Re: ballota
- To: M*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: ballota
- From: "* F* D* <s*@nr.infi.net>
- Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 01:58:26 -0400 (EDT)
At 08:04 PM 4/5/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>Here's my question about ballota. I was given this plant five years ago by
>a friend who picked it up at a plant sale. The tag said "Ballota, from
>Crete." I'd like to know which species I had -- unfortunately, my ballota
>died due to poor drainage and I'd like to find new ones for my new
>mediterranean beds (which will have excellent drainage). It might be (have
>been) Ballota psuedodictimis (spelling?), but I haven't been able to find
>pictures or a good description of this plant. I've seen pictures of Ballota
>acetabulosa, and mine doesn't have long stems with the flowering calyxes
>rising away from the base, rather, the plant remains a tidy mound, 40cm x
>70cm, with the round calyxes blooming close to the bush. It has soft gray
>leaves like lamb's ears (stachys), which are round rather than heart-shaped.
>Basically, it looks like a furry artemesia "powis castle." Would anyone
>know of a source?
>
>Deb Ferber
>Seattle, Washington, USA
>zone 8
>
>P.S. I've seen a "Bollata nigra" at a local nursery, and the leaves have
>the same shape and furriness, but are much larger! Could this be a cultural
>variation? This is all a mysery to me.
>
Ballota acetabulosa - Greece & Crete - gray-green woolier version of below,
gets 2 feet tall in Greensboro, reliably hardy. It is tolerant of Houston
heat and humidity. Calyxes have a flared (hypocrateriform - a narrow tube
with flat limbs at about a right angle), more or less scalloped lip, like
Moluccella laevis
Ballota psuedodictamnus - Greece & Crete - smaller version of above, tidier
habit, more like dittany of Crete, with a funnel-shaped calyx
(infundibuliform). Not as hardy, requires more Mediterranean conditions
Ballota nigra - Greece, Crete, & most of Europe (southern) - Green foliage,
pink flowers; distinctly different from both. There are six subspecies,
varying in their hairs.
There are seven Ballotas in Europe. Moluccella is a closely related genus.
Try a good herb garden like Logee's, Companion Plants, or Sandy Mush.
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery 828-683-2014
316 Surret Cove Road
Leicester, NC 28748
Fairman & Kate Jayne
E-mail: sandymushherbs@mindspring.com
Logee's Greenhouses 860-774-8038
55 North St.
Danielson, CT 06239 888-330-8038
Joy & Byron Martin; Richard Logee
fax: 888-774-9932
E-mail: logee-info@logees.com
Companion Plants 740-592-4643
7247 N. Coolville Ridge Road
Athens, OH 45701
Peter Bortchelt
E-mail: complants@frognet.net
Well-Sweep Herb Farm 908-852-5390
317 Mt. Bethel Road
Port Murray, NJ 07865
Cy & Louise Hyde
Richard F. Dufresne
313 Spur Road
Greensboro, NC 27406
336-674-3105
