Lamium - Dead Nettle

This favorite spring perennial I mentioned in a previous blog ‘Winter Landscape Perennials’. I thought it was time to show off its blooms! It is a prolific evergreen groundcover, but its blooms are spectacular. Lamium or Dead Nettle is in the mint family. I know, say no more, but it is a very controllable ground cover. When I received my first plants, (the ‘Beacon Silver’ pictured at left) they were each the size of a quarter. There were six of them, so tiny & I nurtured them. I didn’t realize how much they would grow that winter while & was inside keeping warm & sipping hot chocolate! The following spring I was blessed with beautiful blooms & lovely foliage all year long. The second variety I planted, ‘Ghost’, has slightly larger leaves, purple flowers and grows a few inches taller, about 8-10”. ‘Beacon Silver’ with the pink blooms maxes out for me at 6-8”. They make a wonderful spiller for your planters because the blooms keep coming & the foliage is so delicate. The bloom is prolific in the late spring but they keep blooming until the freezing temps come to stay. My ‘Ghost’ variety had a few blooms that opened in December because of the mild stretch we were having in zone 6-7a! Once established, you will have plenty to share with friends. Seek this one out for sure & enjoy the versatility it brings!!