The Perennial Plant Association recently named Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' as their 2012 "Perennial Plant of the Year." If you pay attention to this annual plant choice, you will no doubt have noticed that the chosen plant is always something that has been on the market for a number of years, already well-loved and well-used. Once this was the must-have plant, but the group of gardeners who are always looking for what's new (that includes me) has moved on. So Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' can recive this accolade because the early adopters proved it will grow well for a wide audience. And that, I believe, is what really qualifies award status.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' / PPA photo
That said, I will definitely admit that I wouldn't be without Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' in my garden. I grow five Brunnera varieties. The straight species was growing here when we bought the house and I fell in love with its heart-shaped leaves and intense blue forget-me-not type flowers. First I added 'Langtrees' which has light speckles on the leaves. The following year I added 'Jack Frost'. Then I planted 'Looking Glass' in 2005 and 'Hadspen Cream' in 2006.

This picture of Brunnera 'Langtrees" gives you a sense of the flowers and also shows the white speckle pattern on this variety.
The straight species and 'Langtrees' are workhorses; groundcoveres in dry shade that only draw the eye when in flower. 'Looking Glass' and 'Hadspen Cream' want more moisture than they get in my garden, so never look very good once summer commences. 'Jack Frost', on the the other hand, always looks good and performs well. It also self-seeds fairly generously. However, even the tiniest seedling are instantly recognizable by the leaf coloration so they are easily removed. More often than not, I leave them in place and ignore them and then one day notice a huge beautiful clump has developed.

This picture of 'Jack Frost' shows what I mean about how recognizable the leaves are no matter the size.
This is a plant that lights up dark corners of the shade garden and seems to work well with any number of other foliage plants. If you don't already grow Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' this is the year to add it to your garden.

The leaves of Brunnera 'Looking Glass' are almost entirely frosted white except for the veining.