PlantFiles: Bugle, Bugleweed, Carpet Bugle
Ajuga reptans 'Burgundy Glow'

This is an extremely rapid grower in partial sun and provides an attractive, dense ground cover. It's also capable of invasiveness by direct encroachment on other ground covers. This summer, during a period of extreme dampness and absent sun, a superficial "leaf rot" destroyed half of two beds of the plant. However, after carefully removing the rotted foliage, enough of the roots survived so that with return of normal conditions there was a complete and rapid regrowth.

I live in Dallas. We planted about 100 of these Ajuga's in early April, a week after our last freeze. The days are regularly in the low 90's now (June), and the ajuga still looks great and has gone from being 2" in diameter to about 5+". Even in areas that get direct sun from about 5-6pm (otherwise they're in all day bright shade). The lamium, on the other hand is withering away in the couple spots where it gets direct sun. Plus, the snails seem more attracted to the lamium than the ajuga.

We planted in 90% clay/ 10% loam, 7.3 pH, though added a 1/2" layer of humus and kind of worked it into the soil 6" (which helped aerate the soil). The soil is smothered in roots from the oaks, elms, and red tip photinias. The sprinklers have been going off for 20 min., 2 or 3 times a week, which, I'm guessing, has probably been one of the biggest factors for keeping them looking so nice in the heat and root competition.

So, three thumbs up so far.

This grows surprisingly well in light shade all day. Tends to be attractive to slugs, but otherwise pest-free. Easy to propagate by cuttings. I've used it as an edging along walks and found it's slow growing enough that I'm not constantly trimming it.

I have had nothing but good experience with this plant. At this time of year it is cream, green and pink but once the weather cools it will darken its colors to bronzes and burgundys. I like the flowers too, as do the butterflies and moths. Have not had hummingbirds this year but they are supposed to be attracted to the flowers too.

Mine is in a garden bed in my back yard that faces south. It receives full sun for most of the day and this bed gets watered about every two weeks when Mother Nature is goofing off. The soil is very loose and quick draining as it is difficult to amend it when there are so many plants. We keep saying that in the fall we are going to spread aged cow manure around each plant but have yet to do it. Therefore, these plants live on a drop of water and a promise but still spread and look good.

I think that this is an excellent plant. I still have the old one, dark green and silver with pink flowers at the back of this bed in the shade and it is going strong, sorry I can't remember its name. One day these two ajugas will meet in the middle and I hope they will be so companionable that they intermingle. Now that would be a beautiful sight to see!

This is my favorite Ajuga yet. The burgundy in the leaves blends beautifully with just about any plant combination. It spreads quickly as most Ajugas do. If I could only have one Ajuga, this would be it. The problem is that it does not come up true from seed, so you have to either deadhead quickly or weed constantly.

Love it!

I have this cultivar mixed with the bronze beauty ajuga all over my hillside gardens. I find that it is aggressive enough to help keep the weeds down throughout my lilies and in troublesome areas. It seems to do equally well here (zone 5) whether the soil is moist or dry. I also have some that "volunteered" to an area that sometimes has sitting water, in full sun, and it has increased dramatically. It also transplants with minimum care and will root itself in just mulch if you happen to drop a bit of it.

It seems to stand up to foot (and knee) traffic when I'm spending time in the garden weeding. After the bluish-purple flowers die back in late spring the whole plant becomes inconspicuous but continues to help control the weed population. I'm very pleased with it and am happy to let it ramble where it wants as it tends not to interfere with the other plants around it, and then again in May - what a wonder - it lights up the whole garden!

This plant is grown primarily for its foliage instead of its flowers. pokerboy.

I use this plant on the east side of the house foundation. It saves me from mulching under my azaleas, but does not interfere with their growth. At the end of winter the bed looked less than hearty,but became robust with the advent of spring's warm weather. This ground cover has a spectacular blue bloom period at azalea bloom time. I do fertilize it with 20/20/20 liquid 2to 3 times and it responds with continued bloom, but not to the extent of the first flush in spring.

In soil that is slightly alkaline and too heavy, this plant will not do well at all. Even when I have reworked the soil by adding amendments to improve its texture, this plant does not do well. It could be that I need to lower the soil pH toward a more neutral reading to ensure good plant growth. I'm located in Northern California and very close to the ocean.

Not nearly as invasive as "Bronze Beauty", but neither do the flowers stand out as much. It seems to need well-drained soil, while the aggressive ones can take solid clay. So it's more fussy to grow, but looks lovely year round and won't take over.

This cultivar seems to be much less forgiving of harsh conditions than the species; I have lost it twice in dry spells. I lost it again in overly alkaline soil conditions. Another clump was lost when in standing water for a week.

I got some starts of this variety this spring, and they're filling in nicely - the colors are a nice complement to the standard Ajuga (which I'm also using in the same area.)

2003 Update: this variety, planted side-by-side with the "regular" Ajuga didn't make it through the winter here in zone 6b/7a.

Ajuga reptans 'Burgundy Glow' has a bright blue bloom in late spring. When planted in a container, it drapes nicely over the sides. This plant is evergreen in milder climates.

Wonderful as a groundcover. It died over the winter here in OK, though. Bought another one in spring '04 and will see if planting it in another spot will help.