other perennial blue plants recommended for sunny locations include blue star amsonia, anchusa, metallic blue globe thistle, mountain bluets, nepeta “Walker’s Low” and “Six Hills Giant,” Russian sage and “Fairy Blue” salvia.

Choices for shade to part shade are brunnera, corydalis, columbine, forget-me-nots, Jacob’s ladder, pulmonaria and sea holly.

As we look to the world of shrubs, we will find a couple of blue varieties.

The blue mist shrub, caryopteris, is a neat, polite shrub that grows from 3 to 4 feet. It produces puffs of light blue flowers that cover the shrub. It is an absolute magnet for bees and also will be visited by butterflies. It is blooming right now in July.

Hydrangeas also can present in a beautiful, blue form. Hydrangeas turn blue in response to acidic soil.

For an amazing display of blue flowers from summer right into fall, “Heavenly Blue” morning glory is a good vine selection.

A peek into the woods in spring and early summer will reveal more blue wildflowers that can be grown in our home gardens. Baby blue eyes, Virginia bluebells and gentians all are very beautiful additions to your shade garden.

A not-to-be-forgotten element to include when considering introducing blue to your garden is the use of blue containers and other forms of garden art. These are often cobalt blue and will offer dramatic interest in your landscape.

Hopefully, as you add some of these beautiful flowers and accessories to your landscape, you too will be “singing the blues.”

• The Master Gardeners are available to answer questions from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday at the University of Illinois Extension DeKalb County office in the Farm Bureau Center for Agriculture, 1350 E. Prairie Drive in Sycamore. Call 815-758-8194 or email uiemg-dekalb@illinois.edu. Walk-ins are welcome.