Question of the Week browse by: questions Thanks to Chris Busse
for this great question! And yes, it will! Heartleaf skullcap
(Scutellariaovata) is one of the relatively few plants that go
dormant in the summer, instead of the winter, thus defying our
in grained view of how plants behave in response to seasonal
changes. We're quite accustomed to plants going dormant in the
winter, but usually around here, if something dies back in the
SUMMER, it actually IS dead. Since plants can't just get up and
walk away when the weather gets bad, they have to adopt other
strategies to deal with the changing seasons. Plants that are
native to our temperate climatic zone usually respond to COOLER
temperatures and SHORTER days by going to sleep to avoid
potentially harmful clashes with the cold of winter. But certain
plants may also respond to the stress of extreme heat and
drought,and the LONG days of INTENSE sunlightin the same manner-
by hunkering down for a little nap until the situation improves.
Heartleaf skullcap does