General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, humusy soils with good drainage, but tolerates moderately dry ones. Will grow in full shade, but best foliage color occurs in sunny locations (at least 3-4 hours of sun per day). Provide good air circulation in hot and humid areas where crown rot is a problem. Divide when clumps become overcrowded. This is a fast-growing plant that will rapidly spread in the garden by stolons (reptans means creeping) to form an attractive, low-growing ground cover. Promptly remove any non-variegated leaves that may appear. Plants may be cut back to the ground after flowering to rejuvenate the foliage. Large plantings may be mowed on a high mower setting to remove spent flower spikes and to tidy the appearance of the planting. String trimmers and hedge shears are also helpful for removing spent flower spikes. Space plants 6-9” apart for quick cover. This is a patented sterile plant that will not produce seed.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

‘Toffee Chip’ is a bugleweed cultivar that is most noted for its variegated foliage and dwarf habit. It originated from a meristematic mutation of Ajuga reptans ‘Valfredda’ CHOCOLATE CHIP (see Y710 herein). It is perhaps best grown in mass as a ground cover. Plants typically form a foliage mat to only 2-3” tall of tiny, oval leaves (1/2” across). Leaves emerge in spring with pale tones of khaki and brown (hence the cultivar name), but mature to gray-green with gold to cream margins. Violet blue ajuga flowers appear in spring on leafy spikes rising above the foliage to 6-8” tall. When in full flower, plantings can produce a striking floral display, however this cultivar is primarily grown for its attractive foliage and dwarf size. U. S. Plant Patent PP18,895 was issued on May 13, 2008.