Scarlet and Gold

More scarlet and gold highlights from the herb garden .. just starting to flower this last week or so are Tansy and the bronze Fennel..

I'm sure from reading about tansy way back that its supposed to be an insect repellent .. I know it is used dried to put in pet's beds to deter/repel fleas .. but everytime I go to photograph the lovely golden button flowers, they are covered in flies.. hmmmm!

When the great tall (some might say overgrown and out of control!) valerian finished, I left the great tall stems to provide support for the bronze fennel. So glad I did, as the golden flowerheads supported up high are providing a nice extra dimension in the herb garden.











... and on the windowsill soaking up the sunshine, the infused oils I prepared about six weeks ago are nearly ready and have changed colour ...

this golden one is Chamomile

and this gorgeous blood-red one is St John's Wort..

.. you can see the fantastic change in colour by comparing with this photo I took when I prepared it!

This should mean that all the goodness and healing properties from the flowers have now transferred themselves into the oil.












Once I've strained the plant material out, I will be keeping some oil to use as it is (for burns, including sunburn) and thickening a little of it to make into a salve for knife wounds .. I am accident-prone with the kitchen knife when I've not had enough sleep, so this is another helpful standby in our house!

Sunshine

This post is part of the UK Herbarium July blog party hosted this month by Debs Cook at Herbaholics Herbarium

I'm a Leo, this is my time of the year! And I love hot sunshine colours.. they warm and uplift. Bright splashes of bold oranges and yellows about the place declare that it IS summer, whatever the weather has decided to the contary. So I have a sunshine insurance policy .. each year, very very early in the year, I sow my annual seeds. I sow sunflowers, marigolds and nasturtiums.

And then I can settle back and enjoy the unfolding of spring with lush green foliage, beautiful purple and pink and white flowers.. safe in the knowledge that I'll have my hit of sunshine colour, too. Once we get to the lavender and strawberries and last of the roses, then we're getting warmer.. the St John's Wort at midsummer heralds the start of the bright yellow sunshine colours in my herb garden, which I feel is so appropriate for this celebration of the sun. And then more and more yellows seem to start popping out all over.

But I'm a big cheater! I sow dwarf sunflowers stupidly early, in February, so that they are flowering in May, usually. I harden them off in my little growhouse (you know, the sort which is basically a small shelf unit with a sort of pac-a-mac over the top!) and then I've got instant sunshine to pop into the garden. This year, I had a good little display which flowered on an indoors windowsill.. and if I'm not getting to see those outdoors, I have no compunction about cutting them for a jug on the kitchen table.

I got into dwarf sunflowers when I lived in Tottenham and had my roof garden - there was no way I could grow tall ones up there! Bad weather then meant not visiting or seeing the garden at all, as I had to climb a ladder through a hatch up onto the roof which kind of let the water in! That was when I got into the habit of taking a camera with me and snapping the plants on my brief forays to see what was happening up there.. a habit I still have. The best thing about where we live now is that I can see the garden from our living room anytime I want.. I love to stand at the door looking out watching it all in the rain from the comfort of a nice dry house!

Now marigolds I originially sowed to companion plant with tomatoes, and still do. But I just put them everywhere I can find space now, as they are just such a useful plant and such a hit of hot colour. And the more you pick the heads to use them, the more flowers you are rewarded with, it seems. Last year I grew 'Indian Prince' and was deeply satisfied with the really zingy bright orange ... they flowered into November last year, cheering up the onset of autumn and winter, and a pot of last years marigolds which I took out from the tomato planters once they were over gave me amazing huge almost fluorescent orange flowers from April this year.. WOW! Needless to say I put the pot right by the door so's I could see them from indoors.

I've grown nasturtiums the last couple of years, since we were given some seed for one of the marbled leaf varieties and just loved them. Nasturtiums, too, will also go really late into the year. This year I have hanging baskets about the place with a mix of marbled leaf/yellow flowers and dark foliage with deep red flowers. I had known this was an edible plant, but was delighted last year to find I could make a great vinegar with them (thank you, James Wong). I made it really as a catarrh remedy, but it tastes wonderful on salads.

The greatest thing about planting these annuals is sharing the whole growing process with the little'un who, at 3 this year, has had his own garden for the first time. He planted his own marigold and sunflower seeds in February and was able to plant them out into his own little plot and water them and watch them grow and flower. The sunflower and marigold photographs I've used above actually show his plants. And here he is, carefully picking the petals off some marigolds of his own that he grew and contributing them for making infused oil.

St John's Wort

I couldn't let midsummer pass by without any mention of Saint John's Wort, one of my favourite herbs. Favourite because it has so many useful applications as a medicinal herb, it is beautiful in the herb garden and I love how it marks the high point of the year.

Well, this year the two St John's Wort plants I planted carefully in my herb bed are much reduced from last year.. completely because other earlier larger pushier herbs have really taken off all around. I thought I had lost one or both completely, but no, they are still poking their heads up .. only they are late flowering. You will remember from a previous post how I have always been impressed that this plant always flowers within a day to two either side of St John's Day on June 25th (one day after old midsummer on 24th). Not this year, sadly.

This is the stronger of the two plants on June 30th

By the by, if you click and enlarge this photo you can really see the little perforations on the leaves, which give it one of its names.

I was a bit glum because it is my favourite infused oil to make - I love the way the bright yellow flowers create a bright red oil and I was looking forward to making it with the little'un so he could watch it turn to pink and then scarlet and tell me when it was ready. But I also smiled because nature has gifted me two little baby plants, one self-seeded between paving slabs and another in the veg bed. So fingers crosseed I will have four plants to bring on for next summer.

... and that's where this post would have ended, except for **STOP PRESS**! One of those wonderful happenings that renews your faith in life, the universe and everything!

We went to a very special place in Arlesford, close to where we live, on Sunday for a summer morning's ramble and explore.. I'll tell you more about it and show you some pictures soon. The ruined medieval church of St Peter there is in a quiet, peaceful location away from everywhere and nature has been allowed to take over within the roofless walls. And, for the first time, I found St John's Wort growing wild .. and it was everywhere. Actually growing along the walls inside the church, but also as part of an area of long grass and wildflowers left uncut in the graveyard beyond.

A young plant on a west facing wall, in bud but about the same stage as mine (on a west facing fence) at home.

Amongst grass in the meadow immediately north of the church.

But look at this in full sun on the south-facing inner wall of the nave! There was a whole bed of it, in flower.

Its hard to put into words how special it was to step into this deserted peaceful space, all alone and to see it alive with herbs .. there were tansy, plantain and mullein growing out of the tops of the walls! I wasn't greedy .. I took enough flowering tops for a very small jar, but mainly just drank it all in. You can't predict or plan an experience like that.




Update (4th July):

Just goes to show how observant I am (!).... my main Saint John's Wort is still there, tangled amongst the feverfew, ladies mantle and escapee valerian, but I didn't spot it till today when the glorious yellow flowers finally opened. Ta Da!

Midsummer

Just a little shot of the St Johns Wort bobbing in the breeze! One of my favourite plants.. I have to decide whether I have the heart to cut and use it to make an infused oil, or whether I want to enjoy it in the garden.

The buds were ready to burst at the weekend, but the lovely little yellow flowers always open the week after midsummer - which shows how aptly named it is, as St John's Day is June 25th, I think.

Buds

There's a lot of budding going on in the Hedgewitch herb garden right now! And as we go from May to June (and from Spring-ish to Summer-ish) it feels as though we are also changing colours: in May the garden hosted purple blooms, the sage flowers and chives, then more white appearing with the elderflowers and valerian. The thyme is currently in flower with pretty pinky-white blooms and the yarrow is fit to burst, too.





Now, as the daylight hours approach their maximum the yellow flowers are opening to greet the sun: the calendula blooms are opening, the rue buds are turning from green to yellow, and it won't be long before the St John's wort flowers to mark the longest day.

St John's Wort

St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is strongly linked with ancient superstition and Midsummer’s Day: ‘hypericum’ derives from Greek and relates to the practice of placing flowers above religious images in the home to drive off evil spirits at Midsummer. It is also thought to be named after the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, who used this herb to treat wounds on Crusade battlefields. A medieval prescription by the Physicans of Myddfai for chillblains survives from thirteenth century Wales.

Traditionally used to treat nervous complaints and externally for healing, St John’s wort fell out of use in the 19th century. Its revival in the next century was due to clinical trials which demonstrated its effectiveness in relieving mild to moderate depression. Today it is used internally for anxiety, depression, nervous tension, the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and menopause though in the past it was used for a broader spectrum of ailments including bladder problems (in particular, an infusion is given before retiring to treat a child’s bedwetting). The herb is also useful when applied externally to treat burns, bruises, injuries, sores, sciatica, cramps and sprains.

A cooling herb which promotes healing, calms nerves, reduces inflammation and benefits circulation. It is also locally antiseptic and analgesic.

CAUTION: Harmful if eaten; can cause dermatitis/skin allergy in sunlight

Flowers June to August
An oil is made by infusing the flowers in olive oil.


PLEASE NOTE: These notes on the history and use of herbs have been compiled for general interest and are not intended as medical advice, for which you should consult a professional herbalist.

BIBLIOGRAPY:
'A Modern Herbal' Mrs M. Grieve FRHS ed. Mrs C. F. Leyel (1973)
'The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal' Penelope Ody MNIMH (1993)
'RHS Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses' Deni Brown (2002)