Ajuga x tenorii Dixie Chip

Ajuga tenorii 'Dixie Chip' possesses the same qualities as the creeping bugle Chocolate Chip, of which it is a natural mutation, but its small leaves are variegated with green, cream, and pink to purple, depending on the season. With a compact and dense habit, this variety provides a very effective and decorative groundcover throughout the year. It forms mats of narrow leaves that come to life in late spring with short spikes of intense lavender-blue flowers, which are very bright. Tolerating occasional foot traffic, the plant is mowed like a lawn at the end of flowering. Perfect in slightly wild areas of the garden, but also in containers and flower beds. To be grown in shade, partial shade, or mild sun, in moist soil.

The 'Dixie Chip' bugle belongs to the mint family, Lamiaceae.  Its parent Chocolate Chip is a hybrid obtained in Italy through the cross-breeding of the Ajuga reptans, a perennial very common in Europe, also found in Western Asia and Algeria. 'Dixie Chip' is a compact and vigorous variety, with medium-fast growth, forming mounds 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) high and spreading on the ground through stoloniferous stems that root on their own, allowing it to eventually form a minimum 1 m (3ft) diameter carpet. Its winter foliage is composed of small leaves which are very different from more common varieties. They are oval and elongated, shiny, and their diameter does not exceed 1.3 cm (1in). Green in colour, they are margined with cream and pink-purple. Starting in May-June, short spikes 8 cm (3in) tall appear above the foliage, consisting of small flowers, intense lavender-blue. They bloom for over a month.

Ajuga x tenorii 'Dixie Chip' is an excellent groundcover, capable of preventing the growth of weeds. It is so robust that it can be planted in large groups, in low-traffic areas of the garden, or more sporadically in grass meadows where it will flower in spring. Its small size makes this variety suitable for planting between paving stones, along streams, in crevices of walls, or on top of low walls. It is also very useful for preventing erosion on slopes and embankments. Bugles are among the best groundcover plants; they are perfect for dressing the base of trees and bushes, in pots or shaded beds in association with spring bulbs, dead nettles, and fairy flowers (Epimedium). In moist rock gardens, they can be planted next to Acaena 'Blue Haze' or buchananii, Azorella trifurcata 'Nana', lady's mantles, and saxifrages.