Ajuga

Frosted Jade Ajuga. A rare Ajuga the likes of which you may have never seen. We all are familiar with the utilitarian carpeting-with-abandon slug magnet ubiquitous in gardens everywhere. This is a different critter altogether and resembles Bugleweed about as much as a Bichon Frise does a Junkyard Dawg. Stays put in a clump with erect stems to 16" with showy leaves of white, green and cream and intense violet blue flowers. This has been one of the most asked about plants in our shade garden and when we say what it is, the answer usually is "That's an Ajuga? Do you have it?" It is completely deciduous as well which is another mind boggler. And for slugs - they do like this one too, but really it is mainly the new shoots in early spring. We just keep an eye on the growth and if they are getting nibbled then we go out one or two evenings and inflict bodily harm and don't worry much about the plant afterwards.

Rare plant found only in limited areas in central Honshu, Japan where it likes the forest fringes in the subalpine areas and is known as hiiragi-sou or holly tree-leafed weed. Hiiragi-sou sounds better than the translation. This selection has dark blue flowers and is a deciduous clumper to 16" tall - very nice!

Named by plant guru John Flintoff who found this as an interesting seedling growing in plantswoman Loie Benedict's garden. John has an almost incomprehensible breadth of knowledge about plants and can well judge when a plant is distinct and worth naming. Two examples of introductions from him are Pulmonaria 'Roy Davidson' and Pulmonaria 'Benediction' which have yet to be supplanted by a couple of decades of new introductions so this Ajuga comes with some plant cred. Light green leaves with a spreading habit and flowers of a soft muted lavender which happily goes with most everything. As long as the soil is reasonably moist, this will be good in sun to light shade and is resistant to deer and rabbits. We have both and we accept your sympathies.