Lambs Ear in Texas

Lamb’s Ear, a perennial, does well in Texas. Though you may read that it is drought tolerant, I think that was written for a place not quite so dry as Texas. In my experience Lamb’s Ear is far from drought tolerant. While it may require less water than some perennials, it requires frequent watering to maintain a lush appearance and some water to survive.

The fuzzy grey foliage can become brownish when deprived of water; the maintenance required for Lamb’s Ear is simply to keep the dead leaves cleaned out. In Texas we do not have the problems of the wetter climates, so in that regard, Lamb’s Ear does well here.

Two Texas Perennials, Thyme and Large Lambs Ear

Loropetalum - Big Lambs Ear - Japanese Maple

The gray of the lambs ear contrasts well with dwarf loropetalum’s burgundy shades. The purple Japanese Maple echoes the call. Like Beethoven’s sound and repeat with a weaker sound foreshadowing the larger sound!

The flower of the Lamb’s Ear is, in my opinion, not attractive and there are non-flowering varieties with larger leaves! That’s my first choice.

S. byzantina ‘Helen von Stein’ is a large leafed Lambs Ear that DOES NOT bloom it is also known as ‘Big Lamb’s Ears. The Lambs Ear roots are close to the surface so mulch does help to hold the water in. These are so easy to root. They pull up in organized gentle clumps to be replanted very easily. With enough water — these are very hardy.

I love this little grey garden with artemesia, Tansy, Mealy Blue Sage, Wandering Jew and in the back, next to the Ozark Spring crape myrtle you can see a blooming Lambs Ear! Need to get a better image next time I am by there.

Lambs Ear in the fall

Mix of annuals and perennials including Big Lambs Ear, an Lambs Ear that does not bloom and has exceptionally large leaves.

Mix of annuals and perennials including Big Lambs Ear, a Lambs Ear that does not bloom and has exceptionally large leaves.

Big Lambs Ear, a non blooming Lambs ear noted for its large pliable leaves.

Lambs Ear container gardening with a cotoneaster shrub just beginning to grow in the right of the image.

Big Lambs Ear with yellow Tansy and two annuals that can act as perennials in Texas, Dusty Miller and Begonias.

Sundial garden, classic mix of tansy and Big Lambs Ear and Tansy you can see Thyme in the far background. The Monkey Grass is aggressive, I might remove that but you can see the little open spaces of dirt for an annual. I think this is lovely. I love spaces that are not overly designed and have little open spots.

Tansy and Lambs Ear Match Made in Heaven

Tansy and Lambs Ear a classic combination, generally mixed with Thyme.

The flower Lambs Ear is a fun lambs ear for children = people with way too much time on their hands make little lambs out of the flowers and put googly eyes on them. Okay, maybe I am just jealous and wish I had time to do that! Try it = but don’t expect me to make one — if you make one send it! I will post it and not make fun of you and apologize. But it would be a fun project for nursery school children to let them pick their Lambs Ear and turn them into little Lambs Ear People!