Re: Stachys lanata/Lambs Ear



Ca613 wrote:

> Can anyone tell me a little bit about a plant called Lamb's ears.
> My friend just gave me cutting out of her yard. I tried to find some
> info online, but the plant was listed a a perennial and on another
> list as a weed.
> Carolann
> Zone 6
>

Hi Carolann,

The taxonomists have also been at this plant.  Now called Stachys
byzantina, (was Stachys lanata and Stachys olympica in recent years),
Lamb's Ears is a wonderful, furry leaved plant.  although it trucks
through a garden quite quickly, it can always be pulled up where you
don't want it.  I use it in my own garden as a border around a circular
herb garden.  I allow it to flower, then cut it right back so it never
gets sloppy looking -- Sometimes high heat an humidity can make it look
pretty sad.
There are varieties with very large leaves, such as S. byzantina 'Helen
von Stein', which has enormous ears, and does better in  high
temperatures, ther's S. byzantina 'Primrose Heron', which has chartreuse
foliage (mine has never flowered), and S. byzantina 'Silver Carpet',
which doesn't flower at all.


I don't consider it a weed --

--
Rika                    Willow Pond Nursery
http://www.willowpondnursery.com
Long Island, NY
Zone 7a
mail to:  rika@willowpondnursery.com


Editor:  Northeast Gardening
http://www.suite101.com/topics/page.cfm/848
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http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/gardening.html


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