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Hardiness: USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 °C (0 °F) USDA Zone 7b: to -14.9 °C (5 °F) USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 °C (10 °F) USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 °C (15 °F) USDA Zone 9a: to -6.6 °C (20 °F) USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F) USDA Zone 10a: to -1.1 °C (30 °F) USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7 °C (35 °F) USDA Zone 11: above 4.5 °C (40 °F)
Sun Exposure: Full Sun Sun to Partial Shade
Danger: N/A
Bloom Color: Violet/Lavender
Bloom Time: Mid Spring Late Spring/Early Summer Mid Summer Late Summer/Early Fall Mid Fall
On Nov 14, 2009, Silver_Cat from Ridgeland, MS wrote:
Oh horrible invader... Tender stems snap off above the ever-living tubers, and with the rain it springs right up again... If it would give some flowers we might make peace.
On Nov 16, 2007, JaxFlaGardener from Jacksonville, FL (Zone 8b) wrote:
It's difficult to accept that Florida Betony (Stachys floridana) is in the same genus as Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina) -- the first is despised and the other prized in most gardens.
To be fair, the Florida Betony does make a pretty pink/purple flower stalk about 4 inches high and can be attractive when grown in thick clusters (which, as noted above, is very easy to do!). It might actually make a nice ornamental plant in a garden where it could be grown as an annual, and either kept in a pot, or left in the ground to be killed by freezing temperatures in winter so that it wouldn't spread.
Florida Betony can be controlled by a thick mulch of pine straw. Some of it will come up through the pine straw, but it will gradually weaken if the top green shoots are consistently pulled off. It can not be eliminated without digging out every portion of the (edible, like a wild radish, bumpy, small white carrot-like) tuber. It will regrow from any portion of the tuber and spread by underground rhizomes.
On Feb 21, 2006, oladyhoo from Brunswick, GA wrote:
Florida betony is incredibily invasive, spreading by rhizomes, tubers, and seeds. It grows thick as the hairs on a dog's back. Mow it and it looks like green grass in the winter.
The tuberous roots are edible and sometimes boiled like peanuts. Use as a food is well noted among southeast U.S. Indian tribes and settlers of Florida's early history, as well as today by many nature enthusiasts.
3 members have or want this plant for trade.
