The Alexandria Brunnera, otherwise known as the Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ or Siberian Bugloss ‘Diane’s Gold’, Hearleaf Brunnera ‘Diane’s Gold’, False Forget-Me-Not ‘Diane’s Gold’, Brunnera ‘Diane’s Gold’, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its silver-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Alexandria Brunnera Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Alexandria Brunnera can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Alexandria Brunnera grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
- Light: Keep your Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ in an environment where it can receive full to partial shade on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Alexandria Brunnera in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Alexandria Brunnera will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Alexandria Brunnera belongs to the Boraginaceae family, the genus Brunnera and the species Macrophylla, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ (BROO-nair-uh).
As with other Brunnera’s, the Alexandria Brunnera is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Alexandria Brunnera is a plant native to the Eastern Mediteranean and Turkey to Caucasus.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Alexandria Brunnera. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 7 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 3a, 3b, 4b, 4a, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7a, 7b, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Alexandria Brunnera is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Alexandria Brunnera? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ can grow up to 1′ (30cm) in 1′ (30cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Alexandria Brunnera a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ (60cm) free so the Alexandria Brunnera can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Alexandria Brunnera is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Alexandria Brunnera in soil with moist but well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Alexandria Brunnera then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Alexandria Brunnera needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Alexandria Brunnera prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Alexandria Brunnera requires soil with high organic matter, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Alexandria Brunnera requires full to partial shade in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in partial sun to shade, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Alexandria Brunnera will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (mid, late), and during the summer (early, mid, late).
Flowers
You can expect your Alexandria Brunnera to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Alexandria Brunnera produces some beautiful blue, or blue flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Alexandria Brunnera have a beautiful silver-green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement in its leaves.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Alexandria Brunnera is well known for its tolerance to animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Alexandria Brunnera have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Brunnera ‘Alexandria’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Alexandria Brunnera’s best location within your garden is in ground covers, banks and slopes, ponds and streams, beds and borders, patio and containers, and in underplanting roses and shrubs, others use it for landscaping in a container, accent, very wet areas, border, ground cover, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Alexandria Brunnera’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Heuchera, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Pulmonaria will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Alexandria Brunnera, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
