Grow and Care for Shrubby Hare’s Ear

Grow shrubby hare's ear as an evergreen shrub in full sun, on soil that drains, and give it a sheltered wall if winters are hard. Shrubby hare's ear is Bupleurum fruticosum.

Give it full sun, soil that drains, and a sheltered wall in a cold garden

Shrubby hare's ear wants full sun and a hole that still drains after rain. Water a new plant through the first dry season, then ease off; an established shrub takes heat and missed water better than a soggy root zone, and it holds up in salt spray on the coast. [1] [2] Shrubby hare's ear grows as a rounded evergreen about 5 to 8 feet tall and wide, with glossy blue-green leaves and yellow-green umbels from mid-summer into fall. In a cold garden, set it against a south- or west-facing wall so the wood stays dry in frost.

1. Choose full sun and soil that drains. A wet pocket is the usual cause of decline, especially in winter.
2. Leave about 5 to 8 feet for the mature shrub. It is a border or hedge plant, not a windowsill start.
3. Water through the first dry season. After that, water only in a long dry spell.
4. If winters are hard, use a sheltered wall and keep the crown out of standing water.

Plant after frost, at the same depth as the pot

If the plant spent winter in a pot, wait until after the last frost, then set it at the same depth it grew in the nursery pot, in full sun, on ground that drains. A small plant on a windy bank needs a stake until the roots hold. [3]

1. Wait until after the last frost if the shrub is coming from a pot that spent winter under cover.
2. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and a little wider. Set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot, not buried under extra soil.
3. Backfill with the soil you took out if it drains. On heavy clay, mix in grit so water can leave the hole.
4. Water once to settle the soil. Space shrubs about 4 to 6 feet apart, and stake a small plant if the site is windy.

Prune after the umbels fade, or cut it hard in spring

After the yellow-green umbels fade, snip the spent stems and shape the shrub lightly so it stays dense to the ground. To resize an old plant, cut it nearly to the ground in early spring; it blooms on the new wood, so that hard cut still gives flowers the same year. [4]

1. After bloom, cut off spent umbels and shorten long shoots to the outline you want. Do not take more than about a third of the shrub at once.
2. To refresh a woody plant, cut it nearly to the ground in early spring, before new growth starts.
3. Do not cut into old wood with no visible buds unless you are doing that spring renovation, and do not leave the crown sitting in wet soil after a hard cut.

Root a summer cutting

The usual way to start another shrub is a semi-ripe cutting in mid to late summer. Stick a short piece of this year's wood in a sandy mix that drains, and keep that mix barely moist until roots show.

1. In July or August, take a 3- to 5-inch cutting of half-ripe wood.
2. Strip the lower leaves and push the cutting into a sandy mix in a pot or frame that drains.
3. Keep the mix barely moist until roots form, then grow the new plant in a pot through winter and set it out after frost.

Start seed in a pot for the first winter

You can also sow seed in spring in a pot, keep it barely moist until seedlings show, and grow those seedlings under cover through their first winter. Plant them out after frost the next year. Do not treat a florist seed packet labeled only Bupleurum as this shrub; that packet is usually the annual filler.

1. Sow in spring in a pot of mix that drains, and keep the surface barely moist until seedlings show, often in two to eight weeks.
2. Move seedlings into their own pots and keep them under cover through the first winter.
3. Plant out after frost the following year, at the same depth as the pot.

Not the florist annual — and not harebell

A seed rack labeled Bupleurum or hare's ear is usually the annual filler, Bupleurum rotundifolium, grown for chartreuse stems that die with summer heat. This shrub is evergreen, woody, and several feet tall. Confirm the Latin on the tag is Bupleurum fruticosum.

Harebell is a Campanula with hanging blue bells, not this Mediterranean shrub — see How to Grow Bellflowers. The umbels can remind you of dill or fennel — see How to Grow Dill and How to Grow Fennel. Shiny leaves can look like a euphorbia from a distance; euphorbia has milky sap — see How to Grow Euphorbia.

If the shrub sits wet in winter, move it to a hole that drains, or to a sheltered wall, and skip extra water once the roots are in.