Brunnera macrophylla ‘King’s Ransom’ on 4-18-12, #87-4.
‘King’s Ransom’ Siberian Bugloss
Brunnera macrophylla ‘King’s Ransom’
BROO-ner-uh mak-roh-FIL-uh
Synonyms of Brunnera macrophylla (5) (Updated on 12-2-22 from Plants of the World Online): Anchusa myosotidiflora Lehm. (1818), Brunnera macrophylla var. glabrescens Guşul. (1923), Brunnera macrophylla var. grandiflora A.DC. (1846), Brunnera myosotidiflora (Lehm.) Steven (1851), Myosotis macrophylla Adams (1805)
Brunnera macrophylla (Adams) I.M.Johnst. is the accepted scientific name for this species of Brunnera. It was named and first described as such by Ivan Murray Johnston in Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University in 1924. It was first named and described as Myosotis macrophylla by Johannes Michael Friedrich Adams in Beiträge zur Naturkunde in 1805. Other contributing authors were Friedrich Weber and Daniel Matthias Heinrich Mohr.
The genus, Brunnera Steven, was named and described by Christian von Steven in Bulletin de la Société Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou (Moscow) in 1851.
As of 12-2-22 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online by Kew still lists only 3 accepted species in the Brunnera genus. It is a member of the plant family Boraginaceae with 158 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO.
I bought my ‘King’s Ransom’ Brunnera on April 18, 2012, at Lowe’s in Greenville, Mississippi while living at the mansion in Leland. It wasn’t in very good condition and I probably bought it from the discount rack. It has been over 5 years since I bought it until when I am writing this page on December 18, 2017. I had never grown an Italian Bugloss but they were on my wishlist so I bought it.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Family: Boraginaceae
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Origin: North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Turkey
Zones: USDA Zones 3a-8b (-40 to 15° F)
Size: 5-12” tall x 12-18” wide
Light: Part-shade
Soil: Average, well-drained soil kept consistently moist
Water: Medium
Flowers: April-May
Information online says they prefer an average, well-drained soil in part shade. Well, I had that. I planted it under the Crape Myrtle in the bed behind the den with the Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chips and Hosta. Brunnera species typically do not like dry soil, but this cultivar is supposed to tolerate it better than most. They like their soil consistently moist which I could do easily enough.
BUT they also prefer cool summers and do not perform well in the heat and humidity of the “deep south”. Well, I didn’t know that at the time and that is likely what eventually caused my Brunnera to expire. There were a number of times I felt the same way.
If you live in a hotter humid climate, this plant is not for you. Since I am now in Missouri, in a more suitable climate for the Brunnera, maybe someday I will try one here. We shall see.
I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. If you notice I made an error, please let me know.
The Belmont Rooster 