PlantFiles: Annual Lion's Ear, Devil's Pincushion
Leonotis nepetifolia

I "borrowed" a few seed heads from a garden in Charleston, SC last fall. I started them in pots about May (a little late, I know) and I didn't get to plant them in the ground until last month due to illness. They were VERY root bound and spindly. It is the 2nd week in November in NC and they have flourished. They are 4 1/2 feet tall and are still blooming and growing. The goldfinches seem to love them too! I can't wait til next year!

I grow the cultivar Leonotis nepetifolia 'Naivasha Apricot.' The source that I originally bought my seeds from for this plant claims that it is a perennial in zones 8 and above. So far this has been true for me in zone 7b. It's either that or it has been reseeding wonderfully. They grow to around 8-10 ft. tall and bloom from late summer into early winter for me. Not the showiest species, but I still love it in the garden.

Started from seed early into the winter and transplanted into the ground in late spring, Lion's Ear has just started to bloom around late July.

Flowers are rather sparse and not quite as attractive as leonurus or menthifolia. It does look very interesting in a bed to break up the continuity of low plants.

Leonotis leaves and blossoms are gathered, dried and smoked or made into tea and uses as a marijuana substitue because of it's euphoric effects. It's also used in herbal medican as a purgative and vermifuge.

This was a fast grower, and pretty sturdy. We get some pretty stong winds, and it stayed upright until the beginning of Fall, when the winds were just too strong.

It is very hard to collect seed from this plant. The flower heads are very spiky .... like little needles. The best way I could devise to harvest the seeds, was the following:

Wear Gloves!
Cut the seed heads off, and put them in a paper bag.
Let the seed heads dry for a few days (or longer) in the bag and then shake the bag for several minutes.
Most of the seed will fall to the bottom of the bag, and you can discard the seed heads .... make sure you still use gloves.
It is not worth trying to get more seed out of the heads, those little "needles" will get you right through the gloves.

An annual in my zone 5, and the seeds do not survive our winters, so no problem with it reseeding and becoming invasive here.

My plant is in a two gallon container from the nursery in early autumn. It is over six feet tall! It will kill your fingers for weeks if you try to remove a seed pod by touching the pointed end. Use gloves or tweezers to break open a pod after it dries. I would like to plant outside but do not know if it will survive Colorado's winter (zone 5). I'm wondering if anyone knows, and, if it will survive inside until late spring. The bees loved it! It also has been a real conversation piece with my friends.

Here in The Netherlands it started to bloom end of July and is still blooming. It's already about 250 cm and still making new staircases. Each staircase stays blooming - I wonder how high it will be when frost comes.

Wonderful plant, very architectural and something to talk over with my neighbours. Has nearly no foliage when it goes up; very nice silhouette.

Next year I'll grow it again, I'm sure.

This plant is very easily grown from seed and does well as an annual in cooler zones. I started seeds indoors in March and mine is about to bloom now in mid-August, which is about the same time it would bloom in its warmer perennial zones. It can also be grown from green wood cuttings taken in early spring or summer.