Plant · P-164

Carpet Bugle

Ajuga reptans

Carpet Bugle forms a fast, dense, rooting mat that thrives in dry shade - the hardest niche on most properties to fill, since dry ground under an established canopy defeats almost everything else. From early spring through summer it sends up 4 to 6 inch blue-violet flower spikes that are an early, scarce nectar source for bumblebees, hummingbirds and moths, and deer tend to leave it alone. It spreads readily by rooting stolons, which is ordinary vigor rather than a problem, but its one real weak point is a fungal crown rot that can melt away a large, uniform planting in humid weather - broken into smaller patches with air circulation around them, it holds up far better.