Purple Tails — Teucrium hircanicum

Why I grow it
This is one of those perennials I like because it gets on with the job without requiring much fuss. Purple Tails produces upright spikes of rich purple flowers over a long period and gives useful height without becoming enormous.

At a glance
Type: Flowering perennial
Growth: Upright, clump-forming
Flowers: Long purple flower spikes
Flowering: Summer into autumn
Inventory: 10 plants

In the garden
A good plant for mixed borders, cottage gardens and the more relaxed sort of planting where things are allowed to mingle. The flower spikes work well poking up between lower-growing plants and are popular with bees and other pollinators.

It can self-seed when happy, which I regard as free plants rather than a character flaw. If you don't, remove the spent flower heads before they set seed.

Care
Full sun to part shade. Happy in ordinary, reasonably well-drained soil and fairly tolerant once established. Cutting back spent flower stems will keep it tidy and can encourage further flowering.

What you’ll receive
One established Purple Tails plant, ready to plant into the garden.