Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Carpet Bugle

Group/Class:  Feathered Friends Series

Description:

A stunning hardy variety, featuring large, brilliant gold foliage in the spring and summer, topped with contrasting cobalt-blue flowers; excellent when used in containers, as a groundcover, or in border fronts; tolerates any soil with good drainage

Ornamental Features

Feathered Friends™ Tropical Toucan Bugleweed features dainty spikes of royal blue flowers with violet overtones rising above the foliage from late spring to early summer, which emerge from distinctive silver flower buds. Its attractive large oval leaves emerge green in spring, turning gold in colour with showy brick red variegation and tinges of chartreuse the rest of the year.

Landscape Attributes

Feathered Friends™ Tropical Toucan Bugleweed is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spreading

Feathered Friends™ Tropical Toucan Bugleweed is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Feathered Friends™ Tropical Toucan Bugleweed will grow to be only 4 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Feathered Friends™ Tropical Toucan Bugleweed is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.