Prunella

Our selected forms make good ground cover or edging plants, carpeting the soil with low clusters of leaves. They are sun-loving, but not drought resistant, so we grow them in our water garden, with the soil in more moisture-retentive. All flower for several weeks in midsummer.

Prunella flowers are bilaterally symmetrical and typical bee-pollinated flowers. They attract bumblebees and honeybees, together with longer-tongued butterflies that can insert their proboscis into the nectaries without having to open the flower up, as heavier bees do. In some places non-native species such as P. grandiflora have become established in the wild, forming long-persistent patches: it would be prudent to try and ensure those forms remain within the bounds of the garden.