By Matt Gibson and Erin Marissa Russell
Lamb’s ear is an easy-to-grow herbaceous perennial plant that is known for its soft, hairy, velvet-like evergreen leaves that are silvery-green or grayish-green in color. The leaves are shaped just like a lamb’s ear, which is where the plant gets its name. Though lamb’s ears are typically grown for its attractive foliage, the plant also produces large spikes of flowers ranging from a bright magenta-like pink to a neon purple.
The blooms start out as gray-green buds that tend to blend in with the foliage due to their similar color, but in the late summer, the buds open to reveal bright splashes of vibrant color. The sheer amount of blooms combined with the contrast of the leaves’ eye-catching color makes for quite a showy summer display.
Lamb’s ears make a voracious and vigorous ground cover that speedily produces a low-level blanket of foliage, rising to only about one foot high with a similar spread, though its flower spikes can reach up to a foot and a half tall, adding about six inches to the height of the plant during the blooming season.
Lamb’s ears are generally planted in the spring, and the plant is perfect for filling in gaps in ornamental beds due to its quick growing habit. A few lamb’s ears cuttings or new plants sown in early spring will fill a large space by mid autumn. Aside from their ornamental value, the leaves of lamb’s ears can be used to help speed up the healing time for bee stings, minor scrapes, cuts, and other skin abrasions. With the proper growing conditions, the hardy, drought-tolerant lamb’s ear will thrive with ease in USDA Plant Hardiness zones four through eight.
Varieties of Lamb’s Ears
There are several popular varieties of lamb’s ear that you can find in most garden centers and nurseries, including the ones listed below.
Big Betony: Big Betony is not especially big, but it is big by lamb’s ears standards, growing about two feet high at full maturity with light purple blooms in zones five through seven.
Big Ears: Also referred to as Helene von Stein, this variety forms dense rosettes of big silvery-green foliage. Big Ears lamb’s ear plants prefer full sunlight.
Betony, Wood Betony or Bishop’s Wort: This variety of lamb’s ears have been used since ancient times for its healing properties to treat coughs and other common ailments. In modern gardens, Betony lamb’s ears are grown to attract bees and other pollinators to the garden with their vivid fuschia-colored blooms.
Fuzzy Wuzzy: This variety has silvery white to silvery cream foliage with a lush, extra-velvety texture that coats the leaves of Fuzzy Wuzzy lamb’s ear plants. Leaves are produced in tight clusters, making this cultivar an excellent ground cover plant.
Hummelo: Dark green foliage with silver veins and hairs is topped with two-tone pink flower spikes on a two-foot-tall plant with a one-foot spread. This is one of the showier varieties of lamb’s ears.
Lamb’s Ears: In zones four through eight, the common lamb’s ear variety grows 18 inches high with six-inch-long leaves and magenta-colored blooms.
Rosea Betony: This cultivar is a light-pink variety of the more common Betony, or Wood Betony listed above. It also attracts bees and other pollinators to its two-foot-tall flower spikes in zones four through eight.
Saharan Pink: Saharan Pink is a miniature version of Hummelo, with smaller two-tone flower spikes that grow atop a one-foot-tall plant with silver-green leaves and an eight-inch spread. Hardy to zones four through eight.
Silky Fleece: Growing only three to four inches off the ground as a foliar plant and only 10 inches high in full bloom, this dwarf cultivar has miniature stems and leaves to go with its miniature size.
Silver Carpet: The Silver Carpet cultivar has especially ornamental silvery-gray foliage, which is good, because it very seldom blooms, so the full foliar display is likely all you will get from this variety.
Growing Conditions for Lamb’s Ears
Plant lamb’s ear in full sun or partial shade locations, preferably in a spot that gets at least six hours of sunlight per day, though it will do fine with a little less. Though lamb’s ears will tolerate partial shade, shady conditions can help create excess moisture in the environment, which can increase the risk of the leaf spot and rot diseases that lamb’s ears are prone to. The more sunlight you can provide the plants, the better they will perform. The same is true for offering them plenty of space in between them to facilitate air circulation and for having soil that provides good drainage.
Though lamb’s ear will adapt to just about any soil type it is given, it must be a well-draining substrate, as it will not abide wet feet, especially if it is planted in a partial shade location in which the soil dries out at a slower pace. Lamb’s ear can be planted just about anywhere in the garden, but it’s low-growing, quick-spreading, blanket-forming growth habit is ideal for ground cover use. It will self seed and spread out into whatever space is available with a spreading habit that is borderline invasive, but it is easy to pull up any outliers that pop up where they are unwanted, as the roots aren’t too thick. Sow lamb’s ear in containers, or directly in the ground in gaps in your garden beds, open borders, or next to other perennials.
How to Plant Lamb’s Ears
Plant lamb’s ear in the spring by digging holes no deeper than the pots you purchased them in. If planting cuttings, plant the rooted part of the cutting into the soil with the rest of the plant above the soil line. Space your plants out about one foot apart to keep them from growing too close for comfort. There is no need to fertilize, but adding a bit of compost to the soil prior to planting will help promote healthy, well nurtured specimens. Water new plants deeply and frequently, but do not let soil become soggy.
Care for Lamb’s Ears
Lamb’s ear plants are susceptible to root rot, so be careful not to overwater them, though of course they will require some hydration from the gardener when it is not provided by rainfall and when temperatures run high. Let the ground dry out well between your watering sessions, and your lamb’s ears will thrive, especially when they get plenty of sun and are grown in soil that drains well.
Water your plants from the base instead of from overhead. Lamb’s ears can only absorb water through their root system, so moisture that splashes onto their leaves and stems will not be taken in and used by the plant. Until the moisture evaporates, it contributes to conditions that can lead to fungal diseases or rot and can also get too hot in the sun and damage your lamb’s ears with sunscald. Drip irrigation, a watering hose, or a watering can aimed at the soil above the roots of your plants is much better for them than a sprinkler system or any method of watering that gets the foliage wet.
Every three or four years in early spring, you will need to divide the plants so they have room for air to flow between them and do not choke one another out. You will find instructions for dividing your lamb’s ears plants in the next section on propagation.
Lamb’s ear plants can be kept outdoors year-round in USDA Hardiness zones 4 through 8. In warmer zones, it can be difficult to grow unless you find a spot that gives it shade in the afternoon without blocking the sun earlier in the day. Gardeners in colder regions can grow lamb’s ears but will need to either protect the plants over the winter by placing them in storage  or grow them as an annual.
How to Propagate Lamb’s Ears
Division is the simplest way to propagate lamb’s ears, and dividing your plants at least every three or four years will help to keep them healthy. When plants are crowded close together, as they naturally do when allowed to multiply freely, the lack of air circulation among the plants can help contribute to excessive moisture, which increases the risk of the leaf spot and rot diseases to which lamb’s ears are vulnerable.
The best time to divide your lamb’s ear plants is at the beginning of spring, when they are just beginning to put out new growth. Start by using clean, sterilized shears to remove any dried out, dead, or damaged foliage from the crown of the plants. Doing so encourages the plants to develop more dense and bushy growth instead of growing thin, spindly, and leggy.
Carefully dig up the plants you wish to divide, taking care to get their entire root system without damaging it. Split the plants up into smaller clumps and plant them with a foot to a foot and a half of space in between them. If the center of any clump is too old and has grown woody, discard that part of the plant and use the newer outer portions in the new sections you will replant. You can use the woody portion in compost if desired.
Once you have divided the plants, water them well to help avoid transplantation shock and so the soil around the plants will settle in securely. This is a good time to add organic material like well rotted compost or decomposing leaves to the soil and put down a layer of mulch, which will help control invasive weeds. Lamb’s ears plants are self seeding and will propagate by seed on their own.
Garden Pests and Diseases of Lamb’s Ears
Lamb’s ears do not generally struggle with insect infestations and are overall generally healthy plants. However, they can have issues with leaf spot and rot diseases when they are kept in areas that have excess moisture. Most of the diseases lamb’s ears are prone to are exacerbated by excess moisture, so starting your plants off in an area with good drainage that gets plenty of sun and spacing them well apart so air can flow between them goes a long way toward keeping them healthy.
Leaf Spot or Rot Diseases: Lamb’s ears tend to struggle with rot and leaf diseases in regions that have humid summers. You can set yourself up for success by making sure the soil where your lamb’s ears are growing drains well and is in the sunshine. Growing in the shade means that any moisture on the leaves of your lamb’s ears will take longer to evaporate, and the longer moisture sits on the leaves, the more the chance of disease rises.
Even when the soil offers good drainage, however, gardeners may lose some of their lamb’s ears when humidity is high, especially if moisture is standing on the foliage of the plants. Make sure to water plants from the base and to avoid watering with sprinklers, especially when the weather is humid, so you’ll have a decreased risk of these diseases.
If you noticed foliage on your plants with signs of mildew or disease spots, remove these leaves as quickly as possible to help lessen the spread of the disease. The spots can merge together as they grow and spread, or they may be surrounded by flecks of discoloration or black spots. Dig up plants that are severely infected and discard the plant along with the soil surrounding its root ball. Do not include these materials in compost.
You can also divide your plants every three or four years in the spring to avoid them cramming so closely together that air cannot circulate, as poor airflow makes disease more likely. If your plants are growing in a shady location, you should remove some of the canopy throwing the shade so that sunlight reaches your plants or simply move them to a sunnier location. Remove any foliage that shows signs of rust infection.
Nematodes: Root knot nematodes are the nematode variety most likely to be a threat to lamb’s ears, although foliar nematodes can also damage the leaves. Many of the symptoms of root knot nematodes appear first underground, as the root system of the plant is directly affected. Plants struggling against nematodes may appear wilted, weak, or have stunted growth, and foliage sometimes turns yellow or brown. If you examine the roots and nematodes are to blame, you will find underdeveloped root systems with little knots among them, and sections may be decayed.
Remove any plants with severe damage from the garden and dispose of them carefully. Do not include diseased plants in your compost. Amend the soil where you are having trouble with nematodes with well rotted compost or moldy leaves that are somewhat rotted, which attract fungi to fight off the nematodes. If the problem persists, avoid growing lamb’s ears in that location. For more information, you can read our article How to Fight Root Knot Nematodes.
Overwatering: Lamb’s ears do not tolerate extra moisture well, so it can be easy to overwater them. But the plant will give you signs that it has had too much water. Overwatering a lamb’s ears plant can lead to clumps of rotting leaves in the center of the plant or under the stems near the ground. You can adjust your watering routine to avoid excess moisture as well as dividing the plants so they will get more air circulation. Gently clear away any damaged or rotting leaves that are caused by overwatering.
Rust: Several different fungal diseases that share similar symptoms and treatment plants go by the name of rust diseases. Plants with rust diseases exhibit powdery areas of fungi on the foliage or areas that are discolored to pale yellow. Lamb’s ears have a color and texture that makes rust difficult to see, so carefully inspect the leaves of lamb’s ears plants for symptoms on a regular basis.
Remove areas of the plant with affected foliage using clean, sterilized garden shears. Once the growing season has ended, carefully clean up any remaining plant debris in the garden so the fungal pathogens do not have a place to hide for the winter. Keeping the garden and a perimeter zone around it clear of wides also helps to remove alternate hosts for the fungus. You can reduce the likelihood of rust in your garden by watering plants from the base and spacing them wide apart to maintain good air circulation. For more information, you can visit the University of Minnesota Extension profile on rust diseases.
Lamb’s ears are easy to grow, especially when provided with plenty of sunshine and when care is taken to avoid excess moisture in their environment. Be careful not to overwater the plants, and make sure the soil they are growing in drains well, and you should be able to grow healthy lamb’s ears with ease. Their velvety silver leaves and gorgeous flowers will beautify your garden for years to come.