The Thriller Lady’s Mantle, otherwise known as the Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ is a pretty well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and fast growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its gray-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Thriller Lady’s Mantle Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Thriller Lady’s Mantle are the following:
- Water: The Thriller Lady’s Mantle grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
- Light: Keep your Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Thriller Lady’s Mantle in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Thriller Lady’s Mantle will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle belongs to the Rosaceae family, the genus Alchemilla and the species Mollis, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ (al-kem-ILL-uh MAW-liss).
As with other Alchemilla’s, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Thriller Lady’s Mantle is a plant native to the Europe.
You might be wondering why your Thriller Lady’s Mantle’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 7 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4b, 4a, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A2, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Thriller Lady’s Mantle actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ can grow up to 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Thriller Lady’s Mantle a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful spreading shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ – 24″ (45cm – 60cm) free so the Thriller Lady’s Mantle can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ grows best with regular watering to keep the soil moist during the dry season. Reduce watering once the plant is established.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Thriller Lady’s Mantle in soil with moist but well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Thriller Lady’s Mantle is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ in from full or deep shade (no direct sunlight or at most 2 hours per day), to little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to dappled or moderate shade (under other plant’s canopy).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (late), and during the summer (early).
Flowers
You can expect your Thriller Lady’s Mantle to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Thriller Lady’s Mantle produces some beautiful yellow, or gold/yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Thriller Lady’s Mantle have a beautiful gray-green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Thriller Lady’s Mantle is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Thriller Lady’s Mantle have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of gravel and rock garden, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Thriller Lady’s Mantle’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, ground covers, banks and slopes, edging, and in underplanting roses and shrubs, others use it for landscaping in a edging, border, mass planting, cutting garden, ground cover, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Thriller Lady’s Mantle’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Berberis, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Astilbe will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Thriller Lady’s Mantle, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
