Groundcover Review: Stachys byzantina "Helene Von Stein", Big Ears, Lamb's Ear

Stachys byzantina "Helene von Stein" .... it's so fuzzy!

Stachys byzantina "Helene Von Stein", Big Ears, Lamb's Ear


Pros:

- Reportedly very tough. Tolerates full Southern sun or afternoon shade.

- Reportedly drought tolerant

- Definitely can handle wet weather as it made it through our very wet spring without any issues while sitting in amended clay soil.

- Soft and fuzzy foliage! Among the most touchable foliage of any plant I've seen. Before mass production of consumer goods, people used plants for a variety of everyday purposes. As I understand it, Lamb's Ear leaves make a good bandage and can also be used as a natural 'toilet paper'.

- The silvery color of the leaves is unusual and attractive in the garden.

- Covers the ground thickly, shading out weeds, but seems to grow at a manageable, steady pace so that I feel I could control its spread if necessary.

- Reportedly easy to propagate by division if I'd like to help it cover ground a little faster.


Cons:

- Not native to the Southeastern U.S.  Stachys byzantina comes from the part of Southwest Asia now known as Turkey and Iran.

- Stachys byzantina is hardy to zone 4 and probably grows in a sort of dry and mountainous climate. As such, many varieties of S. byzantina reportedly struggle in Southern heat and humidity. Helene von Stein is supposed to be the humidity-defying exception to that rule. We'll see how it fares during the upcoming summer.

- Many varieties of S. byzantina apparently send up flower spikes and then self-seed abundantly. But Helene von Stein rarely flowers, so this is less of an issue.

- Helene von Stein is supposed to be herbaceous, but the leaves don't disappear over the winter, they reportedly turn into 'mush'. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it doesn't sound all that attractive. On the other hand, the mushy leaves reportedly act as a natural mulch during the winter months and can then be easily raked away in the spring. (Or perhaps the plant will naturally send up new leaves to obscure the decaying ones, as happens with Sweet Woodruff and Pachysandra procumbens?) I'll have to see how this works out come the wintertime.


Conclusion:

- It's early days with this plant, but I'm optimistic. It would be great to have a bulletproof but not rampant groundcover for sunny spots and this plant looks like it might fit the bill.

UPDATE - I ended up removing lamb's ear from the garden. It looked beautiful from spring to autumn, but just awful in the winter. The dead foliage was persistent, so that after a while, even the fresh new foliage was growing on a mound of dead and decaying gunk underneath. In addition to the cultivar, I got the straight species, which spread much faster and had lovely flowers with a long bloom season that attracted lots of bumble bees. Unfortunately, the flowers led to a plethora of seedlings in the immediate vicinity of the mother plant. If the old foliage decayed completely over the winter and/or if the plant didn't spread so quickly, I might have kept it. It's rock solid in the heat and didn't seem to have too many problems with our humidity. But I just couldn't deal with the old foliage and its spreading ways. Plus it's a non-native. Plus I didn't like the scent of the crushed foliage when I did try to clean it up at the end of the winter. Yuck. So... I had to give it the heave-ho.

Oh Give Me a Home, Where the Buffalo Grass Roams

Yes, this soft, feathery grass is Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) growing in a small section of my Tennessee backyard

One of the neat things about writing a blog is being able to track the stats and seeing which posts are most popular. The two most popular subjects drawing people to the blog so far are searches concerning "pine straw mulch" and "buffalograss".

With regard to the mulch, my most recent post on the topic tells how and why I lost my infatuation with pine straw. More recently, regular readers will know that I've begun posting reviews of the groundcovers with which I hope to replace most/all of my mulches.

But it's been quite some time since my last post on the test buffalograss patch. The last update was way back in January, when the buffalo grass was hibernating (i.e., dormant) and resembled nothing so much as little gold tufts of straw on a dirt background.

So how are things going now? Much better thank you!

As you can see from the photo at the top of this post, the buffalograss did eventually green up and has mostly filled in its designated area.

It's doing better in some parts of the rectangular test patch than others. I think it's happiest in full sun and has not filled in as much in the section of the test patch that gets a fair amount of shade from a neighboring crape myrtle.

Here's a section of the test patch where the buffalo grass has not filled in as thickly as I would have hoped.  

The best thing about this patch of buffalograss -- it has only been mowed once. That's right, buffalo grass not only grows slowly, but the soft and tender blades of grass sort of flop over so that they make a nice wavy texture.

Even the one time that the buffalograss was mowed, I don't think it really needed to be mowed. Our lawn care guy was mowing the rest of the lawn and I guess he decided to give the buffalograss a trim. To be honest, I liked it better when the buffalograss was a little bit longer. Sorry I don't have that 'before' picture.

So is a buffalo grass lawn right for you? Here are my thoughts after a year on the pros and cons:

Pros:

1. No need to mow! Near as I can tell, you can skip mowing your buffalograss lawn altogether. Or maybe mow it once or twice a year if you really like a manicured look. That's a major improvement over the typical lawn that needs to be mowed once every week or two from spring to autumn to stay looking nice.

2. Drought tolerant. Buffalograss is supposed to need much less water than regular grass. We've had a pretty wet year so far here in Tennessee, but there have been some warm and dry spells over the last month. The buffalograss seemed to handle the warm, dry weather without any problem.

3. Soft. I remember soft (Kentucky bluegrass?) lawns from my childhood in Pennsylvania, but many of the lawns down here in Tennessee including our own are stiff and rough fescue-based lawns that constantly poke your feet and ankles. Not fun. The buffalograss, by contrast, is feathery-soft and very easy on the feet.

4. Fills in, but does not run rampant. The buffalo grass spreads above ground by stolons, so it's easy to see where/how it's spreading and to rein it in if need be. But the truth is that it does not spread at unmanageable pace. In fact, I wish it spread and filled in a bit more quickly.


Cons: 

1. Zzzzzz.... Yeah, there's that pesky dormancy period. Buffalo grass is not the only grass to go dormant. Zoysia also has a dormancy period, for instance, as does Blue Grama Grass. Anyway, the problem for me was that weeds (and Viola tricolor) took advantage of that dormancy period to establish themselves among the Buffalo grass bunches.

You can see what the dormant grass looked like as late as early April by scrolling down through this archived post.

And even when the Buffalo grass greened up and filled in late in the spring, a number of the weeds still coexisted alongside the grass.

So, is this a dealbreaker? I'm not sure. I'm eager to see whether the dormant Buffalo grass does a better job at resisting weed invasions now that most of the clumps have knitted together. Stay tuned for another update in late 2013 or early 2014.

Regardless of the weed invasion, the long dormant period was not particularly attractive, but maybe it will look better with an unbroken golden carpet this fall rather than the isolated tufts I had to look at last winter. I'm trying to keep an open mind.

2. The Swiss Cheese Effect. So Buffalo grass has filled in, but it has not filled in completely. There are still some bare patches, particularly in the shadier spots. Folks say that Buffalo grass loves the sun and apparently they're right.

3. The Net Effect. The interlocking stolons of Buffalo grass form a kind of net that seems to help it block a lot of weeds, but when a weed does get in there, it's pretty hard to pull it without ripping out a lot of Buffalo grass stolons in the process.

4. The Cost. I ordered my Buffalo grass plugs from Todd Valley Farms. I think one tray cost about $62 including shipping. That tray covered an area that is maybe 50-square feet. So if you've got a big lawn, you're looking at a lot of moola if you want to cover the whole area with Buffalo grass.

5. Brown Spots. Even where the buffalo grass has filled in nicely, I can still see brown spots. Is it the dead/dormant spots from last winter? What's going to happen this winter when the whole patch goes dormant? Will there be brown and green intermixed throughout next spring? Beats me, but I'll update you as soon as I know.

The Big Picture. The buffalograss has come a long way, baby. It hasn't exactly turned out to be the groundcover of my dreams nor has it matched the glowing descriptions from marketing brochures, but it certainly has its attractions. If only it were a little greener, a little thicker, a little more weed-proof, with a shorter dormancy period...

Conclusion

I'm happy that I trialed buffalo grass and I think it's an interesting, beautiful groundcover with some significant advantages over traditional lawns.

Unless I win the lottery, I can't imagine spending the money to cover an entire lawn with buffalo grass, but I could see using it again in the future for a small space.

I look forward to seeing how it will perform in its second winter and how it will green up next spring. If it gets stronger and more established, I'm curious as to whether it will become more aggressive at invading the flower beds and the fescue lawn, or whether it will stay mild-mannered and let me keep it in check.

Stay tuned for future updates! If you have any questions about your current or planned buffalo grass lawn, please leave a comment below and I'll try to provide answers!

Groundcover Review: Pachysandra procumbens, Allegheny Spurge

It ain't pretty. Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Spurge) has not covered ground, but rather revealed ground as the original stems have died off. 

Pachysandra procumbens, Allegheny Spurge

Pros: 

- Native to Tennessee and other parts of the Southeast. Hooray!

- Not particularly aggressive or fast-growing [especially when dead -- see photo above], ergo should be easy to control.

- Evergreen to semi-evergreen in zone 7 [when alive]. Hardy to zone 5.

- Supposed to have fragrant spring flowers, but I didn't see any this year.

- Reportedly can be propagated through division in spring or autumn.

- Has enough density and height (6-12 inches high) that it should be able to do a good job of controlling weeds [if not for the fact that it keeled over and mostly died].

- Attractive foliage [before it died].

- Supposed to have good drought tolerance ... although this did not seem to be the case in my garden. Maybe it has good drought tolerance in cooler and shadier climates such as the Smoky Mountains?

- Low maintenance. No need to remove last year's foliage - as with Sweet Woodruff it will simply collapse and be replaced with fresh new green foliage [unless it dies, in which case the foliage will not be replaced].


Cons:

- Not tough enough to survive a Tennessee summer -- at least not in partial sun. Maybe it would do OK in full shade, but with morning sun and temperatures in the 90s, P. procumbens keeled over and (apparently) croaked. Well, I won't declare it down for the count just yet -- it may still rise like Lazarus next year -- but things are not looking promising at this point.

- Hard to find (unlike the widely-distributed and occasionally invasive Japanese Pachysandra - P. terminalis). You'll probably have to find a nursery or plant society sale that specializes in native plants or resort to mail order.

- Spreads rather slowly [when it survives...otherwise it does not spread at all].

- Reportedly needs partial to full shade, so not an option if you're looking for a groundcover for a sunny spot. Based on my experience, I'm thinking it needs at least a mostly shady setting in hot Southern climates.

- Foliage is reportedly toxic to mammals. So please do not eat. On the bright side, this is probably why P. procumbens would be resistant to predation by deer or rabbits. (I think the same also applies to P. terminalis.)


Conclusions:

- Didn't cover ground. Didn't even cover the original patch of ground where I planted it. Disappointing. Cannot recommend based on my personal experience, but P. procumbens might work for gardeners with cooler and shadier environments than I could offer.

Groundcover Review: Sweet Woodruff, Galium odoratum

Galium odoratum, Sweet Woodruff in early July, nestled between a tattered aquilegia and a glossy camellia

UPDATE - As time goes by and I see how a plant performs in the garden from year to year, my views may change and I'll update old posts accordingly. That's what happened with sweet woodruff. I started experiencing dieback on patches of this plant in both winter and summer. I suspect it's a bit difficult to grow in the hot and humid Southeast and especially the Deep South. At the same time, when I started to try to dig up patches, I found a disturbingly elaborate web of roots that seemed to occupy the entire top layer of soil. I could literally lift the plant and the soil would come with it like a piece of carpet. So I ended up evicting sweet woodruff entirely from my garden. Fortunately, unlike Ajuga or Geranium sanguineum at least it had the decency to leave politely and not try to make too many repeated comebacks. I've since shifted my gardening more toward natives, especially vis-a-vis spreading groundcovers. If you do grow this plant in the U.S., please check to make sure it's not invasive in your region, as might be the case particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest and parts of New York State.

Sweet Woodruff, Galium odoratum

Pros:

- Evergreen (at least in zone 6/7)

- Beautiful light-green foliage with an interesting whorled shape. That foliage stays clean and green throughout much of the year. As far as I can tell, Sweet Woodruff is not bothered by any insects or diseases.

- Tall and thick enough to block out weeds

- Spreads moderately quickly but mainly grows in spurts (autumn and spring, I believe). The patches I've got seem to reach their spring size and then stay that way. The fact that it's not constantly expanding its territory makes me think I could control it fairly easily if I needed to. Or not. See update above.

Sweet Woodruff seems to thrive best in shady spots. This one is sheltered under the canopy of a crape myrtle.

- Tough! Grown in partial shade, it survived last year's 100+ temperatures and brutal drought. Temperatures down into the teens and 20s this winter didn't faze it one bit. (It is hardy to zone 4.) Or not. Ended up getting burned by even lower temps without snow cover in subsequent winters. Started melting out in our summers too.

- Flowers a little bit in springtime. Well, my plants didn't flower at all their first year. They flowered a little this year. I've seen photos online with lots of (small) white flowers, so perhaps they'll have more flowers in future years.

- Some sources say that Sweet Woodruff can repel mosquitoes and that the dried leaves can repel moths.

- I believe the flowers were formerly used to flavor spring wine in Germany, but nowadays internal use is discouraged due to the fact that the plant contains a compound called coumarin that reportedly can damage the liver.


Cons:

- Not native to the Southeastern U.S. Sweet Woodruff comes originally from Europe.

I was worried that Sweet Woodruff would overrun Rozanne Geranium, but the geranium actually seems to have the upper hand. The kicker will be to see what happens next year. Because the semi-evergreen Sweet Woodruff will most likely expand in all directions in early spring before the geranium breaks dormancy. Which means the geranium may try to emerge right in the middle of the Sweet Woodruff next year. It will be interesting to see what happens as these two duke it out. Regardless, it looks lovely right now with geranium foliage and flowers intermingled with the Sweet Woodruff.

- Sweet Woodruff doesn't necessarily play nice with other small plants. I would say that thick lush growth that blocks weeds would almost certainly stop the germination of any annuals and could very well overwhelm smaller perennials. For instance, my largest patch of Sweet Woodruff is butting up against a hardy geranium (Rozanne) and has practically swamped some Smilacina racemosa (False Solomon's Seal). On the other hand, I can't see Sweet Woodruff causing any problems for shrubs, trees or any perennials that grow taller than say 6 inches. Cornell calls it aggressive, but not invasive and says other plants can come up through its foliage.

- Depending on your aesthetic standards, there's a point in late winter / early spring when you might not be too happy with the way Sweet Woodruff looks. The previous year's foliage does look good throughout January (at least here in zone 6/7), but there's a point in February or March when the evergreen / semi-evergreen foliage turns brown and crispy. Lots of websites will tell you to cut the old foliage near the ground in Spring to stimulate regrowth. Being an experimental sort of gardener - and figuring that Sweet Woodruff had evolved and probably thrived in the wild without anyone coming along to trim it back in the spring - I decided to leave it alone to see what would happen. After a few somewhat messy-looking weeks, fresh new green growth quickly obscured the tattered foliage of the previous year. And I'd guess that old foliage both protects the new foliage while it's emerging and then later feeds the plant as it decomposes back into the soil. So if you're not a perfectionist, I'd suggest going for the low-maintenance approach and forgoing the spring trim. If you prefer to keep your garden looking pretty all the time in case a photographer from House Beautiful drops by, I don't think there's anything wrong with trimming or probably even mowing the old foliage back to the ground in the spring.


Conclusion:

Sweet Woodruff is one of my favorite groundcovers. I'm planning on dividing and spreading this to several other semi-shady parts of my garden this autumn. I might even try putting a piece in full sun, just to see what happens, though I doubt sincerely that Sweet Woodruff would be happy in full Southern sunshine. Ultimately shovel-pruned. Do not recommend.

Balloons in the Garden!

Balloon flower buds. You can see where the plant got its name.

OK, actually it's Balloon Flower (a.k.a. Platycodon grandiflorus).

Here's what I know about it:

- It's native to Eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan and Siberia)

- It is hardy to zone 3, but it can also take the heat of a Tennessee summer

- It can take sun or partial shade. I have two balloon flowers planted in morning sun and one that gets a lot of sun throughout the day (with some intermittent shade from a nearby crape myrtle)

- It can grow 18-36 inches tall. I'd say none of mine are over 12-inches at the moment and one that I planted this spring is blooming even though it's only about 6-inches tall. But the one that I planted last autumn is much taller this year than last, so I'm guessing it gets bigger and bushier as the plant gets older.

Balloon Flower just beginning to open.

- It is considered a long-lived perennial (i.e. 15 years or more)

- It has a tap root that makes it drought-tolerant, but that means it dislikes being transplanted or divided. In other words, just put it where you want it and leave it alone to do its thing.

- Reportedly it prefers well-drained soil, but ours are doing well in semi-amended clay.

- The plant is herbaceous. It dies to the ground in winter and is a little slow to emerge in the spring. I can't recall exactly when it emerged, but I do remember I was worried as to whether it would ever reappear. You may want to mark the spot where it's sitting dormant underground so you don't accidentally dig it up if you are planting in that bed in the spring.

And here's a fully-opened Balloon Flower!

- The plant is supposed to bloom for 4-8 weeks starting in early summer. Sure enough, two of our three balloon flowers started blooming around May 24th. I'll try to post an update later to let you know whether they did indeed bloom throughout June and July. Some sources say that cutting the plant back to the ground when blooms cease may prompt regrowth and an autumn rebloom. I might try that.

- Some sources say the flowers are supposed to attract butterflies. Sadly, I have not yet seen butterflies (or any other pollinators) on our balloon flowers.

- Kitazawa says that the plant is known in Japan as "Toraji" and that the root is eaten there fresh or dried and valued for its medicinal anti-inflammatory properties. I have not tried that so I cannot vouch for the accuracy of those claims. 

- Bountiful Gardens says Platycodon is used in teas and syrups for coughs, and for soups and salads as a medicinal food. Again, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this claim and would suggest that you refrain from consuming any part of Platycodon unless you can find proof to your own satisfaction that portions of the plant are safe to ingest.

- Update 6/10 5 p.m.: Want to hear something really confusing? Near as I can tell (from Wikipedia and other sources), the Koreans also eat the root of Platycodon grandiflorus and they call the root "doraji". But there is also an unrelated Korean Bellflower also called "doraji"! No idea whether the roots of that 'other' doraji are edible. That's why it's best to use Latin names when talking about plants - particularly plants you're thinking about eating - to make sure you don't confuse an edible plant with a toxic one that happens to have the same common name. In any case, personally, I don't have any plans to try eating Platycodon grandiflorus or using it medicinally. First of all, the medicinal benefits sound unconvincing. Second, some sources list Platycodon as being toxic - at least the basal foliage and perhaps the root too!? Finally, the preparation process to render doraji edible sounds arduous and lengthy for a dish described as having a taste that is not "particularly pleasurable". In short, I think I'll continue to think of Platycodon strictly as an ornamental plant for now.

- Some sources say that Platycodon may self-sow politely. I have not seen any evidence of that yet, but I'd certainly be happy to get some volunteers.

Overall, I've found this to be a lovely plant so far. It seems very tough and trouble-free. The foliage looks great - so far I have not had any issues with pests or diseases. The buds are lots of fun as they swell into their balloon shape and the flower is beautiful when it does unfold. I'd say the self-cleaning flowers last for the better part of a week.

In conclusion, I wish the plant offered more wildlife benefits for bees, butterflies or birds, but from an aesthetic (and perhaps medicinal/edible standpoint), it's certainly a nice plant that I think could and should be used by more gardeners looking for a charming and reliable perennial.