Ballota hirsuta

Perennial of the Lamiaceae family, this species is native to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco, where it colonizes dry rock gardens, screes, old walls, and arid garrigues, mainly in the Mediterranean zone, from sea level to submontane levels.

It forms a compact and rounded bush, 30 to 60 cm in height, densely branched, with a persistent habit. The entire plant is covered with a very dense whitish to grayish tomentum, woolly to the touch, giving it a remarkable silvery hue, particularly luminous under strong sunlight. The leaves are small, oval to rounded, crenate, arranged in opposite pairs along the stems.

The flowers, small, white-pink to pale pink, are grouped in verticils at the axils of the upper leaves. In its natural environment, flowering extends from May to July. In cultivation, it can bloom as early as April in well-exposed situations.

In rock gardens or dry stone walls, it withstands prolonged drought and requires well-drained, poor soil, in full sun. The persistent woolly foliage remains decorative all year round and is undoubtedly the main attraction of the species.