Teucrium Species, American Germander, Canada Germander, Hairy Germander, Wood Sage

I came across a wild patch in a partly-shaded area near a creek in a town park in southeast Pennsylvania in early July of 2020 in bloom. ...Read MoreI think it is a rather pretty native perennial wildflower. It can be grown in a natural style garden where it will spread by rhizomes and self-sowing to form a colony, so it can be aggressive. The flowers in the colony I found were probably a little more pale in their pink color than some others. Long-tongued bees, hummingbird moths, hummingbirds, and some other pollinators use the flowers. It is a member of the Mint Family with squarish stems and opposite leaves. The foliage is aromatic, but it is bitter to taste. It was once used for some medicinal teas, but that is not good in that it contains a chemical that can cause liver damage. It bears tiny light brown, rounded seed. It has a large native range over all the lower 48 states of the US.

West-central Pennsylvania, DuBois, zone 5.
I have a small patch, 2' x 10'. I've never been able to get seeds from them. I've tried...Read More to shake and grind out seeds from the dried, standing plants, nothing. I've tried to collect just before they browned, right after the flowers fell, dried them and tried to shake and grind out seeds again, nothing. I've cut into the green pods to see what's inside and again nothing. I'm guessing that roots and rhizomes are the only way to spread them, this batch anyway.
One year I let the patch grow to 3' x 10' and then trimmed them back in the fall. When I cut them back with the lawn mower, the bitter smell was so strong I could taste it in the air.
I've also heard that American Germander was used as a bitter herb in Colonial days to flavor beer until hops became more popular.

Makes an excellent native accent plant to fill in shady areas!

Here in Central Florida these are native, they grow on the sides of the roads near ditches. Here they seem to prefer morning sun, then hi...Read Moregh or dappled shade the rest of the day. They also seem to prefer consistently moist soil. We use them in our landscape along w/ hybrid members of the Lamiaceae family.