Not long ago I stopped by a neighbor’s house to see how her remodeling project was going; she’s putting the house up for sale. She asked me about a row of plants growing on the north side of the house. Her plan is to remove the flowerbed and plant the area into grass.
Years ago, a previous resident planted a row of Ajuga — sometimes called Bugleweed. The foliage on these plants is a beautiful bronze color. I’m not sure of the variety, it’s probably ‘Bronze Beauty’.
- Ajuga multiplies by sending out runners (stolons).
The plants are doing quite well in the shady area. Ajuga has a tendency to spread but these are behaving themselves and staying put in the garden bed.
Ajuga makes a great ground cover growing best in rich moist soil, which describes the growing conditions of this bed of Bugleweed. They will adapt to drier and less fertile areas if they have to.
In mid-spring, blue flowers appear on Bronze Beauty. Other varieties produce purple or white flowers.
The owner says these plants have to go. Normally, I’d wait until spring to move them but, since I have no choice, I’ll have to dig them within the next few days.
With some snow cover this winter, they should over-winter just fine.
Bob