This common perennial is so widely grown and cultivated, it seems to be a
native of almost everywhere. Actually, it is native to Northern Turkey, the Southern Caucasus
Mountain region and Southern Iran, where it grows on rocky hills and scrub areas. In other words,
it is a weed, and like so many other weeds we have adopted, it does its own thing. This makes it important to use
it the right way in your garden and not try to make it something it isn't.
Some common names for these plants include woolly betony, woolly hedgenettle and lambs ear.
These low growing perennials produce silver-gray, velvety foliage that is soft and fuzzy, like a
lambs ear. Most children love the fuzzy leaves, and can pull them off and never harm this plant.
In late spring or early summer, the plants send up furry, silver stalks of small lilac pink flowers
on spikes to about 2 feet high. The somewhat fragrant flowers are not very showy, and often removed to maintain
and enhance the foliage effects of the plant, which always looks fresh and cool. Bees love the flowers.
They are a superb foliage plant that reach a height of about 1 foot. The gracefully shaped leaves,
which grow to about 8in, are a woolly and silvery white that is extraordinarily effective in
combination with a wide range of colors from fire-engine red to golden yellow to gentian-blue.
Lamb's Ear forms a soft groundcover and cushion for spring bulbs and summer flowers, and makes
a great combination plant in the perennial garden. The plants can spread moderately quickly, so be
prepared to divide as necessary. They grow outward from the center and can leave a nice bare spot in
the middle. This usually starts happening after they finish blooming.
Trim them back in the spring, and remove old or dead leaves. To keep the plant tidy spent flower
stalks need to be removed. Spreading mulch under the leaves helps prevent the foliage from rotting.
