Heal All - Living Pollinator Groundcover Starter - Native Michigan Pollinator Plant

Spring 2027 preorder.

Ships as a rooted living groundcover starter. Local delivery plants will be potted. 

Heal-All / Self-Heal (Prunella vulgaris) is a member of the mint family and produces small purple-lavender flowering spikes through the summer.

This low-growing perennial attracts bees and other pollinators and can handle foot and dog traffic. At first glance you may mistake it for a mini lavender or Agastache. 

• The plants we are selling originate from seed from naturally occurring plants growing on our property in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
• Rather than selling this as one tiny individual seedling, we grow individual 2-inch square starters (approximately) containing multiple rooted Heal-All /Self Heal seedlings, which will spread and establish in your garden.
  

Why We Grow It

• In the yard it handles foot, dog and mower traffic
• Excellent low-growing pollinator plant
• Purple-lavender flowers
• Attractive to bees and butterflies
• Perennial
• Forms a spreading flowering groundcover
• Works well around taller pollinator plants
• Tolerates a range of soil conditions
• Can grow in full sun or partial shade
• Low-maintenance once established

In the Garden

• Heal-All gives us something different from the taller plants in our pollinator collection.
• Lavender, allium, bee balm, oregano and other perennials provide height and larger masses of flowers. Heal-All stays much lower and helps fill some of the open space closer to the ground.
• That makes it especially useful when building a layered pollinator or lavender garden instead of simply planting a row of individual flowering plants.
• This is an extremely versatile plant. If you like a natural-looking garden, pollinator planting, lawn alternatives, flowering groundcover or plants that can fill in around taller perennials, Heal-All is worth considering.  

What You Receive

Heal-All is sold as a small living mat rather than as one plant.

Shipped orders: One approximately 2-inch square rooted starter containing multiple Heal-All seedlings.

Local delivery: One multi-seedling starter growing in a nursery pot and ready for planting.

Your starter will be much smaller than an established patch. The individual plants will spread outward as they become established.

Please Know Before Planting

Heal-All is a good choice when you want plants to fill an area. It spreads through creeping growth and can also reseed.

Space the squares 6-12 inches apart to create a border or fill in areas of a lawn or garden.  

Heal-All can spread enthusiastically when it is happy. That is one of the reasons we like it as a groundcover, but it also means this is not the best plant for someone who wants a formal, controlled, non-spreading perennial.

Heal-All works well in: 

• Pollinator gardens
• Natural-looking garden areas
• Cottage-style plantings
• French country gardens
• Edges of beds
• Around taller perennials
• Areas where a flowering alternative to bare soil is welcome
  

Growing Conditions

Light: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Adaptable to many soil types; prefers reasonably well-drained soil

Water: Keep watered while establishing. Established plants tolerate periods of drier soil.

Growth habit: Low, creeping and spreading perennial

Bloom: Summer

Flower color: Purple to lavender

Pollinators: Attracts bees, bumblebees and butterflies

Garden position: Front of the border, between taller plants or as a flowering groundcover

Hardiness: Generally hardy through very cold northern climates; NC State lists common self-heal through USDA Zone 3.

Price

$6 per approximately 2-inch multi-seedling starter

3 for $15

Identification note: These plants occur naturally on our property and were identified as Prunella vulgaris based on their growth habit, foliage and flowers. Because they were not purchased as a named nursery selection, they are sold as the species rather than as a cultivar or selected form.