Lamb’s Ear, a plant you can pet
On a recent trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, I stumbled on the niftiest plant ever. It’s called Stachys byzantina or “Lamb’s Ear”, named for the softness of it’s leaves.
And WOW are they soft.
Like petting a fluffy bunny. Or a lamb’s ear I suppose. (Never done that but perhaps it needs to be on the bucket list!) After some internet sleuthing, I think the variety I saw is Silver Carpet. It doesn’t grow as tall as other varieties. Some can reach several feet high and produce beautiful columns of purple flowers.
![Stachys byzantina blooms](https://i0.wp.com/blog.cassandrahunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Stachys_byzantina_blooms.jpg?resize=576%2C768)
Here‘s more info if you’d like to grow these yourself. I definitely want to get a few. They are non-toxic for pets and have a bitter taste, so are unlikely to be chewed on. Although my cat, Grace Hopper (Gracie), is pretty intrepid so we’ll see.
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