Ajuga ‘Cordial Canary’ is one of the new generations of well-behaved bugleweed selections, this from the work of Chris Hansen. It looks pretty amazing for mid-March at JLBG. We love colorful groundcovers that play nice with their surroundings. Zone 4a-9b.
Ajuga ‘Parrot Paradise’ is one of many new next generation colorful ajuga groundcovers that have hit the market in the last few years. These have been amazing in our trials, as you can see from the October photo below. Best of all, we haven’t seen any seedlings, which have been a problem with several of the more common clones in commerce. We think both the color and growth habits are truly outstanding.
Here are images of three of the “next generation” ajuga cultivars, all selections of the Italian Ajuga tenorii. These in-ground photos were all taken at JLBG on April 1. These new ajugas don’t spread wildly or seed around like many of the older, more commonly grown offerings. We think they are pretty darn amazing! The top photo of Ajuga ‘Blueberry Muffin’ represents several plants, planted on 1′ centers. The second image is a single plant of Ajuga ‘Cordial Canary’, and the third is a single plant of Ajuga ‘Petite Parakeet’. These are actually non-staged images, unlike the highly staged, completely unrealistic, manufactured photos you often see in the Dutch-centric catalogs. Hardy from zone 4a to 9b.
We’re trialing quite a few of the new colored-foliage, non-invasive ajugas, and are quite excited so far. Here is one of several that we really like, Ajuga ‘Parrot Paradise’ in the garden. These ajugas open up a wealth of color combination possibilities for garden designers. Hopefully, you’ll see this gracing a Plant Delights catalog in a few months.
The non-weedy Ajuga ‘Blueberry Muffin’ from the breeders at Terra Nova has really put on quite a show at JLBG this spring. We love the non-seeding and slow spreading traits…not to mention the amazing floral show.
There are a number of very exciting new ajugas to hit the market in the last few years, but one of our favorites has a longer history. Ajuga reptans ‘Planet Zork’, which we first acquired in 2004, is a non-flowering, crinkled-leaf sport of Ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’. It was brought to the US from Japan, and later named and introduced here by plantsman Barry Yinger. We first grew Ajuga ‘Planet Zork’ in light shade, but it really showed its true colors when we transplanted it into full sun and moist soils. It’s parent, Ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’ is ungrowable in our climate, rotting at the sign of rain during our hot, humid summers. Unlike many ajugas, this is a tight clumper that doesn’t seed around…an ideal groundcover.
