Tag Archives: Herbs

Wild and Weedy Wednesday: 21st June, 2023

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As it is the summer solstice today I have chosen St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) as my weed/wildflower of the week.

It started flowering a little earlier than usual last week – as you may have guessed, it gets its name from St John’s Day on 24th June, and usually opens just before that. This pretty yellow flower, with its characteristic reflective shiny five petals, spreads everywhere here, and has recently also started invading my flower beds. Although, I must admit I do have some I planted specifically in my Herb Bed as well, as you can see in this photo below. 😉

And here it is growing wild in the meadow…

I believe Hypericum perforatum is indeed classified as an invasive weed in North America, where it is a neophyte. Like many of the plants growing wild here, it has been used medicinally for centuries, primarily as an antidepressant and for anxiety or sleeping disorders. It is also anti-bacterial, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory, and Hypericum oil (hypericin) has been used for treating bruises, burns, rashes, rheumatism and sprains. Like many herbal remedies, the pharmaceutical industry has tried to play down its usefulness, but data from 2004 showed it is the most frequently prescribed anti-depressant in Germany and for light to medium depression has the same effect as other drugs. (I read the other day that over 8 million people in the UK take anti-depressant medication – hopefully hypericum is sometimes prescribed there too).

The oil is in the leaves, and the glands can be seen when the leaves are held up to the light, looking like tiny perforations. (Hence the botanical name Hypericum perforatum.)

The flower buds produce a reddish purple ‘ink’ when squeezed between the fingers, which also explains one of the names used for it in German – ‘Herrgottsblut’  (‘lord’s blood’) – apparently a reference to the blood of the holy Saint John the Baptist.

 The flowers of St. John’s Wort (Johanniskraut in German) are considered to be at their most potent at midsummer and are traditionally used here in wreaths and decorations. These are made with nine herbs altogether and displayed on the door as protection, or the herbs are held over the Johannisfeuer – a bonfire lit on the eve of St John’s Day. One of these other herbs may be Chamomile, which I featured last week. Another is Artemisia, which also grows in my garden. However, the herbs used do vary from region to region. These old traditions are dying out, but in some small communities – particularly further south – the traditional bonfires and midsummer parties still take place.

I wonder if this flower grows wild near you… or if it finds its way into your flower beds like here. I would love to know if it is common in the UK in particular, as I do not recall it from my childhood.

If you would like to join me one Wednesday with a wild and weedy post, please do. And leave a link in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, and happy solstice! 😉

Wild and Weedy Wednesday: 17th May, 2023

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I have chosen a very weedy plant this week; each Wednesday I post about one of the wild flowers and/or weeds I find in my garden, and read up on its common names and uses. So many of them are edible, and this one is no exception: Red Sorrel, also known as Sheep’s Sorrel or Field Sorrel (Rumex acetosella).

It is small, pinkish red and spreads like mad via rhizomes, but has many benefits for wildlife. In fact, while reading about this plant for today’s post I discovered that it is beneficial to the Small Copper – a butterfly that I had photographed only a few days ago! The Copper depends on it for food, and it is also a food source for groundfeeding songbirds such as sparrows, of which we have plenty! So although its big sister, Common Sorrel or Rumex acetosa, also called dock leaf, caused us problems when we moved here (perhaps I’ll do a post on that too), I am happy to see this small and pretty one growing in the tall grass.

Here is the Small Copper, visiting one of my flower beds. 😃

Below you can see it is surrounded by several other wild plants or ‘weeds’, such as veronica, wild pansies and plantains, which may also feature in future posts.

It thrives on poor, sandy, slightly acid soil, in the full sun, so we have perfect conditions for it here. Drought is not a problem for it either. It grows to about 30 cm, and can flower all summer if not mown. It can give larger areas of fields or heathland a red shimmer.

I mentioned that it is edible, but only in small quantities due to the toxic oxalic acid. This makes it taste sour, which explains the German common name (Sauerampfer) meaning ‘sour bitter’! But a few young leaves and flowers can be added to a salad to pep it up. It is one of the seven herbs used for the famous ‘Frankfurt Green Sauce‘. (The other six are Borage, Chives, Anthriscus, Parsley, Salad Burnet and Cress.)

I would love to know what weeds and wild flowers grow in your gardens, so if you would like to join me on a Wednesday, please leave a link below.

Happy gardening!

🐝🐞🪲

In a Vase on Monday: ‘Royal Bumble’

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You may be wondering what on earth the title of this week’s vase means! Well, it is the name of the red Salvia I have used: Salvia greggii ‘Royal Bumble’.

 

The Peony foliage was actually what I started off with. It has already started to turn this lovely pinky orange colour. The grass is Calamagrostis brachytricha, also with a reddish pink tinge.

 

I then added a few stems of Hypericum ‘Miracle Night’, and several stems of this deep scarlet Salvia, grown from my own cuttings last year.

 

The whole vase was then photgraphed on one of the stepping stones in the Herb Bed, surrounded by some of the other salvias I have grown this year.

This was the part of the Herb Bed I enlarged in the Spring. Now that we have had lots of rain it is slowly filling up with stipa, sage and borretsch seedlings. And the Parsley has done well there too! 😃

Thanks as always to Cathy at Rambling in Garden, who asks us to join her each week with a vase of materials from our gardens.

Have a good week, and happy gardening!

🐝

In a Vase on Monday: From the Edge of the Meadow

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There are areas in the garden that don’t get mown, including up against the fence….

Or this lovely slope next to the garage…

But the idea of flattening this ‘meadow’ if I walk through has put me off picking any flowers…. until now, as there are some Queen Ann’s Lace flowers and some moon daisies open near the edges! So on a perfect summer’s day (Sunday) I selected a mix of what I could reach, and a few other things from the edges of the garden. 😃

Some of the flowers are: Moon daisies, Fleabane, Harebells, Red and Yellow Clovers, St John’s Wort, Knapweed, Yarrow, Bedstraw and Bugle.

 

I love finding a bit of pink yarrow, which occasionally turns up amongst the white…

The St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is actually from my Herb Bed, but we do have some flowering around the garden too. I hope to find enough to pick and dry for tea in winter. 😃

Is anything growing wild in your gardens this week? 😉

I am participating in ‘In a Vase on Monday’, hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Why not visit her blog to see other vases from far and wide… 😃

Happy gardening!

In a Vase on Monday: Silvery Sage

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I have been getting to know more and more varieties of Salvia over the past couple of years, and one I am completely in love with at the moment is the Salvia sclarea, or Clary Sage. I sowed some seed and planted out a few small plants into the Herb Bed last spring, having no idea how big these plants become!

 

 I also had no idea how lovely they are. So one has been cut for the centre piece of my vase this week.

What better companions for it than some of my other sages. The strong purple in front is Salvia viridis, also sown and planted out last spring with little idea of what it will look like. 😃

The white salvia is growing in the Moon Bed: Salvia nemorosa ‘Schneehügel’. This one has the slightly bitter smell that I don’t like much. The culinary sages smell wonderful though and I added a pink and lilac one to the vase.

And then finally I added two sprigs of my ornamental salvias ‘Nachtvlinder’ and ‘Aromax Blue’. Hard to see on the photos, but they will no doubt feature again here soon!

Do you grow salvias? Which are your favourites?

I am linking to Cathy’s Monday meme inviting us to share a vase of flowers etc from our gardens. Do visit her at Rambling in the Garden to see her lovely British vase today as well as to see who else is picking and plonking/elegantly arranging flowers this week!

Happy gardening!

Salvia sclarea