Ajuga, Bugle, Bugleweed, Carpet Bugle 'Catlin's Giant'

I grew this plant in my Virginia (Z 7A) garden for years. Growing in dryish clay soil there, it did not obtain it's full size and looked...Read More like an ordinary A. reptans. In 7A it died back in the winter, putting out new leaves in early spring.

I brought a rooted cutting to my new garden in South Carolina (Z 8b, near Savannah), and in this climate it has thrived. It is growing in well amended, well drained but moist sandy soil in part sun and it achieved it's full size in a single season. Here it is fully evergreen. The leaves remain a crisp bronze-green all year and the bright blue flowers appear in early sping. The contrast of flower and foliage color is striking. It does not put out runners as quickly here as it did in Virginia, possibly because the mother plant grows so large. Each leaf on the mature plant grows to 5 or 6 inches long. I am so pleased with the way it has grown in this climate and very, very glad I brought it with me. It is easy to propagate Ajuga by cutting off runners as they begin to take root and potting them up in good moist potting soil. I have found that all Ajugas like a gravel mulch. My Ajugas in Virginia moved themselves out of the flower beds and into the gravel paths whenever they could.

The best ajuga ever! I use it to soften hardscapes and to flow over the sides of containers. They bloom in early April here. Even the ...Read Moreblooms are larger. Easy to transplant, so share them! I also use the Burgundy Glow cultivar, but it isn't as hardy in the ground as the Catlin's Giant.

The DG site lists this plant as poisonous. I can find no other site that lists it that way - not NCSU, not Penn State, nor Canada. UC Dav...Read Moreis lists it specifically as "safe". Does anyone know for sure whether it is toxic and what is your source? Thanks.

It's been doing well in McLean, VA. It speads slowly and is selfsufficient.