Common Name: ajania
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Japan
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: October
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Ground Cover
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Colorful
Culture
Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Some afternoon shade is beneficial in hot summer climates. Plants generally tolerate poor soils as long as drainage is good. Wet soils in winter can be fatal. Plants may appreciate winter protection in USDA Zone 5. Taller stems may be pinched back in early summer to promote plant vigor and lower plant height.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Ajania pacifica, sometimes commonly called gold and silver chrysanthemum, is native to central and eastern Asia. It is a mound-forming, rhizomatous perennial that is noted for its attractive variegated foliage in spring and summer. It typically forms a dense foliage mound to 18-24” tall that spreads over time by rhizomes to as much as 36” wide. During much of the growing season, this plant serves as an excellent ground cover featuring lobed, ovate, silver-margined leaves (to 2” long). Undersides of the leaves are also silvery. Some gardeners grow this plant primarily for its foliage. Autumn bloom features numerous small, button-like, yellow flowers that appear in corymbs. Flowers are not as showy as florists’ chrysanthemums. Synonymous with Chrysanthemum pacificum and Dendranthema pacificum.
Specific epithet means of the Pacific Ocean.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Rock gardens, border foregrounds. Attractive ground cover. May be grown in containers.