Guest post: Lamb's Ear
Today's guest post is from Andrea, a colleague at The Sun and, if this post is any indication, an experienced gardener.
Many people think of lamb’s ear, the fuzzy silver-leafed perennial that grows a few inches tall, as a weed.
But reconsider: It’s drought-tolerant, deer-resistant
thrives with benign neglect, adds color and texture, beckons kids to pet it without getting pricked by thorns and is attractive to bees and butterflies.
A thick mat of the short, woolly leaves can help soften the harsh lines at the edge of a walkway. And the plants can be especially helpful if you’re trying to hang onto the soil on a slope or if you’re looking for easy-care ground cover.
Though they’re not too picky about soil quality, they like soil that drains well.
I’ve got a small slope. The lamb’s ear has kept the poor-quality dirt there from eroding while brightening the ground near redbud trees and stepping stones.
In our climate, a little shade is beneficial for these ears. Too much shade makes the plants gangly and encourages diseases that turn the leaves brown and hideous. The texture of the dense foliage traps water, so too much humidity and rain also makes for unhappy ears. The plant can’t take a consistently wet site. The foliage grows best when the ground is moist but the ears are not; if you must water, do so in the morning so the foliage can dry in the sun.
The plant spreads two ways: by self-seeding and through root spread. In our climate, it is not invasive the way, say, mint is. It can be kept in check easily. Mine has shown self-control, probably because the soil beyond its bed is uninviting clay.
Consider putting it in a container, or growing it in a location where it’s easy to pull out unwanted sprouts, or planting it in an area with natural boundaries, or cutting off the flower spikes. It’s best in its own bed or a distinct section of a flower bed because of the dense growth.
If you’re looking to start plants from seed, now’s a perfect time to start. The flower spikes will soon set seed.
Many gardeners cut off the spikes before they flower for two reasons: First, the beauty is in the leaves. Second, no flowers means no self-seeding.
Photo credit: Nancy Robson
But if you want to start seeds, convince a friend to let some spikes grow and flower. Get out your plant trays – used ones from this year’s annuals are fine – and spoon in potting mix. Then, after the pinkish-purple or yellow flowers have finished flowering and start to dry – the stage many are nearing now – take a peek where the flowers were. You’ll see dark seeds.
Snip off a spike or two. You can collect the seeds on a cloth and sprinkle some into the plant cells. Or try this easy way:
Measure or guestimate the width of the top of each cell.
Cut the spikes from the plant.
Snip each spike into sections no longer than the cell width. Really, an inch or two is fine.
Lay each little section on the dirt in a cell, then gently press it in so it won’t move.
Wet it. Keep it in an area where it won’t dry out and will get a half-day of sun. Last year, my tray sat in a corner of the vegetable garden.
Then, ignore it. By Labor Day, you’ll see small lamb’s ear plants that are greenish.
I suppose you could transplant them in the fall. But wait until next spring when they’ll be easier to handle. Leave them outside where they will get sun and moisture over the winter, and they will return in the spring.
The other way to propagate it to divide a clump’s root mass, a project best done in spring or fall. The plant can tolerate even an inartful technique – you can hack off a piece with some roots and replant it.
Comments
Thank you. Now I see that my lambs ears which became gangly and brown spotted were not suited to my shaded wetland habitat. I no longer feel so inept because they died. Very helpful information.
Posted by: Reggie | July 18, 2009 3:39 PM
Up close Lamb's Ear can look shabby, but in a larger garden, where you are trying for a variety of foliage color to be viewed from a distance, it can be a great element. I find it works well on a difficult bank in sweeps of about 2 X 4 feet.,
Posted by: Bev Jones | July 18, 2009 4:10 PM
I planted the larger lambs ears last spring and now have a plentiful supply to transplant to other beds. In zone 6-Tennessee, they seem to thrive if planted in early October as well.
I have the variety that doesn't send up the stalks...wonderful ground cover...like velvet.--Susan
Posted by: Cher Boisvert-Tanley | October 19, 2009 10:26 AM
I love Lamb's Ears. Our variety is an old-fashioned one with smaller leaves that came from my mother-in-law's garden many years ago. It self-seeds and relocates from shadier areas to sunnier ones. It is definitely a plant with a mind of its own! The flower spikes can be used in mixed bouquets and they can also be dried. My goal is to achieve total ground cover to eliminate weeds, and Lamb's Ears are a valuable part of that strategy.
Posted by: Dahlink | October 21, 2009 5:14 PM