Lion's Tail or Wild Dagga

I first saw this amazing plant at the San Diego Zoo. After finding it on here, I realize why they had it everywhere. (the name) Once planted, it only took about a week for the seeds to emerge from the soil. From there, this plant grew extremely fast. The flowers last from Spring to Fall here and produce so many lion-tail shaped flower heads and branches that I have to clip back every 3 months to keep it from taking over my patio. It also self-sows in moist soil. I haven't used it for any medicinal purposes yet and I haven't seen it attract any hummingbirds, bees, or butterflies, but it is too amazing regardless. Make sure you plant it in a location where it has some room to grow as it will quickly become a small tree. My main plant is about 7' tall right now. This is a conversation starter in the garden from its unique shaped flower pods.

This plant is amazing and using the plant is even more amazing! I've been growing and saving seeds since 2014 & it has even re-seeded itself several times in the harsh winter here in Indianapolis, Indiana. I would like to thank you again for sharing this loving plant!

I grew these for the first time in 2017. They took weeks to germinate--I just stuck them in starter pots in my little grow area outside and watered them some. Once they were a few inches high, I transplanted them in my herb garden and these beauties took off. When they reached five feet in height, I thought they were done. Nope. They grew to almost eight feet. And one day I saw the most amazing things. Hummingbirds were duking it out to see which one would be the dominant bird. A little green hummingbird eventually won and I saw him every day for at least two months, coming to sip from the flowers. The flowers kept shooting more stalks into the air and new flowers grew above the old ones. Some had four and five levels of flowers and that little hummingbird diligently worked the lion's tail patch all summer. What a treat to watch. I didn't harvest anything this year from these, but next year I will. I just hated to disturb them! They became my favorite crop of all.

To say that I abused these little seedlings would probably be an understatement. I started inside and, to make a long story short, waited waaayyyy too long to transplant outside. With that said, just when I was about to give up hope I noticed one of the little sprouts had survived, and as the summer progressed it started to grow astoundingly quick. I have to agree with another reviewer that what grew for me seems to be Leonotis nepetifolia or 'Lion's ear' rather than the Leonotis leonurus commonly referred to as 'Lion's tail'. It has a somewhat quirky aesthetic with it's tall stalk(s) culminating in a series of spiky balls, which open to reveal their light orange flowers. Perhaps because of it's challenged beginnings, mine didn't start flowering until almost mid-October - but it is flowering just fine, despite being grown in a pot. A friend I gave seeds to grew in a pot as well and her's flowered too.

The first plant I had bought from a store had gorgeous orange flowers and this year I could not find this plant anywhere so I ordered the seeds. It grew fast, 1 in pot is 8ft tall while 1 in ground is 6ft. I was hoping for the beautiful orange colors but these are a dull whitish, orange color. Not at all the colors I thought they were supposed to be. Hoping next year to try again because I absolutely love this plant when it produces the bright colors