Teucrium

A quality, floriferous group of perennials and shrubs. Deciduous or evergreen, foliage often small, aromatic, opposite. Flowers in whorls, symmetrical, often with an exaggerated low lip and scented. Colours white, yellow, pink, mauve to purple-blue. Some are bi-coloured, other have attractive veins. Often flowering over a long period. Many coming from the Mediterranean, so very suitable for growing in sunny and well drained spot, with smaller varieties, T. ackermannii, T. pyrenaicum, perfect for the rockery, or growing in pots. T. x lucidrys a magnet for bees. Some species, T. marum, particularly attractive to cats.

As with so many members of the mint family, the flowers of teucriums are of outstanding value to pollinators, especially honeybees and bumblebees, together with butterflies such as small tortoiseshells and peacocks. The bushy and spreading perennials help to conserve water and provide refuge for beneficial invertebrate predators in a dry garden.