Brunnera macrophylla Jacks Gold - Siberian Bugloss

Brunnera macrophylla Jack's Gold, awarded at the Plantarium in 2019, is a new variety of Great Forget-me-not that is extremely bright and perfect for enlivening the slightly cool and shady areas of the garden. Its delicately veined foliage, marbled with golden tones that gradually turn silver, creates an elegant carpet with almost metallic hues. The foliage is adorned for two to three months with tiny sky blue flowers, as light as those of forget-me-nots. It is an easy-to-grow perennial with no other requirement than a soil that is not too dry in summer. It is also superb in containers in summer compositions.

Brunnera macrophylla, also known as Siberian Bugloss or Great-leaved Brunnera, is a perennial belonging to the Boraginaceae family, just like forget-me-nots and common borage. It grows in forests in Eastern Europe and Northwestern Asia, in humus-rich soils. It is cultivated for its delicate flowers that resemble forget-me-nots and its groundcover habit that forms a thick carpet of deciduous foliage.

The 'Jack's Gold' variety is the result of a seedling from the famous Brunnera Jack's Frost, known for its remarkable foliage.  Jack's Gold differs from its parent primarily in the golden tones that adorn its young foliage. The plant forms a generous mound of heart-shaped, slightly hairy leaves, with a final length of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6in). The leaves, with their silver-grey-white colour, are strongly tinted with yellow and yellow-green along the veins, then the yellow fades and the silver dominates on the leaves. In April-May, numerous very blue small flowers appear on delicate peduncles on stems that are 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) tall, and are gathered in paniculate clusters (conical-shaped clusters). If care is taken to remove this first flowering when it fades, there may be a second bloom in autumn. At maturity, this brunnera will spread to about 50cm (20in) in width. The clumps spread very slowly by their rhizomatous roots and can also self-seed quite easily, although new plants are not always true to the parent plant.

Fairly hardy, to -15°C (5°F), Great Forget-me-not 'Jack's Gold' is a lovely groundcover, which can be planted under deciduous trees and shrubs. Its foliage, as well as its flowers, brighten up shady areas in an exceptional way and are very decorative in shaded pots and containers. It is also a good border plant that works wonders in wild gardens or in informal perennial beds with plants such as dead nettles, hellebores, heucheras, lungworts, bugleweeds, or columbines. It pairs perfectly with spring-flowering bulbs, especially with tulips, in partial shade.