Searching for a bold toughie to beautify that problem area in your garden? Trachystemon orientalis may be your answer. Whether the spot is sunny or shady, dry or moist, or over rough terrain, this Borage family member will rapidly fill it in with a thick, weed-smothering cover of handsome, coarse-looking dark green leaves—hirsute, immense, many up to a foot long, and heart-shaped—attached to long petioles. Announcing winter’s end, starry, white-throated blue flowers carried on branched hairy pink stems are reminiscent of Dodecatheon blooms and make their appearance before the wavy-edged foliage bursts forth in midspring. Its native haunts include Bulgaria and northern Turkey, and here in our garden it creates a dynamic array of foliar colors and textures when intermingled with Tanacetum ‘Isla Gold’

Blooms March

Size: 18" high x 2' 0" & spreading wide.

Hardy to zone 6.