Plant Encyclopedia

Description:

Heat and drought tolerant, excellent for hot and sunny borders, beds, hanging baskets and containers; produces trailing stems of velvety silver foliage with a slight licorice fragrance; easy to grow and low maintenance

Ornamental Features

Licorice Plant is primarily valued in the garden for its broadly spreading habit of growth. Its attractive small tomentose round leaves remain grayish green in color with hints of silver throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Licorice Plant is a multi-stemmed annual with a ground-hugging habit of growth. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and can be pruned at anytime. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Licorice Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Licorice Plant will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 30 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings.

Licorice Plant is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.