Ajuga

Ajuga is one of the most indispensable groundcovers around. It has many uses and looks great much of the year.

Also known as carpetweed or bugleweed, ajuga forms a 6-inch-tall mat of glossy leaves that always seem to look neat and fresh. In many cases, the leaves are colored with shades of purple, white, silver, cream, or pink. Individual plants grow as a rosette, but they intertwine to form a solid carpet that withstands some foot traffic. Blue, lavender, pink, or white flower spikes adorn plants spring to early summer.

Ajuga is great in rock gardens, in the front of beds and borders, under leggy shrubs or small trees, along paths, and just about any other place in the landscape you want to cover the ground with attractive foliage and little flowers.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun,Shade

Zones:

4-10

Plant Type:

Perennial

Plant Height:

4-9 inches tall

Plant Width:

6-18 inches wide

Flower Color:

Blue, purple, pink, or white flowers, depending on variety; foliage is often tinged with maroon, bronze, purple, pink or white

Bloom Time:

Blooms appear in spring to early summer

Landscape Uses:

Containers,Beds & Borders,Slopes,Groundcover

Special Features:

Flowers,Attractive Foliage,Deer Resistant,Easy to Grow

Top Varieties

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Ajuga

Ajuga reptans forms a low-growing mat 4 inches tall with flower spikes up to 9 inches tall. Many forms with variegated foliage are available. Zones 3-9
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Ajuga genevensis

Ajuga genevensis is a relatively uncommon form that works well as a showy groundcover in partial shade. Most forms have blue blooms, but white and pink types are also available. Zones 3-8
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'Black Scallop' ajuga

Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' features shiny, dark purple leaves and springtime blue flowers. It's striking in containers. Zones 3-9
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'Burgundy Glow' ajuga

Ajuga reptans 'Burgundy Glow' features foliage that ranges from green to purplish maroon. In spring, blue flowers rise above the colorful foliage. Zones 3-9
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'Dixie Chip' ajuga

Ajuga reptans 'Dixie Chip' is a variegated selection that offers foliage streaked with white, cream, and pink. It's decorated with blue flowers in spring. Zones 3-9
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'Golden Glow' ajuga

Ajuga reptans 'Golden Glow' lights up shady corners with creamy white tones on its spreading foliage. Zones 3-9
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'Silver Beauty' ajuga

Ajuga reptans 'Silver Beauty' is a quick-growing selection with silvery-green leaves edged in white. It bears small spikes of blue flowers in spring and grows 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide. Zones 3-9
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Garden Plans

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Pondside Garden Plan
Spring Rock Garden
Spring Shade Border
Island Bed 1

Plant It With

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Coralbells

Rounded mounds of coral bells blend well with the matlike foliage of ajuga. The airy flower spikes of coral bells stand out against a backdrop of dark ajuga foliage.

Fothergilla

Give shade-loving shrubs such as fothergilla a pretty skirt by planting colorful ajuga varieties around their base.

Bleeding heart

Plant ajuga with old-fashioned bleeding hearts so you have color and interest when the bleeding hearts go dormant in summer.

Propagation

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Division
Stem Cuttings