Common Name: Siberian bugloss
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Boraginaceae
Zone: 3 to 7
Height: 0.75 to 1.50 feet
Spread: 0.75 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Blue
Sun: Part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Good Cut
Leaf: Colorful
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Heavy Shade, Erosion, Dry Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in part shade. Prefers consistently moist, organically rich soils in shady areas. Generally intolerant of dry soils, but tolerates some dryness better than most other cultivars of this species. Foliage may scorch in hot summer sun. Plants prefer cool summers, and generally will not perform well in the hot and humid summer conditions of the deep South (USDA Zones 7-9). Clumps slowly spread by creeping rhizomes to form thick ground covers. Although plants may self-seed in the garden, plants with variegated foliage do not come true from seed (leaves often appear solid green).
Noteworthy Characteristics
Brunnera is a small genus of plants consisting of three species native to southwestern Asia. Brunnera macrophylla, commonly called Siberian bugloss, is the only species that is popularly cultivated as a garden plant, with most Brunnera cultivars on the market today being derived from this species. Cultivars are noted for producing attractive often variegated basal foliage, tiny blue flowers in spring and an ability to thrive in shady conditions as a ground cover or accent.
Genus name honors Swiss botanist Samuel Brunner (1790-1844).
‘Silver Charm’ is a compact cultivar with a low-mounding habit that features rough-textured, heart-shaped, basal leaves which are variegated with silver. Each leaf is heavily mottled with silver flecking which is highlighted by contrasting showy emerald green veins plus a narrow green edge. This cultivar typically grows to 12” tall with a spread to 24” wide. Tiny, starry, forget-me-not-like blue flowers in airy, branched, paniculate cymes rise slightly above the foliage clump on slender stems to 14” tall in April-May. Leaves form a spreading hosta-like foliage mound that remains attractive throughout the growing season. Much smaller stem leaves are elliptic and nearly sessile.
U.S. Plant Patent Applied For (PPAF).
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails are occasional visitors.
Uses
Specimen, groups or mass as a ground cover. Shaded areas of borders, woodland gardens, naturalized areas or along streams or ponds. Containers.