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A plant to love: Scutellaria baicalensis

I promise I haven’t chosen Scutellaria baicalensis as one of this month’s plants to love based solely on its mouthful of a name. This is the sort of name that does make you sound terribly knowledgeable (even if you haven’t got a clue how to pronounce it), but the plant itself is gorgeous.

And I promise I haven’t chosen this plant just because I picked it up at a rare plant fair last year: I do really love it, and here’s why.

In June, long, arching spikes of blue-purple flowers appear above the bushy plant. This plant has already worked hard: the leaves are pretty and look a little like lemon balm. The flower spikes are pretty in a very feminine, airy-fairy sort of way, and one of the things I love about them the most is that as the flowers fall off from the bottom of the spike upwards, they reveal little bronze-purple cushion-shaped seedpods, which are fun and quirky in their own right. Oh, and the bees absolutely adore it.

Have I persuaded you yet? If you’re wavering, here’s another thing: once Scutellaria gets flowering, it keeps going all summer. I rest my case here. Plant in big drifts for maximum airy-fairy effect.

Vital stats
Location:
Any soil.
Light:
Full sun, although tolerates some shade
When to plant:
Sow seeds in late summer
What can I expect from this plant?
Height: 2ft
Spread: 3ft
Flowers: June

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