False dittany

Sun

Full sun; shelter from cold winds.

Water

Low once established. Water young plants during dry spells, then water established plants only during prolonged drought.

Soil

Poor to moderately fertile, sharply drained soil; sandy, gravelly or stony ground is ideal. Tolerates alkaline soil but dislikes wet clay.

Height

2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m)

Spread

2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m)

Flowers

Small pale pink to pinkish-white flowers in whorls during summer, held within woolly, cup-shaped calyces.

Foliage

Evergreen. Rounded to broadly oval, softly woolly, silver-grey leaves on branching stems; foliage may thin or suffer damage in cold winters.

Growth

Moderate

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   1.8 ft (0.55 m)

3. After 2 years

   2 ft (0.6 m)

4. After 3 years

   2.1 ft (0.65 m)

5. After 5 years

   2.5 ft (0.75 m)

   full size

About 5 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Growth rate

Moderate

• Plant in spring in cooler climates so roots establish before winter.
• Improve drainage with a raised planting position or use a container with generous drainage holes.
• Water at soil level and let the soil dry between waterings.
• Avoid rich compost and routine feeding, which encourage soft, floppy growth.
• Use gravel rather than moisture-retaining organic mulch around the crown.

Pruning. In mid-spring, once severe frosts have passed, remove dead or frost-damaged shoots and lightly trim leafy stems to keep the plant compact. Avoid cutting hard into bare old wood, which may not regrow reliably.

Spring

Plant into warm, freely draining soil after the main frost risk has passed.

Mid-spring

Remove winter damage and lightly shape the plant, retaining leafy growth on each stem.

Early summer

Take softwood cuttings from healthy, non-flowering shoots.

Summer

Water new plants during dry spells; leave established plants mostly dry.

Late summer

Trim off spent flower stems if they spoil the rounded outline.

Autumn

Clear fallen leaves from the crown and check that water drains away freely.

Winter

Move containers under a bright, cool shelter where prolonged frost or winter rain threatens.

• Plant beside lavender and rosemary in a sunny gravel garden for contrasting leaf textures.
• Use along the front of a dry border as a low, rounded silver mound.
• Grow in terracotta containers in a sunny courtyard, using a gritty potting mix.
• Combine with purple-flowered salvias and ornamental alliums to soften strong flower colours.

Garden styles it suits: Mediterranean, Dry gravel garden, Modern Mediterranean, Coastal, Sensory garden and Low-maintenance.

Plant it with: Lavender, Rosemary, Rock rose, Santolina, Bearded iris and Ornamental alliums.

Wildlife: The small summer flowers provide nectar for visiting bees. Its main garden value is foliage rather than a large floral display.

• Root and crown rot in wet soil: improve drainage, keep mulch away from the crown and avoid winter watering.
• Frost damage: choose a sheltered position and remove damaged shoots in spring after severe frost has passed.
• Leggy, open growth: provide full sun, avoid feeding and trim lightly each spring.
• Poor recovery after hard pruning: retain leafy sections when trimming and replace badly bare plants with rooted cuttings.

Not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses, but species-specific safety information is limited. No particular toxic part is established; treat it as an ornamental rather than a culinary herb.

• Dittany of Crete (Origanum dictamnus)

  Also has rounded, woolly leaves, but usually forms a lower, spreading plant with conspicuous overlapping pink-purple bracts around the flowers.

• White horehound (Marrubium vulgare)

  Has more deeply wrinkled, scalloped, greener leaves and small white flowers in dense whorls; it lacks false dittany's evenly silver, softly rounded appearance.

• Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa)

  Makes a larger shrub with longer, more pointed leaves and prominent whorls of yellow flowers.

The epithet pseudodictamnus means false dittany, referring to its resemblance to dittany.

Propagation. Take softwood cuttings in early summer or semi-ripe cuttings in late summer. Root in a sharply drained medium and keep young plants sheltered through their first winter.

Accepted botanical name

Pseudodictamnus mediterraneus Ballota pseudodictamnus is an older name for Pseudodictamnus mediterraneus.

Native range

Egypt, Greece, Kriti, Libya and Turkey.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0) and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.