Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Spring Growth - April 2026

The groundcover that caused me to 'fall' for groundcover was Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.  Over the years, I've planted small plugs in various spots all around our garden.  But, the very first place I planted it is the island bed that lies between our driveway and our front stoop.  I've added additional plugs in that bed in subsequent years including last year when I split a six-pack between this bed and the front (sidewalk) island bed. 

Some Winters are tougher than others on this groundcover, but it seems that this year we have some good news:  I'm seeing new, curly growth on the Ajuga in the driveway island bed.  below are a couple of photos showing the current state of this bed:

And, the other three (of the six-pack I mentioned above) are planted down along the sidewalk in *that* island bed.  These went in the ground in mid-August and that appears to have done the trick in terms of giving them enough time to establish themselves before dormancy.  Note:  I've tried planting Ajuga plugs as part of my "Fall Planting" program in October and those seem to not come back the following Spring.  

Here, below, is a photo showing the three clumps showing new growth.  

I'm thinking that I need to add more of these along the edges of this bed this year - that's #20 on my 2026 to-do list:  keep going on groundcover.  The sidewalk edge is always 'hard to grow' for me, so finding something that can serve as 'living mulch' while handling a little bit of traffic solves two problems.