Where a small shrub is needed, Elsholtzia stauntonii, or Chinese mint shrub, will fill the need. A hardy deciduous, semi-woody shrub, it grows to about four feet, and has a neat rounded shape.
In severe Winters it freezes to the ground, but it comes up and blooms on the new growth. In fact I prefer to cut it down in the Spring to get an even growth.
The flowers of the mint shrub, in four-to six-inch spikes, are similar to a veronica’s. Of a red-blue or lilac color, they appear in late Summer when flowers are not so plentiful in the border.
This shrub may be used in the front in a tall shrub border, or as a background subject for herbaceous perennials.
I have found a few volunteer seedlings so have never tried to use cuttings, although one may. Divisions may be made as the shrub gets older. Elsholtzia likes full sun and a rich well-drained soil.
This member of the mint family is desirable because it provide blooms in September. Elsholtzia slauntonii) grows a little over three feet high.
The leaves are slender, pointed and toothed, and flowers, in dense, one sided, violet-colored spikes, four to eight inches long, appear at the ends of stiff stems.
They bring late color to the garden and are attractive with purple colchicums and late blooming violet sages.
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