Plant of the Month – May – Phlomis Russeliana

One of my personal favourites and in my view a much underrated and underused plant, Phlomis Russeliana , is  bone-hardy with stout stems bearing tiered whorls of hooded, butter yellow flowers in summer, above rough heart-shaped basal leaves.Hailing from Syria it is a valuable and easy plant that thrives in almost any soil. We have it planted in dense shade right through to full sun and it thrives all over!Rich buttery yellow flowers appear in June-Aug but is in its element as soon as the mature plant sends up it flower spikes in May. Grey green heart shaped basal leaves act as a great foil to to the flowers and ultimately the impressive seedheads. Good ground cover too.H&S 3ft x 2ft.