Marrubium vulgare
White horehound, common horehound, virgin herb, bonhomme: this small perennial with crinkled, woolly, almost silvery foliage was once found in every country garden before falling out of favor. Its growth habit recalls mint, while its fragrance evokes thyme: an understated plant that deserves a revival.
Characteristics:
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Woolly foliage: crinkled leaves covered with a whitish down, highly decorative and silvery in appearance.
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Hardy perennial: excellent resistance to both cold and drought, ideal for difficult gardens.
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Bee-friendly: its whorls of small white flowers attract bees very effectively.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun; it appreciates warmth and light.
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Soil: poor, dry, stony, and well drained — this is a plant of wastelands and roadsides, thriving where little else will grow. Above all, it dislikes stagnant moisture. Do not amend the soil: lean soil concentrates its aromas and enhances its silvery foliage.
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Method: sow in spring, on the surface because the seeds need light to germinate, in pots or directly in the ground. No soaking or stratification is necessary. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant along borders, in rock gardens, or in an herb bed, spacing plants 40 cm apart. It grows very well in pots, making it a good option for small spaces.
Care advice:
- Almost none. Cut back the clump at the end of winter to keep it compact. No watering is needed once established.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Highly valued by bees, it produces abundant nectar over a long summer period.
- Its evergreen, woolly foliage provides winter shelter for small beneficial insects.
- Its drought resistance makes it a good candidate for water-wise gardens.
Uses:
- Its highly bitter aromatic leaves can be used sparingly in infusions. A traditional medicinal plant of the European countryside. See our medicinal plants to sow.
- As a fermented plant extract, for the garden.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave the whorls to dry completely on the plant until they turn brown, then shake the stems over a container: the small seeds settle at the bottom of the spiny calyces. Handle with gloves, as the calyces are prickly. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Rediscover a forgotten herb of country gardens with these white horehound seeds.
