New Variegated Ajuga
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- June
- 2
Ajuga is not a particularly exciting plant, but it’s a workhorse groundcover that will form a pretty dense, weed-proof mat in just a few years. It’s aggressive, though, and some gardeners liken it to an invasive weed that spreads around the yard.
I’ve got a lot of it, and I just let it run where it wants to go, which is mostly in patches of lawn on the edges of perennial beds. It also likes my wood-chipped walkways.
The ajuga I have has spiky purple flowers that come up about the same time as dandelions, creating a wonderful carpet of purple and yellow in the grass. (Let’s just say I’m not a purist when it comes to what grows in the lawn. As long as it’s green and mowable, I let it be.)
Known botanically as Ajuga reptans or more commonly as bugleweed, this tough and hardy perennial is grown more for its semievergreen foliage than its quick-to-fade blooms.
This spring, Terra Nova Nurseries has introduced a new variegated ajuga called ‘Toffee Chip.’ It features leaves that change color as they age. The new leaves offer brown and khaki shades that fade to a creamy gold as they mature. Blue flowers on 8-inch spikes emerge in spring.
‘Toffee Chip’ prefers moist, rich soil that’s well drained. It’s not fussy about light; sun to part shade is best.
Best of all, ajuga is on just about every list of deer-resistant plants that I’ve seen.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 am by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
I use ajuga in all my perennial beds. It takes almost what ever is thrown at it from Mother Nature and sometimes my neglect. I have never seen the invasive side of he plant you refer to.