Lamb's-ears

Lamb's-ears is a top pick for a groundcover in a hot, baked spot. Its silver felted foliage quickly forms a dense, delightful mat. It also contrasts nicely with other foliage and most flowers. enhances almost everything. Depending on the type and your growing conditions, it may self-sow freely to the point of becoming a bother. In hot humid climates, lamb's ears may "melt down" in summer, becoming brown and limp.

A quite different but related plant, big betony is worth growing for its shade tolerance, dark green crumpled leaves, and bright purple spikes of whorled 1-inch flowers in late spring. Wood betony is similar but not as shade-tolerant.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun

Zones:

4-9

Plant Type:

Perennial

Plant Height:

6-36 inches tall, depending on variety

Plant Width:

12-48 inches wide, depending on variety

Flower Color:

White, pink, purple, violet, or red flowers, depending on variety; gray/silver leaves, depending on variety

Bloom Time:

Blooms mid-spring to mid-fall, depending on variety

Landscape Uses:

Containers,Beds & Borders,Groundcover

Special Features:

Flowers,Attractive Foliage,Cut Flowers,Attracts Hummingbirds,Attracts Butterflies,Drought Tolerant,Deer Resistant,Easy to Grow

Top Varieties

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Big betony

Stachys macrantha bears purple flowers from early summer to fall on 2-foot stems. Zones 5-7
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Lamb's-ears

Stachys byzantina has silvery felted, 6-inch-long leaves that make a soft mat. In early summer, stems bearing cerise-magenta flowers bloom. It grows 18 inches tall and is hardy in Zones 4-8.
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Garden Plans

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Beautiful Blues Garden Plan
Burst of Summer Color Garden Plan
Design for a Moon Garden
Cottage Garden
Summer Cottage Garden Plan
Garden Plan to Soften a Fence
Seaside Problem-Solving Garden Plan
Summer-Blooming Front Yard Cottage Garden Plan
Long-Blooming Rock Garden Plan
Four Gorgeous Bulb and Perennial Gardens
Mailbox Garden
Fabulous Fall-Garden Plan
Late-Season Color Garden Plan
Long-Blooming Rose and Perennial Garden Plan
Waterside Retreat Garden Plan
Low-Water Garden Plan
Deer-Resistant Garden Plan

Plant It With

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Black-eyed Susan

Silver lamb's-ears soften a mass planting of 'Goldsturm' in sunny beds and borders.

Daylily

Cool down the intense deep scarlet trumpet flowers of 'Ruby Stella' with a mat of silvery lamb's ears at its feet. They enjoy similar conditions.

Propagation

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Seed
Division