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California wood mint (Stachys bullata) in foreground (pink flowers)
Mother Nature's Backyard garden. |
The
area around the rain garden in Mother Nature’s Backyard gets a little extra
water – about every 2-3 weeks this summer and early fall. That helps the groundcover plants establish –
and keeps the whole area a little greener.
One of the plants that’s blooming right now is the California woodmint, Stachys bullata. This isn’t its peak season, but the flowers
keep our hummingbirds and the few remaining butterflies happy.
California
wood mint is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae),
a large family that includes culinary mints and the Salvias. Plants in this family often have aromatic
foliage and are used for cooking and potpourri.
Within the Mint Family, the wood mints (hedge nettles), genus Stachys, make up one of the larger
genera. Stachys species can be found on
most continents and many are used in traditional herbal medicine.
The
Wood mints are also known by the common name ‘hedge nettles’, a name somewhat
descriptive but also quite misleading.
Stachys species likely grow under hedges – the shady, somewhat moist
conditions being much to their liking.
But Stachys resemble nettles
in appearance only. The leaf shape and
emerging plants are somewhat
nettle-like. But the Stachys are mild mannered; they do not
sting like the Stinging nettle (Urtica
dioica), a plant from an entirely different plant family. We suspect that gardeners have been dissuaded
by the name ‘Hedge nettle’; we prefer the name ‘Wood mint’ for these delightful
plants.
The
California wood mint can be found in coastal California from the San Francisco
Bay to Orange County. Locally it still
grows in the Santa Monica Mountains and in a few places on the Palos Verdes
peninsula. It most commonly establishes
on summer-dry, north-facing slopes or moister canyons in the coastal sage
scrub, chaparral, oak woodland or riparian woodland communities, at elevations
less than about 4000 ft.
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California wood mint (Stachys bullata) as groundcover.
Home garden, Redondo Beach CA |
Like
most wood mints, Stachys bullata
grows as a groundcover or understory plant (mints are common groundcovers in
nature). At most 2-3 ft tall (including
the flower stalks), it spreads via underground stems (rhizomes) to form patches
2 to as much as 6+ feet in diameter.
Given a little summer water, it fills an area with green mint-like
foliage – our idea of a perfect groundcover plant.
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| California wood mint (Stachys bullata) : foliage |
Unlike
many mints, California wood mint is not markedly minty. In our garden it has but a faint minty smell,
with a slight hint of lemon, and only when crushed. Some have described the aroma as
objectionable; we find it rather neutral.
The leaves are medium green, softly fuzzy and oval- to triangular-shaped
with scalloped edges. The foliage is
similar in appearance to many garden mints.
In
nature, plants usually die back during the dry season, reemerging again with
the winter rains. In the garden, they
also die back – either when watering is tapered off in the fall or if there is
a frost. When plants die back – or just
start looking raggedy in the fall – it’s time to cut them back to several
inches.
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| California wood mint (Stachys bullata) - Mother Nature's Backyard. |
In
addition to its use as a groundcover, California wood mint is grown for its
flowers. The wood mints generally have
larger and more colorful flowers than the culinary mints. The
flowers of Stachys bullata are
arranged around the slender square stems in whorls (clusters of flowers encircle the stem). This type of inflorescence (flower
grouping) is typical for the mint family; you may have noticed it in garden
mints. Other good examples are the
Salvias – also in the Mint family – which have a similar inflorescence.
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| Umber Skipper butterfly approaches California wood mint flower (Stachys bullata) |
In
Stachys bullata, the flowering stems are
taller and more erect than the rest of the foliage. This
is also typical of the Mints; the floral placement insures easy access for
their pollinators, the hummingbirds and long-tongued butterflies and bees. In Mother Nature’s Backyard, the Wood mint
attracts butterflies as large as the Tiger Swallowtail, but the smaller
Skippers are more routine visitors (see above).
For more on Tiger Swallowtails see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/07/western-tiger-swallowtail-papilio.html
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| Close-up of flowers: California wood mint (Stachys bullata) |
The
flowers themselves are typical mint flowers.
The five petals are fused into two lips, with the lower lip significantly
longer than the upper. Flower color
ranges from pale pink to lavender or lavender-red. The upper lip, which shelters the stamens
like a cowl, is a single color; the lower lip has stripes or blotches of darker
color over a pale ground (see above).
The
flowers are lovely and long-lasting. We like
them in a spring/summer floral arrangement with ferns, alone or with other pink
or purple flowers.
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| Simple flower arrangement with California wood mint (Stachys bullata) |
California
wood mint is easy to grow given the right conditions. In most of S. California it does like some
shade, making it a perfect plant to grow under trees, on the north or east side
of walls - even in pots on a shady porch.
It will survive nicely in fairly deep shade, though the flowering may be
limited.
California
wood mint is not particular about soil texture; we’ve grown it successfully in
soils ranging from very sandy to compacted clay (it actually improves the soil texture in the
latter). And it doesn’t seem too fussy
about growing in the slightly alkali soils typical of S. California.
While
looking best with a little summer water, Stachys
bullata is more drought tolerant than one might imagine. It tolerates seasonal flooding – in fact may
be better for it – and looks lovely with occasional to moderate summer water. We let ours dry out a bit between waterings,
in generally watering every 2-4 weeks (even during the past two years of
drought). We like to taper watering off in the fall,
letting the plants die back before winter.
California
wood mint requires little in the way of care.
Snip off the dead flower stalks after birds have eaten the seeds. If the plants die back in fall, prune back to
several inches to promote lush spring growth.
We use a thin (1-2 inch) organic mulch (wood chips; redwood bark chips)
when getting plants started. After that we
let the plants provide their own leaf litter.
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| New growth in spring - California wood mint (Stachys bullata) |
If
grown in a pot, give plants a dose of ½ strength fertilizer in spring. And if
the plants exceed their allotted space (see above), just pull up the new stems
as they emerge (you’ll have to cut them off). That’s really about it.
So
why should you consider growing Stachys
bullata? Certainly it makes an
easy-care groundcover, particularly in shady parts of the garden. It does great on shady slopes, helping to
stabilize the soil. California wood mint might just solve a shady
problem area in your yard.
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| Mixed groundcover featuring California wood mint (Stachys bullata), Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea; magenta flowers) and Catalina perfume/Evergreen currant (Ribes viburnifolium). |
We
suggest growing it with other native groundcover plants to create a natural
woodsy ground cover. Yarrow (Achillea millefolia), native
strawberries (Fragaria species),
Catalina perfume (Ribes viburnifolium),
Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea),
native Honeysuckles (Lonicera
species) and even Mugwort (Artemisia
douglasiana) combine well with the wood mint. The plants share light and
water requirements, making them easy to care for. A mixed
groundcover can be a delight – providing interesting textures, fruits, medicinals
and flowers over much of the year.
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California wood mint (Stachys bullata) and Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) under a Kumquat tree.
Home garden, Redondo Beach, CA |
California
wood mint is also an important medicinal plant.
Its most common use is as a topical (skin) disinfectant. Leaves/stems are soaked or steeped in hot
water to create an infusion; when cool, this can used to clean skin sores, wounds,
cuts and boils. Heated leaves and stems
can also be pounded/ground to create a warm poultice applied to boils.
An
infusion/tea from Stachys bullata can be used as a gargle for sore throat; it
was also traditionally drunk to treat stomach aches. As with any natural remedy
(particularly those taken internally), be sure to start with a small dose; and
don’t drink more than 1-2 cups of medicinal Wood mint tea per day. If a
wound, sore throat or stomach ache persists or worsens, be sure to seek qualified
medical care.
