Ajuga x tenorii Princess Nadia

Original and charming, Ajuga tenorii 'Princess Nadia' is a brand new variety of creeping bugle offering a superb combination of colours. Its vegetation is very compact, its foliage is multi-coloured and changing, and its generous spring flowers, of a very bright royal blue hade, bloom again in late summer. This perennial forms spreading clumps composed of numerous small variegated narrow leaves, which remain decorative in winter. Perfect in slightly wild areas of the garden, but also in pots and containers, this bugle is best grown in shade, partial shade, or gentle sun, in soil that remains moist. A lovely plant that requires no maintenance!

The 'Princess Nadia' bugle, derived from the lovely hybrid variety 'Chocolate Chip', received a Plantarium Award in 2019. This perennial plant belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It has slower growth than its relative, Ajuga reptans, and is never invasive. It is a compact and colourful variety that forms clumps of flowering stems, 20 cm (8in) high.  Plants are composed of small leaves that are very different from more common varieties. They are oval and elongated, shiny, and variegated. The plant produces weakly stoloniferous stems that root themselves, allowing it to eventually form a cushion about 40cm (16in) in diameter. Its young spring leaves are purplish-cream with edges of scarlet pink, then gradually turn almond green bordered with white-cream. This colouring is retained by the foliage during the coldest months. From May-June, short spikes composed of small flowers of intense blue appear just above the foliage at the tip of each stem. They bloom for over a month. This variety often produces a few flower spikes in September.

The Ajuga x tenorii 'Princess Nadia' is planted along borders of beds or paths, between stones in fresh rockeries, in flower beds, or even in pots and containers to adorn the balcony or terrace. Its beautiful colours blend beautifully with the grey of santolines and lavenders, for example, but also with purple foliage (Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea Nana, Physocarpus Little Devil...). Bugles are among the best creeping plants; they are perfect for dressing the base of trees and bushes, in pots or shady beds in association with spring bulbs, Lamium, and fairy flowers (Epimedium). In fresh rockeries, they can be planted next to Acaena 'Blue Haze' or buchananii, Azorella trifurcata 'Nana', lady's mantle, and saxifrages.