Plant Encyclopedia

Other Names:  Siberian Bugloss, Heartleaf Brunnera

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

Outstanding, large heart shaped leaves have narrow dark green veins, with pronounced silver overlays; clusters of tiny blue flowers in spring; best in moist, rich, well drained soil

Ornamental Features

Queen of Hearts Bugloss features airy cymes of sky blue flowers with white eyes at the ends of the stems from mid to late spring. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive heart-shaped leaves emerge light green in spring, turning silver in color with distinctive dark green veins throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Queen of Hearts Bugloss is an herbaceous perennial with a mounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Queen of Hearts Bugloss is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Queen of Hearts Bugloss will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity extending to 30 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 3 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 30 inches apart. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. 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.

Queen of Hearts Bugloss is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.