Ballota acetabulosa
False dittany
- Height × spread
- 0.6m × 0.75m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This subshrub has rather furry looking leaves that are thick, matt and very crinkly with white undersides and regular crimped edges. There are whorls of tiny pink flowers in late summer. Pretty and soft, <I>Ballota acetabulosa</I> looks good cascading over a wall and it is very nice to touch. The plant looks distinctly herbaceous in the early part of the year. If subjected to drought it turns whiter.
- Flower colour
- Pink
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Grey
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Dome
- Height
- 0.6m
- Spread
- 0.75m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Mediterranean garden, Gravel garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Gravelly soil, Loam (normal), Poor soil, Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, Neutral
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Structural
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Planting & general
Planting
Prune young growth after flowering
When the plant has finished flowering, remove the flower and most of the young growth that the plant has made. Leave just around 2 centimetres of young growth on the plant. Don't cut into old wood unless it is diseased or damaged.
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.