Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry things in
three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny, and the labels
say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now gigantic, horizontally far
beyond 14" across and sending enormous furry spikes heavenwards in
abundance, while the rose bushes they're are planted around cower terrified
against the furry grey onslaught. Will these things consume the whole
garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going yellow
and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very attractive. Is there
something I should be doing? Or is it supposed to be gigantic forests of
spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Ian

On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry things in
three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny, and the labels
say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now gigantic, horizontally far
beyond 14" across and sending enormous furry spikes heavenwards in
abundance, while the rose bushes they're are planted around cower terrified
against the furry grey onslaught. Will these things consume the whole
garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going yellow
and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very attractive. Is there
something I should be doing? Or is it supposed to be gigantic forests of
spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny,
and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes they're
are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey onslaught.
Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going
yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it supposed
to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.


Ian

On Fri, 20 May 2011 18:39:04 +0100, "Ian B"
wrote:

Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny,
and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes they're
are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey onslaught.
Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going
yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it supposed
to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.

I've got some S. affinis, the so-called "Chinese arthichoke". They too
seem to want to build settlements on the West Bank. The tubers are
what one eats, as with the unrelated Jerusalem artichoke: I haven't
tried them yet, but they're white, and about the size of one's little
finger. The donor told me you can stir-fry them, but that's one method
not mentioned in the Wikip article.

--
Mike.

In message , Ian B
writes
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny,
and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes they're
are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey onslaught.
Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going
yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it supposed
to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.

So do they say which type of Stachys?
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On 20/05/2011 19:20, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Ian B
writes
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're tiny,
and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes they're
are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey onslaught.
Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be going
yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it supposed
to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by yellowy-brown mulch?


Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.

So do they say which type of Stachys?

Maybe it's lanata/byzantina, but the cultivar 'Big Ears' - leaves very
large, up to 25 cm long (according to Wikipedia).

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 19:20, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Ian B
writes
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're
tiny, and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes
they're are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey
onslaught. Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be
going yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it
supposed to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by
yellowy-brown mulch?

Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.

So do they say which type of Stachys?

Maybe it's lanata/byzantina, but the cultivar 'Big Ears' - leaves
very large, up to 25 cm long (according to Wikipedia).

Yes, it's lanata. No other cultivar or type.


Ian

In message , Ian B
writes
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 19:20, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Ian B
writes
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 20/05/2011 10:30, Ian B wrote:
Last year I planted some stachys, which were sweet little furry
things in three inch pots. I just looked at the pots, they're
tiny, and the labels say, 'spread, 14"x24"'. These things are now
gigantic, horizontally far beyond 14" across and sending enormous
furry spikes heavenwards in abundance, while the rose bushes
they're are planted around cower terrified against the furry grey
onslaught. Will these things consume the whole garden?

On a more serious note, the "low level" leaves all seem to be
going yellow and dying off. Is this normal? It doesn't look very
attractive. Is there something I should be doing? Or is it
supposed to be gigantic forests of spikes surrouded by
yellowy-brown mulch?

Are you sure that they are a Stachys, and not something like Salvia
argentea?
http://www.landscapedia.info/plant.php?plantID=31288

Definitely stachys. I've still got the pots.

So do they say which type of Stachys?

Maybe it's lanata/byzantina, but the cultivar 'Big Ears' - leaves
very large, up to 25 cm long (according to Wikipedia).

Yes, it's lanata. No other cultivar or type.

My experience of what I thought was lanata is that it spreads, but that
it's not tall.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Hehe, no they won't eat you out of house and home, they do get rather tall, but they will only make a clump of around a square yard after around 6-8 years of growth.
They are shallow rooted and so are very easy to pull up if they overstep their bounds.
They may need a little support as they get bigger as the furry leaves soak up rain water and tend to get heavy and flop over.

the lower leaves naturally go yellow and crispy as the plants grow and sould therefore, be pulled off at their bases, just to tidy the look of the plant.

The flowers are nice too, they are spikes of white fluff with little purple flowers poking out of the sides and are worth waiting for.

After they've flowered, cut off the flower spikes to ground level, and you should get another flush, or you get a nice fresh crop of those lovely furry leaves.

hope this helps?

Oh, and another thing....sun...sun...sun!