Sorry, Ann. I have no advice.

My Ajuga does beautifully here in East Central MN. Maybe try another cultivar and see if it does any better.

I think I have "Burgundy Glow" and "Chocolate Chip". Maybe look for one of those. Your winter can't be much worse than ours, so maybe they'll do better for you.

Good luck!

Linda

I planted it last year. This spring I thought they had all winter-killed. Turns out they are the latest plants up, ever, for me. I still had plants just sprouting way into July. Not good for me as I was hoping for erosion control on a slope. This slope had plenty of snow cover, but was very slow to warm up. Perhaps the variety has something to do with it, perhaps it is borderline hardy, perhaps its soil pH/type thing. I am going to try something else. What, I don't know.

Ajuga should not be late sprouters.

I am not sure why your ajuga don't make it in ND, but if they don't get snow cover, one thing they don't like, even while dormant is complete freeze drying (I am talking about the whole plant, not just the leaves that are often evergreen into early spring). Ajuga is quite pH adaptable, so if any other plants grow there, pH wouldn't be a problem.

Freeze-drying could definitely be my problem. We did not have snow cover in November and it was very cold then. I think it had been fairly dry prior to that, too. That, and a well-drained slope, could very well be the problem. As far as ajuga in North Dakota, was snow cover consistent last year?

I've had the ajuga in several locations with varying amounts of snow cover and I've also tried several varieties - Bronze Beauty and Chocolate Chip for sure, maybe others. As I said, it grew well at my previous house, so I'm completely flummoxed as to why I can't get it to grow here. I may have to sneak back to that house in the middle of the night and take a digging :)

Thanks, I will keep trying other varieties.