General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade. Intolerant of dry soils. Prefers consistently moist, organically rich soils in shady areas. Tolerant of some light morning sun, but variegated leaf edges will often scorch if foliage is exposed to direct afternoon sun. Plants may be cut back to the ground in summer if foliage declines significantly. Species plants freely self-seed in the garden in optimum conditions, but ‘Hadspen Cream’ seedlings may need to be removed because this cultivar generally does not come true from seed. May be propagated by root cuttings or division.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Siberian bugloss is a rhizomatous perennial that is typically grown in shady areas as a ground cover. It features large, heart-shaped leaves (macrophylla meaning large-leaved) in spreading basal clumps and tiny, forget-me-not-like, blue spring flowers in racemes on slender stems rising well above the foliage to 18” tall. Clumps slowly spread to form thick ground covers. ‘Hadspen Cream’ produces light blue flowers in April-May and large, light apple-green leaves (to 8” long) with irregular creamy white margins. Well-maintained plants provide attractive variegated foliage for shady areas throughout the growing season. Genus name honors 19th century Swiss botanist C. Brunner. Bugloss comes from Greek meaning ox tongue in probably reference to the roughness and shape of the leaves. Species is synonymous with Anchusa myosotidiflora.