My regular students know that generally I'm not a fan of variegated plants, but occasionally I make an exception or two. Cornus alba is one, as is Polygonatum odoratum. It seems that variegated plants bother me less in the shade. I suppose in those instances, the white foliage brightens up an otherwise dark space.
Brunnera macrophylla just barely fits in that category for me. I don't mind the almost silvery foliage on the rough, scratchy leaves. Though I suspect I'd like it more if it was a solid green. Brunnera is a tough plant, I've seen it do well being ignored in New York. This leads me to a sidenote: Now that I am teaching in DC and NY, I find myself telling the DC students a plant is tough based on my observations of seeing it in a harsh NY environment like a blighted park or a poorly maintained planter. I hit a new low of cheesiness: I told my students, 'If Brunnera can make it in New York, it can make it anywhere.' Yea, it was embarassing.
Anyway, there's a great common name story with this plant. Though most people call it Brunnera another common name for it is bugloss. Naturally you'd think the name refers in some ways to bug. But no, instead it is derivative of the Greek words bous and glossa, which means "cow's tongue." This is referring to the mottled tongue-like appearance of the leaves.
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