Brunnera macrophylla Green Gold - Siberian Bugloss

Brunnera macrophylla 'Green Gold', also known as Great Forget-me-not, is a new variety with truly luminous foliage, making it a real gem for shaded areas of the garden. Its lime-green foliage with golden hues remains attractive from spring until the frosts come, and is covered for two to three months with clusters of blue flowers, as delicate as forget-me-nots.  The display is a very beautiful combination of complementary colours. It is a deciduous perennial groundcover, easy to grow and as long as the soil is not too dry in summer. It spreads slowly but surely, and naturalises easily in woodland areas.

Brunnera macrophylla, also known as Siberian Bugloss, is a perennial belonging to the Boraginaceae family, just like forget-me-nots and common borage. It grows in forests in Eastern Europe and Northwestern Asia, in humus-rich soils. It is cultivated for its delicate flowers reminiscent of forget-me-nots and its ground-cover habit that forms a thick mat of deciduous foliage.

The 'Green Gold' variety stands out for the magnificent colour of its foliage, a bright pale green with wide yellow markings, with excellent resistance even in slightly dry shade. In April-May, numerous small blue flowers appear on frail peduncles on stems reaching a height of 20 cm (8in), and are gathered in panicles (conical clusters). If the first flowers are removed when they fade, there may be a second bloom in autumn. At maturity, this brunnera will reach 30 cm (12in) in height when in flower and 30-40 cm (12-16in) in width. The foliage forms a generous mound of heart-shaped, slightly hairy leaves, with a final size of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6in) in length. The clumps spread very slowly through their rhizomatous roots and self-seed quite easily, but these are not always true to the parent plant.

Fairly hardy, to -12°C (10.4°F), the 'Green Gold' Siberian forget-me-not is a delightful worry-free groundcover, to be planted under deciduous trees and bushes. Its foliage brightens up shaded areas in an exceptional way, and is very decorative in pots and shaded containers. It is also a good border plant that works wonders in wild gardens or fairly loose perennial beds; dead nettles, hostas, coral bells, bleeding hearts, spurge, or columbines. It pairs well with spring-flowering bulbs, especially tulips, in semi-shade of course.