There are few plants that completely change their personality, that surprise you in their new dress. I first bought this plant at Bakewell Market and it cost me nearly £10.00. The cost of plants has shocked me in recent years. I loved its frosted leaves and knew it liked to be planted in a shaded spot. I put it against a wall and it hardly received a sunbeam over the year. It flourished and then, an herbaceous plant, died back over winter. I thought little more about it, having planted hundreds of new plants in my garden. The following spring up came a mass of small blue flowers and I initally thought these were forget-me-nots. However, the Brunnera was up earlier than those plants. Brunnera Jack Frost is altogether another plant in springtime.

Flower power

It took me a while, as a so called experienced gardener, to realise this was Brunnera in its new guise. It puts up a mass of sparkling blue flowers even though it is growing in the shade. Forget-me-nots much prefer a sunny position and are a lighter blue. The Brunnera, at this stage, have very small leaves and not like those on the mature plant I bought. Sure enough, the flowers die and you remove them. Then, the leaves expand with their frosty appearance and the plant looks right once again. As a gardener you have to be ready for these changed appearances.

Brunnera Jack Frost

I love this plant and it rewards me. It sets seed and I now have a little patch of miniature seedlings, perhaps 20 of them. I can transplant these into shady spots between other plants and they love it. Okay, so these die back over winter but you cannot have everything. It just means you always have something seeding, growing and flowering in the garden, at least for bees. That is the secret, a mass of opportunities all over your patch. Sometimes, I am amazed at my ignorance. I have gardened for 68 years and only met this plant recently. Where the hell have I been?