Lamb’s Ear Care Guide (Spread, Pruning & Maintenance Tips)

Looking for a soft ground cover that provides a striking contrast to traditional garden plants? This lamb’s ear care guide will show you how easy it is to grow, how fast it spreads, and how to prune, deadhead, and manage it through the seasons.

Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) is a hardy perennial loved for its soft, silvery foliage, but gardeners quickly discover it’s more than just a pretty plant.

It spreads readily, forms a dense groundcover, and needs only occasional maintenance to keep it tidy and well-behaved in the garden.

Keep reading to learn how to grow and care for lamb’s ear in your garden.

Lamb’s ear plant at a glance

Here is a quick guide to lamb’s ear care:

• Botanical name: Stachys byzantina
• Common name: Lamb’s ear (also rabbit ear plant)
• Plant type: Herbaceous perennial
• Sunlight needs: Full sun to light shade
• Soil: Well-drained, dry to average soil
• Water needs: Low once established
• Height: 6–12 inches tall, up to 18–24 inches when in flower
• Spread: Moderate clumping groundcover
• Bloom time: Late spring to early summer
• Flower color: Soft purple-pink
• Hardiness zones: Typically USDA 4–8
• Special feature: Soft, fuzzy silver-gray foliage

Tips for growing lamb’s ear

Lamb’s ear is a low-maintenance perennial that thrives in the right conditions and quickly establishes itself once planted.

It prefers full sun, well-drained soil, and doesn’t require much water once established, making it a popular choice for borders and ground covers in sunny garden areas.

Once it has become established, the plant begins to expand and form clumps. This is why understanding its growth habit becomes important.

Does lamb’s ear spread? (Growth habit & spread)

Lamb’s ear spreads steadily and can form dense ground cover mats over time. It spreads in two main ways:

• By creeping stems that root when they touch the soil
• By self-seeding from its tall flower spikes

Tips for controlling its spread

Even though it is a vigorous spreader, it is not considered invasive and is easy to control.

• Remove flower stalks: Deadhead the tall flower spikes before they go to seed to keep the self-seeding nature of lamb’s ear in check.
• Add physical borders: Use garden edging around your beds to stop the creeping stems from spreading into your lawn area.
• Divide the clumps: Every 2-3 years, divide the clump to keep the center from dying out and manage the size of the plant.

When to plant lamb’s ear

Plant lamb’s ear in the early spring after the last frost in your area.

• Space the plants about 2-3 feet apart so that they will have room to spread.
• Choose a sunny spot with well-draining soil.
• Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball.
• Add compost or other organic matter to the hole.
• Position the crown level with the soil surface.

Sunlight requirements

In my experience, lamb’s ear performs best in a spot that gets full sun for most of the day but has some afternoon shade. I have tested it in several areas of my garden and found that my current location – my test garden, which receives full sun until about 4 pm before being shaded by nearby trees – produces the healthiest growth.

• My test garden gets about 10 hours of sunlight in total
• It receives 4 hours of full sun in the middle of the day
• It also gets 6 hours of partial sun in the morning and afternoon hours

Watering needs

Lamb’s ear is highly drought-tolerant and requires minimal water once it is established.

• Established plants need only 1 inch of water per week.
• Avoid getting too much water on the leaves, especially if you water in the afternoon, since this can damage the foliage.
• I find that I only need to give it extra water when the temperatures are very high for days on end.
• Too much water will result in root rot.

Fun fact: I originally had two clumps of the plant, one on either side of a pathway. The left side got much more standing water and shade than the right side, and the difference in the plants shown in the photo below is astounding.

Winter care and cold hardiness for lamb’s ear

Lamb’s ear requires minimal winter maintenance.

In the fall

• Cut back spent flower stalks at the base level, after your first hard frost.
• Tidy up the crown to give the plant a neat appearance

For winter protection

Lamb’s ear foliage is susceptible to excess moisture over the winter months that can lead to crown rot.

• Add mulch or straw around the base of the plant if you live in regions that get severe freezing.
• Be careful not to mulch over the center of the plant to avoid crown rot.
• Lamb’s ears is cold hardy in zones 4-8.
• The plant can get ragged-looking in the dormant months and will do well with a clean-up in the spring.

Lamb’s ear flowers and foliage

The name lamb’s ears comes from the shape of the leaves and the fuzziness of the coating on them, which resembles the ears of baby lambs. 

Lamb’s ear has soft pink flowers that bloom on tall spikes that sit over the soft foliage.

• The plant flowers in late spring to early summer.
• The stems of the flowers are tall and erect and often branched.
• They can grow to 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall and make quite a show when the plant is totally in bloom.
• Cut back any flowering stems close to ground level after they flower to encourage new stems and leaves.
• The flowers start out with pale green blooms on the ends of long stems and gradually open to lilac-pink flowers.

Propagating lamb’s ear

Because lamb’s ear spreads out from the center of the plant, it will leave an ugly-looking dead spot in the middle. Division helps to get it back to looking tidy.

• Every 3 or 4 years, divide the plant in early spring, just as the new growth begins.
• Dig up and separate the root ball into smaller sections.
• Replant them in fresh soil.
• Additionally, you can propagate the plant from stem cuttings.
• Lamb’s ear is also a self-seeding plant. 

Lamb’s ear attracts pollinators

Lamb’s ear is an exceptional plant to include in a pollinator-friendly garden.

• Bees and butterflies flock to it.
• It’s also a great plant to attract hummingbirds to your yard.

 Fortunately, it is not popular with deer, rabbits, or squirrels.

Fun fact: Lamb’s ear is most often associated with attracting the wool carder bee, which fiercely defends the flower spikes from other insects! The bees feed on the nectar and collect the soft silver fuzz from the plant’s leaves to weave and line their nests!

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Admin note: This guide to the care of lamb’s ear first appeared on the blog in May 2017. This post has been updated with new photos, a printable how-to care card, and a slideshow video about other spring-blooming plants.

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Yield: 1 care tips guide for Lamb's Ear

Lamb’s Ear Care Guide – Spread, Sun & Growing Tips

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Learn how to grow lamb’s ear successfully, including sun needs, watering, spread control, deadheading, and seasonal care tips for healthy, soft silvery foliage.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Difficulty Beginner to intermediate Gardeners

Estimated Cost $10

Materials

• 1 lamb's ear perennial
• Organic matter or compost
• Well-draining soil

Tools

• Spade or shovel
• Watering can or h ose

Instructions

1. Choose a spot that gets midday sun but morning and afternoon partial sun.
2. Place lamb's ear in a sunny garden spot after the last frost.
3. Space the plants about 2-3 feet apart so that they will have room to spread.
4. Be sure to use well-draining soil.
5. Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball.
6. Add compost or organic matter to the hole.
7. Position the crown level with the soil surface.
8. Established plants need only 1 inch of water per week.
9. Avoid getting too much water on the leaves, since this can damage the foliage.
10. Too much water will result in root rot.
11. Cut back spent flower stalks at the base level, in the fall after your first hard frost.
12. Add mulch or straw around the base of the plant if you live in regions that get severe freezing.
13. Be careful not to mulch over the center of the plant to avoid crown rot.
14. Lamb's ears is cold hardy in zones 4-8.
15. The plant can get ragged-looking in the dormant months and will do well with a clean-up in the spring.
16. Divide every 3-4 years to remove the dead center section.

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