Betonica, Betony, Bishopswort, Lamb's Ear, Lousewort, Wood Betony 'Hummelo'

I wonder if huntniab had the old fashioned "lamb's ear" vs. this variety of stachys. The old lamb's ear could be hard to control but, ex...Read Morecept for the flowers, I would never guess this was a stachys. It is extremely well behaved and beautiful!! I usually associate the stachys plants with silver wooly foliage, but this variety has lush heavily textured, rich, deep green leaves. It makes a perfect 18-inch mound and bears reddish purple flowers over a very long period. The foliage lends a lovely rich green after the flowers are gone and keeps the garden fresh in the late season when everything else is faded and drying. Mine gets full sun in sandy loam soil with a highly nutritious mulch. It quickly filled out into an appreciable size its first year and is fuller than ever right now. I worried about our heavy, long winter rains but it's done just fine. Very little care for a big payoff.

This plant is a real trooper. I got it at a plant swap and was told to plant it in my shade beds under some huge Bradford pear trees. S...Read Morehortly, after planting we had a really bad hail storm that took out one of the trees, and nearly every leaf on every plant in my yard., then record heat and drought conditions for months after that and these little babies just kept on keeping on. They never showed stress and bloomed right on time. In shade!

That was last season. So far this season they've more then doubled in width. I can already divide them to pass on or replant in other areas.

In shade they have stayed much shorter -- about 6- inches tall. I can't wait to see this second season.

I was given some cuttings to plant in new flower beds I made. The Lambs Ear took them over, crowding out my other perinnials after the 1s...Read Moret year. I pulled and dug them but any roots or pieces I missed would sprout. It's been 3 years now and I still have it coming up after trying to clean it all out. It's almost impossible to get rid of sans digging the beds up and replacing all the soil.

I love this little flower/plant! Flowers are long-lasting and the plant has a nice, neat clumping habit. Adds a bright spot to a semi-s...Read Morehaded part of my home... mixed it in with hostas and such ~ it gets filtered morning sun and is very happy! :)