Until recently, I never thought much about Ajuga reptans, also known as bugleweed or carpetweed. It grows prodigiously in my so-called “lawn” where grass might otherwise take hold, sending up handsome stalks of purple flowers every spring that play nicely with the violets that have also established themselves there.
But this summer, I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep weeds from taking over a large, semi-shady border of my yard that I’m trying to turn into a carefree (ha!) shrub garden. When I did an initial weeding in late May, I noticed several healthy cushions of shiny, dark green Ajuga in various spots. At some earlier point in time, I might have pulled them out; after all I never planted them, and their common names includes the word “weed.” But I decided to let them stay.
That decision not only saved me the trouble of rooting them out, but it turned out to have other benefits. The clumps have expanded and continue to look glossy and green, regardless of the weather. Although there is still lots of bare ground for weeds to colonize, I hope that in time, with a bit of dividing and spreading, the Ajuga will fill in the empty spaces.
I was bargain hunting at Andrew’s Greenhouse in Amherst a few days ago and I noticed a woman filling an industrial-sized metal cart with pots of Ajuga. These were not the plain green types that have volunteered in my garden, but lovely shades of purple and bronze. Designer Ajuga. What a concept!
I asked the woman what in the world she planned to do with so much Ajuga, and she told me that she has a shady hillside where nothing will grow. She was going to unleash the plants and let them do their thing. “Better be careful with those! They’ll really take over,” advised the cashier.
“I want them to take over,” she explained. We all agreed that in certain spots, Ajuga can be just what the garden doctor ordered.
Curious about those intriguing shades of Ajuga, I went online and was delighted to discover there are lots of Ajugas available in all sorts of colors. One called ‘Burgundy Glow’ has blue flowers and tricolored foliage in shades of pink, cream and white. That would definitely brighten up my border. For contrast, ‘Black Scallop’ has blue flowers and purple-black leaves with scalloped edges. Another, ‘Purple Brocade,’ has bluish-violet flowers and deep green leaves with purple markings. The leaves of ‘Toffee Chip’ start out light brown and turn grayish-green with creamy gold margins as they mature. I am imagining a patchwork of Ajuga in a range of colors weaving together the assorted hydrangeas, viburnums and azaleas that are just beginning to look like they belong in their spaces in the new border.
Ajuga, like other members of the mint family, grows on stolons, slender, horizontal stems that grow just above the ground’s surface. It spreads like crazy, so it’s best to keep it away from mixed borders or other places you don’t want to be invaded.
For low maintenance, Ajuga can’t be beat. It is generally hardy in U.S.D.A. zones 3 to 9 (the Pioneer Valley ranges from 4 to 5). It tolerates sun and shade and seldom requires fertilizer. It prefers moist, well-drained soil but can handle periods of dryness. (I can attest to this because it was unfazed in my yard by last summer’s drought.) It is useful on slopes to prevent erosion. It likes to be divided every few years to keep it from overcrowding. Depending on where you grow it, you can mow off the dead flowers in early summer after they’ve bloomed. I just leave it alone.
I am always happy to learn about a new plant, particularly one that’s so easy to maintain. If you’ve got a troublesome area in your garden, Ajuga just might be the solution.
The Jones Library Board of Trustees in Amherst seeks six volunteers with gardening, landscaping and/or garden design experience to serve on the library’s newly established gardens advisory committee. That board will help plan, develop and maintain all of the library’s green spaces.
For more information, go to: www.joneslibrary.org/DocumentCenter/View/3085
Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston will host the 58th annual Lily Show, presented by the New England Lily Society, Saturday and Sunday.
The event will feature hundreds of flowers and varieties such as Asiatic, Canadense, Longiflorum, Trumpet Lily, hybrid American species, and the giant Orientpets (Oriental-Trumpet hybrids, or OT’s, to those in the know!)
It also will feature special presentations including a lily classification and scaling demonstration Saturday at 3 p.m. and a discussion of lily hybridizing on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The show runs Saturday, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free with the price of admission. For more information go to: towerhillbg.org.
Mickey Rathbun can be reached at foxglover8@gmail.com.