I have some Lamb's Ear that I got in a trade. I have it currently in a pot and love it. It has multiplied, but isn't taking over the pot (only been in there about 6 months or so). My question is, has anyone put theirs in the ground around here? I am thinking that it might be good in the front border of my beds. A month or so again, I put in Dusty Miller, but have read that it will only be an annual for me. I really like the colored foliage mixed in with everything else, so I thought I could put in Lamb's Ear and pretty much get the same effect.
I have read the comments on the plant files. I am very cautious about putting in plants that have ever had the words "invasive" and "hard to get rid of" associated with it, but sometimes that is only in certain areas.
So anyone have any experiences that they can share?
Lamb's Ear
I'm near Dallas, & my lamb's ear is great!
Yes, it spreads, but it's easy to pull out, and it's "eversilver".
I'm becoming more & more fond of "ever" plants:
evergreen, eversilver, ever-red...
Lamb's ear goes dormant & "melts" in our August heat, & I know yours is even worse, so I would put it maybe on the northeast side of deciduous trees in the Houston area.
Best luck!
Thanks, that is what I was hoping to hear. When it starts looking bad, do you just cut off those leaves? The one I have now did great in the summer with mostly sun, but not all day.
I am liking the "ever" plants also. I love the revival of color in annuals, but they are so time consuming putting things in and pulling them out. Hoping to just find plants that bloom at different times of the year and foliage plants, so I can spend more time enjoying my beds and less times re-doing them. (Not that I will "ever" be finished of course).
shuggins,
I have been very pleased with my lamb's ear, haven't found it to be invasive. As texasgreen said, it's easy to limit the spread if it goes further than you want. Of course, it should be in a raised bed (as just about everything down here should be.) I can't walk past mine without feeling those sweet little ears! (Seems I fondle my garden a lot, lol. I just love the textures of plants!)
This isn't a great picture, but will give you an idea of it in a bed. This started out as three 4" pots, and has done just what I wanted it to do. I'll be happy if it spreads still a little more. (picture taken in June '05.)
Well, I guess one *should* cut off the melted, rotten, nasty, ugly, depressing leaves....
and really I do, if I get around to it.
If I "get around to it" this autumn/winter/spring, I'm going to move the ones that are in full sun in a dry, rocky area, & put them in a more hospitable location.
I think that's the real solution to the summer dormancy.
texas, mine get those ugly leaves, too, I just generally pull them off when they do come. This bed does give them a little break from the afternoon sun, that probably helps. They still do like it on the dry side, though. That rose bed has drip irrigation, drips almost exclusively for the roses. Most everything else in the bed likes it dry, I just give them occassional sprinkles. I forgot to turn the water off once, the drip system was on for over 24 hrs! The whole bed was soaked, and over night the lambs ears and the creeping thyme went south. They're coming back, but I'm buying a timer!
:-)
Maggie I got a timer last summer and it is the best thing, But I havent shut it off yet, actually I dont know how. I got to find that manual! I had Lambs Ears in a pot once, but they do a lot better in the ground. Maggie how do yours stand up? mine 's lay down....oh well. lol
Sylvia
Sylvia! Good to talk to you! Mine stay pretty good looking, pretty upright. When you say that yours lay down, do you mean they droop? Or they just grow low?
I have had my ears for 3 years. They keep coming back and are not invasive. If you do not want them to be in a certain place just pull them up.
ok, better late than never! I love lambs ears and have tried several varieties. This year the slim leafed one almost made it thru the summer, but "melted" when it was so very dry...do you know what causes that?
I have another that is a much wider leaf...which has held up much better. They both come back and therefore are favorites!
The variety I have are wide and didn't get as much water as my other plants and survived. They really get little attention.
I just walked around my yard and the freeze has not killed the lamb ears. We have had a low of 19.
My front yard has been terribly, horribly, awfully neglected the last two years, as I really got to go ahead with my back yard. I was looking around yesterday, and found I still have lambs ear doing just fine. We've had all this cold weather, and that bed is very exposed and north facing.
I was hurrying to get some work done in one of the beds in my back yard Friday afternoon, and thought I should mention a plant I like that reminds me of lambs ear. It's Phlomis fruticosa, Jerusalem Sage http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/519/index.html . The leaf shapes are very like the lambs ears (although the picture in PlantFiles doesn't look like it), the leaves are silver/grey, and slightly fuzzy. They are mostly grown for their foliage, like lambs ears, but they do have a striking - kind of strange looking - yellow bloom. I have just been cutting them back to keep mine from blooming, but this next year I'm going to let it bloom. Someone in the PlantFiles described the blooms as looking like Dr Suess trees. It is also evergreen (evergrey).
The lamb's ears at home are still beautiful!