Yerba mate tea is not the answer for the original poster who needed to avoid caffeine. This herb does contain caffeine - more than twice as much caffeine as found in a typical cup of regular tea, and potentially as much as in a cup of coffee. According to one herbal reference: "In recent U.S. campaigns, yerba mate marketers claim that yerba mate contains no caffeine - rather, a chemical similar to caffeine called mateine. Mateine, they say, possesses all the benefits of caffeine and none of its negative effects (or so they would have consumers believe). Fact: yerba mate does contain caffeine. It has been chemically and scientifically identified, documented, verified, and validated to contain caffeine for many years by independent chemists and scientists around the world ("independent" being the operative term here)." http://www.rain-tree.com/yerbamate.htm This is not to say that yerba mate tea doesn't have valid uses. But it does contain caffeine and other pharmacologically active substances (like theophylline, which has been used in prescription drugs), and like coffee, yerba mate tea can cause problems, especially when large amounts are consumed.

My best guess from the info provided would be over-watering. This is a highly drought-tolerant plant which quickly develops root rot as well as leaf rot if the soil is not well draining or if it gets too much water. Treat it like a succulent - sandy soil (peat moss, vermiculite and compost all retain water) and minimal water. Hope this helps. Dave

I think lamb's ear is a great plant - the silvery leaves really makes deep- or rich-colored flowers stand out, particularly deep purples (heliotrope next to lamb's ear is smashing!). I have "Helen von Stein" aka Big Ears - she does not flower (well, I take that back - I got one, at the most two, flowers in the past 13 years I've had her at this house), and the leaves are large. Super easy to grow in hot, dry, full sun locations. It does spread but I wouldn't consider it aggressive, and, like someone above mentioned, easy to control - just give a yank or cut off the runners with a spade/shovel.

Good luck with this. I got antibiotic ear drops. My ear gets itchy, I scratch it, infection develops. My ear canal was definitely swollen and glands behind my ear were swollen. Eventually, the infection subsided but my ears are always dry, flaky and itchy. This time the doc decided I might have a problem with a fungus so prescribed anti-fungal drops. This helped a lot to relieve the itching. I also have bad dandruff and use a shampoo that contains tea tree oil. Since the inside of my ears is always dry although not as dry as it used to be, I wipe a little Tea Tree Soothing Gel by Jason in my ears. I too have lousy insurance so I understand where you're coming from. I hate spending over a hundred dollars between visit and drops but not be cured. My doctor also practices homeopathic medicine. I avoid most brands of soaps except for handwashing but for the rest of me, esp my face, I use a soap that contains Tea Tree oil. I seem to be sensitive to lanolin which I didn't figure out until my brother told me he was so now I only use skin creams that do not contain lanolin. One of the best skin moisturizers I ever used was when a friend demonstrated making skin creams with herbs and almond oil. BTW my FIL was once plagued by an itchy spot on his back that the dermatologist couldn't cure. I gave him some of my soap which helped immensely. For me, Tea Tree oil products work great,