Phlomis Species, Jerusalem Sage

Great plant for sun and well drained soils. It grew well in Ithaca, NY where I first tried it, and grows well here in Chilmark, MA on the...Read More island of Martha's Vineyard. I grow a number of other phlomis species now - P. russelliana, P. tuberosa, P. cashmeriana, and now trying P. samia. GREAT plants, and the deer and rabbits don't seem to like them either.

I planted a 1 gallon container about 6 years ago and each year mine gets bigger and has more blooms. We've had a wet Spring here this yea...Read Morer and it reached 5 feet easy and was covered with blossoms. It even looks good in the winter as the plant ages it seems to aquire more character each season.

Atlanta - I find this does not like really FULL sun, at least not here in Atlanta. It needs some shade. I moved mine around, even had to ...Read Moredig up up a couple of times and now it gets filtered shade and good morning sun. It is a really nifty plant and grows well from cuttings. Wooly leaves or no, it likes a good drink. BTW: the leaves are bigger in the shade and smaller and narrower in more sun.

I first tried this plant in a very sandy place by the Lake, that never got very warm in the summer- it languished. I dug it up and gave i...Read Moret to my sister who lives in the foothills, zone 7. It hardly grew, stayed quite stunted. I took it back when I moved to a warmer spot on the hillside. Soil is clayey, but terraced. The Phlomis LOVES this spot- blooms for months, leaves are very nice. Only gets about 3 feet tall maximum.

I have been trying to figure out what this plant was since I moved into this house almost 2 yrs ago. I had thought about trashing it,but ...Read Moredecided against it. The flowers are really neat looking, different. :-)
Glad I finally found it. :-)

My neighbour has this plant, and it survived all the frost this winter and is already blooming ( April).
When I asked her what it ...Read Morewas she said Lionstail (Leonotis menthifolia). I should have known better than to believe her without checking it first, she is not a gardener. I ordered the leonotis, only to find out it is similar in flower and appearance, but the leaves aren't wolly!
Deeply saddened, my quest for the plant I wanted went on, and now I have found it!

This is a wonderful bedding plant that tolerates our very hot summers here in the central valley of CA. We got two of these last spring, ...Read Moreand they were beautiful all summer. They are already getting some blooms, and it's only March. Also, I noticed a few hummers on them last year!

I first saw this plant in the gardens at our local Extension office last year, in late winter. I loved the mound of soft, slightly fuzzy,...Read More grey-green leaves (I even like thier shape). I planted one in my own garden that Spring, and it has done well. I have to admit, when I started noticing them in bloom in public flowerbeds, I actually didn't care for the flowers at all. In fact, I cut my plant back to try to prevent it from flowering, and have been rewarded with additional mounds of those wonderful leaves. After reading Bah's take on the the look of the flowers, I'm beginning to appreciate them, and will not fight the flowering any more.

A consistant performer in the garden, flowers last a long time, great gray foliage all year long.

I found this plant to add an interesting aspect to the common varieties of garden plants. The flowers remind me of Dr. Suess trees.