I continue to rave over the new hybrid ajuga groundcovers from Michigan plant breeder, Chris Hansen, who is oddly, no relation to Michigan plant breeder, Hans Hansen. Below are a few that are looking fabulous this week in the garden.
Ajuga ‘Parrot Paradise’ in the garden this week.
Below is the superb Ajuga ‘Cordial Canary’.
Ajuga ‘Pleasant Pheasant’ opens up all kinds of color combinations in the garden.
Am I correct that one should be wary that Ajuga is invasive and could crowd out other plantings?
Care must be taken with all plants, regarding spacing, and combining them with other plants. We had eliminated most ajugas from our garden over the last two decades because they are simply too agressive for us, or they seeded prolifically. These next generation ajugas have been very well-behaved in our trials, but proper spacing, and planting the proper plants nearby are always key. invasiveness can never be determined at the genus or species level, and anyone who advocates such is just showiog their ignorance, but can only be truly determined at the cultivar level. Here’s an anology. If you arrived from another planet, and the first humans you encountered were in a super-max prision, you would assume that the species, Homo sapiens was “invasive” and must be eliminated…if you beleive that invasiveness can be determined at a species level.
Very informative, thank you. so what plants would you suggest to plant near or around the ajuga?
That would depend on the amount of sun/shade/moisture, etc. They key is size…don’t plant an ajuga near something the same size. We have them near hellebores, yucca, many shrubs, etc. depending on the factors mentioned.