Michigan Lamb’s Ear

Lamb’s ear earns its name the moment you touch it: thick, wooly leaves in a soft silver sage-green that feel like suede and look lightly frosted. In floral work it is a quiet luxury, cooling down hot color palettes, softening the edges of an arrangement, and lending that muted, dusty tone that reads as effortless elegance. Designers reach for it to wrap bouquet handles, trail down a tablescape, and set off pastels.

Lamb’s ear is a hardy perennial in the mint family, and while it originally hails from the dry hills of western Asia rather than the Great Lakes, it settles in beautifully across Michigan and stays winter hardy well into our colder zones. Its fuzzy silver coating is a drought adaptation that slows water loss, as described on its Wikipedia page, which is why it comes through our hottest, driest summer weeks looking plush and clean. We grow it as cut foliage rather than calling it a native, because it is a beloved cottage-garden transplant, not a Michigan wildflower.

Cut foliage is easy to overlook, but freshness shows instantly, and limp, yellowed lamb’s ear can undo an entire bouquet. Because our member farmers cut and cool it the same day it leaves the field, the silver foliage from our collective arrives firm and velvety rather than tired from days on a truck. Reserve a DIY bucket for your wedding or event, request lamb’s ear tucked into your bulk buckets, or ask our floral designers to build it into an arrangement for you.