Lamium orvala Album

Lamium orvala Album or White Deadnettle has many advantages. Its generous foliage, with its particularly graphic leaves, forms a beautiful bushy clump. Its charming flowers, bright white just shaded with a light pink, contrast with the green leaves in the background. It is also a hardy perennial, undemanding, which is happy in ordinary soil, even poor soil, and adapts to different locations.

The rhizomatous roots of the White Deadnettle are creeping, they do not sink deeply and do not show invasive behaviour. They only expand to allow the stump to develop. Solid stems covered with leaves rise from it, these are semi-evergreen under certain climates. Their leaves are ovate, slightly heart-shaped, and have dentate edges. They are particularly veined and embossed, reflecting even the slightest light. It is reminiscent of nettles who they are related to but do not worry about stings, Lamium orvala Album is not urticating.

Standing out clearly from this green setting, small flowers, 3 cm (1in), appear from May to June-July, with a calyx with villous teeth that surrounds the corolla tube. The corolla extends into two fringed lips, one upper and one lower. The name "Lamium" actually comes from Greek and means a throat or an open mouth. If you take the time to observe them, you can admire their delicacy and this unique shape. This will allow you to no longer consider nettles as uninteresting, as they have the same flowers.

The average size of the Lamium orvala Album, 50 cm (20in) tall by 30 cm (12in) wide, allows it to fit anywhere without difficulty, offering us its abundant foliage. Essential in a green and white ensemble, it harmonizes perfectly with Japanese Anemones, Canadian Dogwood, and follows on from Hellebores. It also integrates perfectly into a composition of varied foliage, alongside Heucheras, Lungworts, and perennial Geraniums. It will then be placed at the front of large flower beds or at the feet of bushes.