Delightful soft, downy foliage resembles lamb's ears in feel and appearance. Silvery appearance is ideal for contrasting and grey gardens. Stachys byzantina makes a good groundcover or border. It is very particular about too much water and prefers to remain dry, so by all means avoid wet feet. Stachys grows best in full sun and makes a great rock garden plant growing 12-18 inches in height and having a 24 inch spread.
Most children love the fuzzy leaves, and can pull them off and never harm this plant. You can tell them it is very good to wrap around their dolls cuts as it was once used as a bandage.
In late spring or early summer, the plants send up furry, silver stalks of small lilac pink flowers on spikes to about 2 feet high. The somewhat fragrant flowers are not very showy, and often removed to maintain and enhance the foliage effects of the plant, which always looks fresh and cool. Bees love the flowers.
