BUGLEWEED
I don’t know how many times I have heard the old adage, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Usually I have no interest in joining ’em, because I don’t like ’em, but every once in awhile I depart from that practice. About five years ago I did so with bugleweed, which is more formally known as Ajuga reptans.
I am not alone. Ajuga has become more and more fashionable in the last few years, with a dramatic increase in the number of cultivars. The plant itself is a low grower, creeping along the ground and sending up six to eight-inch flower stalks in mid spring. The small individual flowers are usually blue purple, with the petals fused at the bases into tiny tubes. The blooms are arrayed around the top half of the stalk and sprout from the leaf axils or spaces where leaves and stalks meet. The leaves are a more or less elongated oval shape with neatly scalloped edges. As befits a member of the mint or Labiatae family, ajuga leaves are opposed or paired on opposite sides of the stalk. They are also arrayed in pairs on the numerous runners that each plant sends out. To say ajuga is vigorous is an understatement. They could grow perfectly well on damp linoleum.
Lawn grass, on the other hand, is hard to grow–at least for me. This is probably because I do absolutely nothing to encourage it. Fortunately ajuga has moved in to pick up the slack. Up until five years ago I resented this unwanted horticultural help. As a suburbanite I felt guilty about my inability to worship or at least maintain my lawn. Because the ajuga was so vigorous I discounted or even disdained it. Besides, if you give ajuga an inch it takes a mile, moving right into your garden beds and shouldering aside better bred individuals like columbine. I made a habit of plucking ajuga out, noting as I did that the ajuga didn’t even seem to notice and, in fact, the plants appeared to compensate for this slaughter by sending out even more runners. Clearly fighting ajuga was an exercise in futility.
What changed my mind? Reality. One spring day about five years ago, I looked out at my back lawn and saw hundreds of blue-purple ajuga flower spikes, bluebells and common violets growing up among the few stalwart patches of grass. It was a beautiful scene. All the colors harmonized perfectly and the whole thing looked like an impressionist painting. I wished that I had Monet or at least Childe Hassam around to do it justice on canvas. I picked bunches of ajuga and pink bluebells for the house. They also looked stunning and the arrangement lasted for a long time. I realized that I put exactly the same miniscule amount of time into ajuga that I did into lawn grass, but the ajuga flourished. It was time to admit reality and celebrate ajuga. The ajuga did not notice the attitude change or the celebration. It was too busy reproducing.
My backyard ajuga is the most common form of Ajuga reptans. Its leaves are green shading to bronze, depending on the amount of sunlight individual plants receive. The plants that have crept into the beds have slightly bigger flowers and taller stalks than those making their way in the lawn. After the flowers die back, I trim the spent stalks as I go over the whole area with the lawnmower. Ajuga is an excellent green groundcover, forming dense networks of plants that can stand up quite well to foot traffic.
If you want to acquire ajuga, the easiest way is to find someone who has it already. It is a classic “pass along plant”–easy to dig up and give to relatives, friends and neighbors. If you don’t know anyone with ajuga, the catalogs are full of it. Start with something basic like plain old Ajuga reptans or ‘Pat’s Select Variety’. For something showier, invest in ‘Catlin’s Giant’ or ‘Purple Brocade’, which have taller stalks and bigger flowers and leaves. Similar to my backyard ajuga, ‘Bronze Beauty’ spreads quickly and has bronzy foliage. ‘Burgundy Glow’ features green leaves with pinkish cream edges, while the hybrid ‘Toffee Chip’ has longer leaves edged in white. Dark foliage is all the rage in modish gardens, and you can get in with ‘Black Scallop’, an ajuga with leaves of such dark purple that they appear black. Most ajuga do just fine with dappled shade, but ‘Black Scallop’ needs more sun to develop the best color. I can’t imagine why anyone would want something other than the standard blue or blue purple flowers, but for those who crave variety, there is ‘Torch’, with large pink flowers and bronzy leaves.
All of the variegated ajuga are beautiful, but be on your guard; some tend to revert to green or greenish bronze foliage without warning. If this happens, simply pluck off the green leaves or pull out the young, green-leafed plants so they won’t outcompete their variegated parents.
‘Toffee Chip’ and possibly ‘Black Scallop’ ajuga will probably be available in garden centers and even mega-merchandisers this spring. For other varieties, try Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd., Madison, OH. 44057; (800) 852-5243; www.bluestoneperennials.com. Free catalog.