As it happens I bought “Mahogany” back in 2014. I am very pleased with it thus far. It is vigorous, and a good spreader: what you want in a groundcover. It bloomed better in 2015, when we had had good snow cover. Last winter we did not in the area where it is planted. This spring it looked rather desiccated or sunburned brown. It did sprout new purple leaves and start looking pretty good by spring, but that seemed to have affected its blooming. The flower IS blue, but not a deep dark shade. Its leaf color as a groundcover is more important to me than how well it blooms, however. It’s done so well that we are pulling it out at the edges and transferring some to a new area. That new area is full shade, and yet it still grows, and is still the deep purple-brown color. I highly recommend it. FWIW, I wanted a plant that was tough enough to walk on, when I have to maintain my gardens and drag the hose across. This plant handles it well. Only starting to suffer when I have putting a great deal of wear on it... but it does snap back the next day or so. Greenhearted, give Mahogany a try! The leaves are not as dark as the Black Scallop I saw in the nursery. But the vigor is great.

Ikz5ia, Thx for the other variety recommendations. These came to me as a free gift. And they were so pretty! Yes all parts above teh soil are brown on castillion and teh original culm has lost all it's variagated color as well. kudzu9, Potted up fall of 2005. So I don't think pot bound. I'm a bit of an over waterer but I've tried to use restraint. I don't think they got too dry. My alocasia is not too dry an it's more of a heavy drinker. My GBOP doesn't need a lot of water and is happy and not too wet. The bamboo has been in a south window for most of the winter. I recently moved it to a west window. It actually shares a pot with the black bamboo so the conditions are exactly the same. But one is thriving and having a growth spurt and not the other. Thx for the info so far. If you think of anything else LMK Karen

Sounds encouraging. I'd read some mixed reports on the effectiveness of 2,4-D (alone) against Ajuga, but (possibly) better results with a 3-way product, which Killex is (2,4-D, Mecoprop-P, Dicamba) http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lawns/msg0918365630041.html http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=276043 So, it will be interesting to see your results. Yes, you are right Killex is available (at Canadian Tire), but only in British Columbia, Alberta & Manitoba. You are in BC, right? I'm in QC...sigh. Kind of farcical really, this provincial herbicide 'ban', when commercial lawn care companies can readily get the stuff (and political parties also). At least a third of the residents on my estate have their lawns sprayed....whether they really need it or not. I reckon the previous owner of my house was one and that chemical-dependency was at least part of the reason for my lawn problems....all those dormant seeds. That's my excuse anyway. Anyhow, I'll persist with the Roundup (no other choice now). Whilst slow (it's been about 2 1/2 weeks) it does appear to be working. Probably would have been quicker if I'd sprayed affected areas, rather than leaf-painted, from the start. Seems kind of counter-intuitive to water the weeds, but keeping the treated areas moist definitely helps. So, at the current rate of progress I'm still hoping that I'll be able to over-seed by mid-September. The thing that concerns me though is the sheer number and variety of weeds that are still coming up. Sure, the best natural weed-defense is a thick turf, but I'm beginning to think that I really do need to tackle at least the perennial broad-leafs, and if possible the dense carpets of crabgrass, which are now starting to turn to seed. The white clover that is taking over some areas I can live with. In fact I'm not averse to the idea of a mixed grass-clover lawn, though I can't speak for the neighbors. But the black medic (yellow trefoil) that is prevalent on my front lawn is less desirable. As someone commented on another forum - organic living is all well and good but sometimes you need a prescription from the doctor. I have inquired whether one the lawn-care firms (the one that acknowledged they use herbicides) might do a one-off spray, but they are only interested in offering a 'full year' maintenance plan. There's no way I could manually pull all of this stuff, as adept as I am with a Weed-Hound, and a lot of it is now partially obscured by crabgrass and clover/black medic. So, I guess I could try the available iron-based Weed-B-Gon, several neighbors look like they are having some success, at least with spot sprayed dandelions, but I think I'd need a bit more than spot treatment. Or else see if I can get hold of some Killex (might come back you). The big question then is how much treatment at this stage would put back fall over-seeding (killing time plus soil residual to consider). Don't really want to wait until Spring, as I'd like to try and get an early start with a pre-emergent then. What to do? This post was edited by WorBry on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 14:11

alleged drought resistance is on an established plant ... all recent transplants must be watered heavily and deeply until establishment ... second ITS NEARLY AUGUST ... maybe discounted plants should be left potted in the shade UNTIL PROPER PLANTING TIME IN September.. when the days are shorter.. the nights are longer ... oh the days dwindle down.. to a precious few.. September... oh... where have all the hogie Carmichael's gone .. anyway i digress..... lol .. here is the words running through my head: Oh, its a long, long while from May to December, But the days grow short when you reach September. When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame one hasn't got time for the waiting game. Oh the days dwindle down to a precious few September November And these few precious days I'll spend with you. These precious days I'll spend with you. --- and i see it wasn't Carmichael.. its on willie nelsons stardust.. but i am seriously digressing.. i wish this typewriter had a delete button .... rotf ... anyway ... what tree is it under .. you know my thoughts on maples ... how dry was the soil when you planted it.. how hot has it been since you ripped it from the pot ... how many roots did you cut through before you got a hole big enough for it .... etc ... sorry about the perennial forum .... lol ... good luck .. water the bee gee bees out of them .... ken