A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Lambs Ear

Hello everyone, 1:45am Central Time and I can't sleep. So, I thought I'd start a new topic. My wife and I recently planted Lambs Ear. I couldn't find any info on a search of this sight. Does anyone have any information on it that may be useful? Thanks. Happy Sunday, (I have to be in church at 9:00 AM!) UGH.

--Bunny T.

Hi Bunny,

Go to Perennials.com and type lamb's ear in their search window. The genus name is Stachys which is what will come up on your search. Click on that and you'll get some information.

A client dug up a bit of her lamb's ear plant for me several years ago. When I first planted it, it didn't seem to do anything. It came up again the next year, which it when I dug it up and moved it. It didn't do anything again. It came up again this year, and I've left it alone. It's now three times its original size and has lots of babies coming up beside it. It's planted in part shade, in pretty crappy soil, and is doing really well now. It's been very hot and humid here with little rain, and it's thriving.

Hope this helps.

Ronni

The key to growing Lamb's ears is ..... WELL DRAINED,AVERAGE SOIL! They grow particularly well in sandy soil.
They do not do well in areas with hot, humid,rainy summers, where they will be susceptible to crown rot.
Now i have some that i planted this past spring. They are doing just fine so far, but i didn't plant them in clay soil. I dumped a load of prepared soil and planted them in partial shade...
Seems like the northern gardners generally don't have any problem growing lambs ears from what i gather...

Bunny,
I've got those and my mother's threating to pull them out, they reseed prolifically......

Has your's gone to seed yet?
Did it shoot up long white fuzzy stems,
with pink flowers?

Maybe when you planted it may have been too deep or too high or something like that. If they go to seed, they'll plant them selves and do alot better,
I have that problem with Hollyhock's.
I bought some and got some from my granny's house and both of them, store bought and grannies pick's and didn't do well, or grow that great...got a few flowers nothing to write home about....
but did let them go to seed and the seed seems to adapt well to the surrounding area and are better to do the establishing......

So, that might be what it is.....
If worst comes to worst and they don't make it, I promise I'll mail you lot's of seeds.

I love the pink and gray flowers, but if you get a good rain and wind, they seem to get knocked over alot. At least mine do, because I think the compost is too much for them, some flowers like to grow in just regular dirt.
Hope this helps!!
Weezie

Hello, Bob, Ronni and Weezie,
Thanks for the information. I'm not having any problems with the lambs ear yet. I'm not anticipating any, but thought I'd try to find out a little about them. They have shoots but haven't flowered yet. My wife planted them with compost, potting soil and mulch in a partial shade, partial sun area. They are doing good so far. I'll check out the web sight Ronni suggested. I hope I sleep better tonight!

I didn't even know lambs ears flowered. We (my wife and I) were at a local park and found these plants that felt so cool and fuzzy. So she bought some and planted them! We'll see. Thanks again everyone for your help, I'll let you know how they do.

--Bunny T.

Bunny,
As I understand it, most people buy them for their soft, fuzzy, gray color and clip the flowers. For the exact reason I discribed. They reseed prolifically.... And that first year they reseed, they'll be looking real good.
But after, OMG!!
Don't let them get out of control!!!
And they get floppy!!!
But I really like the pink and gray, but now, after a bit, I'll be giving them a good hair cut!!! Just enough seeds will flop out for next year and I don't have to have them go crazy!!
Good luck bunny!!
Weezie

Weezie, there is a the cultivar "Silver Carpet" that doesn't produce any flowers. No flowers, no seed!

I had Lamb's ear growing around the bird bath....loved it....till this past winter killed it all off. The joys of a zone 3 winter!

My lambs ears have had shoots come up and are turning pink with little flowers. We planted them in the corner of our yard with a fence on two sides and a retaining wall with blocks curved in front. (Shape of a pie) So if they reseed in that corner, it shouldn't be a big deal. If they escape their capture and end up everywhere else, THAT WOULD BE A PROBLEM! I'll be keeping an eye on those little buggers!

They must be deceptive! If anyone hasn't seen these cool little plants, the leaves feel just like real fur! Anyway, thanks for the info. everyone. I'll clip some of the flowers, leave a few to reseed and try to control them!

--Bunny T.