Butterfly Gardening

If you have limited space and/or experience, a good, simple combination for a starter garden is – Buddleia, violets, verbena, parsley, dill, fennel, milkweed, coneflower, lantana, cosmos, zinnias. You can go on from there.

Select a spot for your garden that is sunny, but sheltered from the wind. The garden should get 5-6 hours of sunlight per day. Butterflies like to be in the warm sun, but don’t like to fight winds. Butterflies are cold-blooded creatures and need to regulate their body temperature externally. Thus, it is helpful to provide a few flat rocks in sunny places for the butterflies to rest on and sun themselves.

If you use pesticides in your garden, you will kill the butterflies and caterpillars, it’s as simple as that. Resist the urge and go organic. It’s better for you in the long run. If the caterpillars are eating your favorite plant, plant more! Or you could look into a book on the subject and find another plant the caterpillars will eat and move them.

Planting things caterpillars like to eat will encourage female butterflies to lay their eggs in your garden. Soon, you’ll have a new batch of butterflies to enjoy!

Some plants that caterpillars eat are:

Parsley, Dill, Milkweed, Fennel, Hackberry, Violets, Clover, Snapdragons, Queen Anne’s Lace, Joe Pye Weed, Peas, Fruit Trees, Alfalfa and more

Adult butterflies eat nectar, for the most part, so you’ll want to fill your garden with flowers that they enjoy. When planting flowers to attract butterflies, you’ll want to plant flowers with varying blooming times to keep the butterflies attracted all season long.

Some flowers that butterflies like are:

Aster, Black-eyed Susan, Butterfly Weed, Coreopsis, Daylilies, Goldenrod, Hibiscus, Lavender, Lilac, Marigold, Butterf1ly Bush, Oxeye Daisies, Phlox, Purple Coneflower, Redbud, Rosemary, Verbena, Wisteria, Milkweed, Zinnias, Joe Pye Weed, Alfalfa, Fruit Trees, Dogsbane, Dogwood, buddleia and more

Butterflies, like everybody, need to drink. You can provide a water source for them by keeping a shallow mudpuddle moist, maintaining a shallow fountain, or just putting out a little dish with water in it for them. The key word here is shallow. I’ve lost caterpillars to drowning in empty pots that I let fill up with rain water. It was very sad.

Some people like to put out butterfly feeders. This is really not necessary, but it can be fun, and it doesn’t hurt anything. The best thing to use in the feeders is just plain old sugar water and the best feeder I’ve seen was an inverted frizbee with a little sugar water inside. Setting out pieces of overripe fruit, such as apple, banana and citrus fruit, will also help keep your butterflies happy.

Butterfly houses will give your butterflies a safe place to hide out of reach of predators. You can find a nice wooden house and a alot more information about butterflies at many gardening centers. They are also reasonably easy to make.

Types of butterflies and their preferences-

American Snout
Larva- Hackberry
Adult- Aster, Dogbane, dogwood, goldenrod, pepperbush

Anise Swallowtail
Larva- Queen Anne’s Lace
Adult- Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed

Baltimore Checkerspot
Larva- Turtlehead, false foxglove, plantain
Adult- Milkweed, Vibernum, Wild rose

Black Swallowtail
Larva- Parsley, Dill, Fennel
Adult- Aster, Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed, Alfalfa

Buckeye Butterfly
Larva- Snapdragon, loosestrife
Adult- Aster, Milkweed, chickory, coreopsis, carpetweed

Clouded Sulphur
Larva- Clover
Adult- Goldenrod, Grape Hyacinth, Marigold

Cloudless Sulphur
Larva- Cassia, Apple, Clover
Adult- Zinnia, Butterfly bush, cosmos, cushion mum

Comma
Larva- Nettle, Elm, Hops
Adult- Rotting fruit & sap, butterfly bush, dandelioni

Common Checkered Skipper
Larva- Mallow, hollyhock
Adult- Shepherd’s needles, fleabane, aster, red clover

Common Sulphur
Larva- Vetch
Adult- Aster, dogbane, goldenrod

Common Wood Nymph
Larva- Purple top grass
Adult- Purple Coneflower

Eastern Pygmy Blue
Larva- Glasswort
Adult- Salt Bush

Eastern Tailed Blue
Larva- Clover, peas
Adult- Dogbane

Falcate Orangetip
Larva- Rock cress, mustard
Adult- Mustard, Strawberry, chickweed, violet

Great Swallowtail
Larva- Citrus trees, prickly ash
Adult- lantana, japanese honeysuckle, milkweed, lilac, goldenrod, azalea, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia

Gorgone Checkerspot
Larva- Sunflower
Adult- Sunflower, goldenrod

Gray Hair Streak
Larva- Mallow, Hollyhock, Clover, Alfalfa
Adult- Thistle, ice plant

Great Spangled Fritillary
Larva- violet
Adult- Ironweed, milkweed, black-eyed susan, verbena, thistle

Gulf Fritillary
Larva- Pentas, Passion Vine
Adult- Joe Pye Weed

Hackberry Emperor
Larva- Hackberry
Adult- Sap, rotting fruit, carrion, dung

Little Glassywing
Larva- Purpletop Grass
Adult- Dogbane, zinnia

Little Yellow
Larva- Cassia, clover
Adult- Clover

Monarch
Larva- milkweed
Adult- milkweed, butterfly bush, goldenrod, thistle, ironweed, mints, dogbane, buddleia

Mourning Cloak
Larva- willow, elm, poplar, aspen, birch, hackberry, wild rose, nettle
Adult- Rotting fruit & sap, butterfly bush, milkweed, shasta daisy, dogbane

Orange Sulphur
Larva- Vetch, alfalfa, clover
Adult- Alfalfa, Aster, Clover, Verbena

Orange-barred Sulphur
Larva- Cassia
Adult- Many plants

Painted Lady
Larva- daisy, hollyhock, Everlasting, Burdock
Adult- Goldenrod, aster, zinnia, butterfly bush, milkweed, dogbane, mallow, privet, vetch

Pearl Crescent
Larva- Aster
Adult- Dogbane

Pipevine Swallowtail
Larva- Dutchman’s pipe, pipevine
Adult- Buddleia

Polydamus Swallowtail
Larva- Pipevine
Adult- Buddleia

Queen
Larva- Milkweed
Adult- Milkweed, beggar-tick, daisy

Question Mark
Larva- Hackberry, Elm, Nettle, Basswood
Adult- Aster, Milkweed, Sweet Pepperbush

Red Admiral
Larva- nettle
Adult- rotting fruit and sap, daisy, aster, goldenrod, butterfly bush, milkweed, stonecrop, clover, dandelion, goldenrod, mallow

Red-spotted Purple
Larva- Black cherry, willow, poplar
Adult- Privet, poplar

Silver Spotted Skipper
Larva- Black locust, wisteria
Adult- Dogbane, privet, clover, thistle, winter cress

Silvery Checkerspot
Larva- Sunflower
Adult- Cosmos, blanket flower, phlox, zinnia, marigold

Sleepy Orange
Larva- Cassia, Clover
Adult- Blue Porter, Beggar tick, aster

Spicebush Swallowtail
Larva- Spicebush, Sassafrass
Adult- Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia

Spring Azure
Larva- Dogwood, Vibernum, Blueberry, Spirea, apple
Adult- Blackberry, cherry, dogwood, forgetmenot, holly

Tawny Emperor
Larva- Hackberry
Adult- Tree sap, rotting fruit, carrion

Tiger Swallowtail
Larva- cherry, ash, birch, tulip tree, lilac, willow
Adult- Butterfly bush, milkweed, Japanese honeysuckle, phlox, lilac, ironweed, joe pye weed, buddleia

Varigated Fritillary
Larva- Violet, passion vine
Adult- Joe Pye Weed

Viceroy
Larva- willow, poplar, fruit trees
Adult- rotting fruit, sap, aster, goldenrod, milkweed, thistle, beggar-tick

Western Tailed Blue
Larva- Clover, peas
Adult- Legumes

White Admiral
Larva- Birch, Willow, poplar, honeysuckle
Adult- aphid honeydew, bramble blossom

Zabulon Skipper
Larva- Purpletop grass
Adult- Blackberry, vetch, milkweed, buttonbush, thistle

Zebra Longwing
Larva- passion-vine
Adult- Verbena, Lantana, shepherd’s needle

Zebra Swallowtail
Larva- Pawpaw
Adult- Dogbane, joe pye weed, buddleia, privet, blackberry

Go to http://www.sacredhearth.com/taxonomy/term/418 for detailed information about plants that attract butterflies.

Fairy Garden

Whether or not you believe in fairies, a fairy garden is a charming addition to your landscaping. Even if fairies don’t make an appearance, this themed garden will attract other welcome visitors such as hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.

A fairy garden is by definition not a manicured space with everything in its place. You should let your plants run wild to get a natural affect. It may take a few seasons for this to happen, but it’ll be well worth it. As such, the garden should be placed in a spot that doesn’t get much traffic, even the most proper of gardeners might have a corner somewhere that he or she wouldn’t mind letting get a bit unruly. Remember, do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers!

If you can, incorporate water into your garden plan. A bird bath, a small pond or a fountain or waterfall will fit the bill.

Decorate your garden with fairy themed statuary. Select elegant or whimsical pieces. Little faces peering out of the ground or out of your trees, stepping stones with fairy images, or other pieces portraying fairies, gnomes or other mythical creatures are all appropriate. Shiny wind chimes, wind dancers and gazing balls will add to the effect. Include hiding places, such as tree stumps, piles of stones or mounds of soil or broken or tipped flowerpots.

You may also wish to include a spot where you will place offerings and gifts for the fairy folk.

When your garden is complete, be sure to invite the local fairies to come enjoy your garden. You may wish to do a formal welcoming or dedicationi ceremony or simply focus your conscious intent as you work.

Select plants with delicate, nodding flowers or leaves and pleasing fragrances. It is always best to use native varieties when you can get them.
columbine, snapdragons, foxglove, lady’s slipper, nasturtiums, ferns, heather, pansies, peony, violets, poppies, irises, mints, thyme and roses are excellent choices.

Miniature versions of these are also suitable. Wooly thyme and corsican mint make lovely resting places and miniature roses look charming among fairy statuary.

Shrubberies provide protection and a lovely backdrop. Try rosebushes, blackberries, barberry and holly.

Trees can also provide shade and welcome protection to fairies and wildlife. Try elder, hawthorn, oak, ash and birch.

Visit http://www.sacredhearth.com/taxonomy/term/420 for a detailed list of plants suitable for a faerie garden.

Herbal Preparations

The following are common preparations used in herbal medicine. Be sure to put all herbal preparations into sterilized containers for storage and take note that most should be made fresh each time. Only tinctures don’t spoil quickly.

Note- The proportions here are for dried herbs. If you are using fresh herbs, double them.

See also Oils and Salves

Infusioni

Infusions are used when we want to extract the volatile oils of a plant.

An infusioni is made like tea. Most recipes require that the boiling water be poured over the herbs, though some want the herbs added to the water. Usually, it’s about 1 teaspoon dried herb to 1 teacupful of boiling water, though the recipe is subject to variation depending on the herbs you are using. You can, of course, adjust to taste for most herbs, but for potentially dangerous herbs, you should always stick to the recipe.

Herbs should be steeped for about ten minutes. Place some sort of cover over your teacup or teapot while the herbs are steeping to prevent the escape of the valuable oils. Once the herbs have steeped, they should be strained out.

You may sweeten the infusion with sugar or honey if you wish. It should be drunk lukewarm or cool, except in the case of preparations designed to induce sweating or break up a cold.

Decoctioni

Decoctions are used when we want to extract the mineral salts and bitter properties of a plant. It is also used when extracting the volatile oils from roots and woody plants.

Using 2 teaspoons herb per cup of water, place the herbs in a pan and cover with the water. Bring to a boil. Stir and cover tightly. Allow to boil about 3 more minutes, then remove it from the heat and let it steep for another five minutes or so, still tightly covered.

Using the same proportion of woody or hard root material per cup of water, follow the same steps as above, but allow the mixture to boil, covered, for 10 minutes before removing it from the heat.

Plant parts should be strained out before drinking. The decoction can be sweetened with sugar or honey and should be taken hot if it is being used to break up a cold or to induce sweating. Otherwise it can be taken cold or lukewarm.

Cold Extract

A cold extract is called for when you want to minimize the loss of volatile oils and do not seek to extract mineral salts.

Using two teaspoons of dried herbs to one cup water, place in a non-metal container. Let it stand overnight. Take as you would an infusion. Refrigerate unused portion and take within 24 hours.

Juice

Juicing retains vitamins, minerals and volatile oils the best.
Chop up the fresh herb and press to release the juices, add some water and press again. Unfortunately, juicing by hand leads to a great deal of waste. If you have a commercial juicer, you should use that. Drink immediately for best value.

Powder

Powdered herbs can be sprinkled onto food or into drinks or added to a gelatin capsule and taken like a pill.

Grind dried herbs with a mortar and pestle until you have a powder. Depending on the herb, two to three pinches of powder is usually a sufficient dose.

Syrup

Syrup is a more pleasant way of taking medicine all around.

To make the basic syrup, dissolve three pounds of sugar into a pint of water and boil, stirring constantly, until it reaches the desired consistency. Then add the desired infusion or decoction. Alternatively, the herbs can be boiled in honey and then strained out.

Tincture

Tinctures last the longest. Use a very fine grain, high proof alcohol, vodka is suggested.

Depending on the potency of herbs, use about 1 ounce dried herbs to 8 ounce alcohol. Combine these ingredients in a wide-mouthed non-metal container and let stand for two weeks, shaking once or twice a day. Then transfer into a sterilized container suitable for long-term storage, as tinctures are generally dosed out in drops, a dropper would be helpful.

Essence

Essence is created by dissolving one ounce of essential oil into a pint of alcohol.

Poultice

Poultices are used to apply herbs directly to affected areas of the skin with moist heat.

Pound fresh herbs into a pulpy mass and apply to the affected area. Soak a cloth in hot water and place over the herbs. Replace the hot cloth as it cools.

If using dried herbs, add warm water and soak a bit. If necessary, mix with corn meal or flour.

In some cases, herbs may be used that might be irritating to the skin. If this be the case, the poultice should be placed between two pieces of cloth and applied that way.

After the poultice is removed, cleanse the area carefully with water, or an infusion of chamomile.

Fomentationi

Soak a cloth in a warm infusion or decoction, wring out and apply to the affected area.

Cold Compress

Same as a fomentation, but using a chilled decoction or infusion. Replace whenever the cloth is warm again.

Herbal Bath

Herbal baths are used for muscle aches and for those herbs the fumes of which you may wish to inhale.

Method 1
Place the herbs you wish to use inside a cloth and throw it into the bathtub. The herbs will infuse into the water as the bath is filled.

Method 2
Add a few drops of essential oil to your bath after it has been filled.

Method 3
Add a bit of an infusion or decoction to your bath.

Incense

This article is about making combustible incense. It is much easier to just make powders and sprinkle them over charcoals, and far more dramatic and magical as well. However, combustible incense is much easier and more convenient to use once they've been made ahead of time.

Timesaving note- You can purchase premixed incense powder. Just add essential oils to get your desired scent.

It’s fun to make your own incense for rituali and household use. Alli you need are herbal and/or wood powders (about two ounces each), including benzoin, sandalwood and orris root, resins, essential oils, gum arabic, powdered charcoal, a whisk, two bowls, measuring utensils, wax paper and some water.

You will also need broom straws (if you’re making stick incense),

You can use your own herbs grown in your garden, dried and powdered with a mortar and pestle, or you can purchase the powder ready to go. Many health food stores have the powder available in bulk form, or you may be able to find it at your local Pagan supply store. Many of the powders you may wish to use come from woods, which are not easy to powder yourself, so you’re probably better off buying these. You can purchase just about anything you need for this part here.

Make sure that you use only non-toxic ingredients. Inhaling toxic fumes is never a good idea.

In addition to herbal and wood powders, you may wish to use resins. Some of the most common forms of incense are made from resins, which is really just hardened sap, including frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin.

You may also wish to use essential oils.

Gum arabic is necessary to mold your incense into shape.

Do not use barbeque charcoal. You can buy special charcoal for incense here. The other kind is too toxic and stinky. This will combine with certain herbs that will act as a base or holder for the scent of the other herbs.

Step One- Make a Moldable Incense Paste

Combine one teaspoon gum arabic and 8 ounces warm water in a bowl. Whisk until the gum arabic is completely dissolved. Skim off any foam that forms on the top.

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set aside for two hours. The mixture will thicken into a lovely gooey mass.

Step Two- Mix the Charcoal Base

Combine six parts ground charcoal, 1 part ground benzoin, 2 parts ground sandalwood (or other wood), 1 part ground orris root.

Step Three- Combine Your Scents

There are a lot of different recipes out there for combining herbs to make wonderful scents. It’s up to you to experiment. I’ll give you some samples at the end. It's best to select a base of wood or orris root as your main ingredient.

You just, well, combine your powders and blend them together. Simple as that.

If your ingredients aren't powdered yet, throw them in your mortar and grind them with the pestle. Think about what you intend the incense to be used for. Your intent will be ground into the herbs.

Step Four- Make the Dough

Now combine 2 parts charcoal mixture to 1 part fragrant herb mixture. Add a bit of your glue goo and mix. Keep adding it till you get a nice shapeable dough.

Step Five- Get in Shape

To make Cones- roll the dough into little balls of the desired size and then shape one end so that you have a cone. Place on wax paper and allow to dry about 10 days, turning every day.

To make sticks- Add some more goo to your mixture so that it’s a little wetter, but still very thick. Spread the smelly mixture on some wax paper. Roll your broom straws in the mixture until it’s evenly coated. You may need to do some manual manipulation. Leave one end uncoated to hold on to. Stick the uncoated end in some sand or clay to allow the sticks to dry upright. Give them about 10 days.

Oils and Salves

Oil

The first step in making a salve, is to infuse a base oil with herbal essence (if you're using essential oils rather than dried herbs, just drop the essential oils into the carrier oil until you're happy with it if you're just making an oil, if you're making a salve, add the essential oils last.). You should use dried herbs for this, or if using fresh herbs, clean them and lay them to dry until wilted. High water content increases the chance of mold growing on your salves or in your oils later.

Use a crockpot, or double boiler. Stainless steel, glass or enamel is best. Place the herbs in and enough oil to cover, plus one inch. Heat on the lowest setting for at least three hours. For roots and woody herbs, you will need longer, at least five hours.

Let the oil clean completely, and then strain through a cheesecloth, squeezing as much oil out as you can.

If you are just making an massage or anointing oili, you can stop here, unless you wish to add essential oils, which you can do as soon as your oil has cooled. If you prefer a salve, do not add your essential oils just yet. They should always be added last, so that they don't have a chance to evaporate. Continue on…

Salvei

Return the oil to the pot. Add some beeswax and heat till melted, stirring constantly. To test if your salve is thick enough, allow it to cool on a spoon. If it's too soft, add more beeswax, too hard, add more oil.

Blend in essential oils and vitamins at the very end. Add some vitamin E for its skin smoothing properties, and as a preservative. Then pour into sterilized containers and seal.

Using Oils and Salves

These salves and oils can be used for several purposes. You may massage them into sore muscles, use them to smooth rough skin, or apply them to abrasions and other skin irritations or you may use them for rituali purposes.

Anointing oil can be used for several things during ritual. It is most commonly associated with formal rites of passage, though it can also be used to augment your magical ritual and private worship. The oil may be simply daubed onto a person's forhead, or you may wish to annoing various parts such as hands, feed, heart, womb, genitals, etc., depending on your particular path. Salves may be used just like oils for anointing and are, perhaps neater.

Agrimony

Agrimony is a perennial native to Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa that has naturalized to most of the US and Canada. It grows in open areas, fields and waste places and hedgerows. Yellow flower spikes appear on a downy stem about 20 inches tall around Midsummer and continue on through September. The seeds that follow are contained within burr-like cases, which stick to everything. The leaves are downy and serrated and pinnately divided with less division in the smaller lower leaves. The leaves are fuzzy with more fuzz on the bottom giving the undersides a silvery appearance. The root is a black woody rhizome. The entire plant has a sweet citrusy scent.

You can purchase agrimony in a variety of preparations at Mountain Rose Herbs

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is an herbaceous perennial that grows about two to three feet tall. From July through September, the plant bears bright purple or blue flowers followed by interesting corkscrew seedpods. The taproot is very long and tough allowing the plant to survive very dry weather. It also enables the plant to pull up nutrients from deep underground. Alfalfa fixes nitrogen in the soil and is often used during crop rotation for this purpose.

Allspice

Allspice comes from a tree in the myrtle family that grows in Central and South America. It is an evergreen which grows to about 30 feet (9 metres) tall and its glossy, aromatic green leaves reach about 6 inches in length. Small white flowers, and later the berries, green at first, then purplish-red, grow in clumps.

The finest allspice is grown in Jamaica but it also grows in several other Central American states including Mexico and Honduras.

Aloe Vera

Although there are 240+ species of aloe in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, only four have been identified as having medicinal value to humans. Of these four, Aloe Vera Barbadensis is the best and is the only one that you should be using.

Although it is part of the lily family, this succulent plant more closely resembles a cactus in appearance and habit. It has fleshy leaves, somewhat spikey at the edges and can be mottled. These leaves are arranged in basal rosettes. Under ideal circumstances, the plant produces yellow, tubular flowers in the summer. I have never seen these in person. Michigan does not have ideal circumstances.

Amaranth

Amaranth is a bushy plant that grows two to seven feet tall. Although the seeds are used like grain, they are not related to cereal grains which are members of the grass family. There are over 60 species in the genus that include those grown for seeds, those grown for leaves and many that are either weeds or ornamental plants. Almost all of them are edible.

Amaranth has broad, alternate leaves and a feathery flower head of small red or magenta flowers. This flower head is unmistakable and really does look like the feathers of some exotic bird. The seed heads resemble really bushy corn tassels. Each plant is capable of producing 40,000 to 60,000 tiny golden colored seeds. (Wild species produce black or brown seeds.)

Angelica

A member of the parsley family, Angelica has large divided leaves of bright, glossy green and a thick stem, which is hollow and ridged. Grows to 3-8 feet tall.

Anise

Anise is a graceful, feathery annual resembling members of the carrot family with branching ridged, round stems and small, star like white flowers which appear in clusters in the late summer. The leaves are broad, toothed and round with lobed lower leaves and finely divided upper leaves. It grows to 12-18 inches and may be erect or prostrate. Anise carries the scent of licorice.

Apple

Apples are among the most common fruits eaten in the US and Europe. They grow just about anywhere. There are many varieties; most are small to medium sized tree. These members of the rosacea family have characteristic five-petaled flowers appear in the spring on cymes of 4-6 flowers. The petals are white on top and pink underneath so that they look bright pink during the budding stage. The pistils and stamens are bright yellow. The leaves are oval-shaped with serrated edges, shiny green on top and slightly fuzzy underneath.

Fruit appears in late summer and ripen in autumn. Fruit can be red (red delicious), yellow (golden delicious), green (granny smith), or streaked red with yellow.

Arnica

Arnica is a member of the Asteraceae (or Compositeae) family along with sunflowers and dandelions. It is a hardy perennial native to the mountains and pasturelands of Central Europe. The green oval-shaped leaves are covered with fine hairs and form a flat rosette. Several leaf stems, also hairy and 1-2 feet in height, rise from the center of the rosette and terminate in yellow ray flowers similar in shape to a daisy. The rays are notched at the tips. These flowers appear in July and are followed by the classic dandelioni-type "puff" peculiar to the family. The root is a brown, cylindrical rhizome.

Asparagus

Asparagus is a Eurasian member of the lily family (liliaceae) and a fast-growing, long lived perennial. Spears shoot up early in the spring sometimes growing as much as 10 inches in a 24 hour period. The rest of the year, beautiful ferny foliage, tiny flowers and, in autumn tiny red berries add interest to the garden. It looks great in the perennial boarder or herb garden.

Astragalus

Astragalus is a member of the pea family and it looks like a typical pea family member. It can reach up to four feet tall with fernlike foliage and drooping white flowers in the summer and seed pods in the fall.

Basil

Basil is a member of the mint family with a characteristic square, hairy stem, labiate flowers and opposite leaves. It has a rich, spicy aroma reminiscent of the other mints with a hint of clove. Flowers appear as a whorl in summer and are usually white or pale pink or purple.

Basil is one of my favorite herbs, (along with sage and nasturtium). It is a beautiful plant with the most fabulous fragrance. As one of my fellow basil-lovers once announced at a local plant swap "There are two season in the year. When you can get fresh basil, and when you can't."

It comes in many varieties:

Sweet Basil
Ocimum basilicum
White flowers, deep green leaves. Salads, vinegars, pesto

Spicy Globe Basil
Compact, good for small gardens. Use like sweet basil.

Lettuce Leaf Basil
White flowers, large crinkly flowers. Sweeter flavor. Good in salads. Grows like crazy

Green Ruffles
White flowers, lime green, ruffly, serrated leaves. Much longer than sweet basil. Very ornamental.

Lemon Basil
O.b. 'Citriodum'
Finer leaves with a distinct lemony odor. Good for potpourri, tea and salad.

Opal Basil
O.b. 'Purpurescens'
Very pretty, ornamental with shiny purplish foliage and lavender flowers. Gives color to herbal vinegars and looks lovely in flower arrangements. There are larger and more compact varieties.

Cinnamon Basil
Ocimum sp.,
Large, with dark green shiny leaves and pink flowers. Strong spicy flavor and fragrance in both foliage and flowers. Use in dried arrangements, potpourri, tea, vinegars, jellies and cooking.

Thai Basil
O.b. 'Siam Queen'
Huge. Upright and branchy. Very nice, but very different flavor and fragrance. Purple stems and flowers. Very pretty. Use in Asian dishes and with fresh fruit. A cultivar of Sweet basil and Holy Basil. Try the leaves battered and deep fried.

Mammoth Basil
Huge leaves. Ideal for wrapping meats for roasting.

Purple Ruffles Basil
O. basilicum 'Purple Ruffles'
Lavender flowers, ruffled, dark maroon, shiny leaves. Very pretty ornamental. Makes a beautiful reddish purple vinegar.

Thyrsiflora Basil
O. basilicum 'Thyrsiflora'
Flowers are white and deep lavender with smooth, bright green leaves. Very sweet fragrance. Used in Thai foods.

Camphor Basil
O. kilimandscharicum
White flowers with red anthers and green leaves. Has a distinctive camphor or menthol flavor. Not used in cooking, but great in teas and baths for colds and flu.

Holy Basil
O. sanctum
Lavender flowers with coarse gray green foliage. Sweet fragrance and very ornamental. Not used in cooking.

Bay Laurel

Bay is an evergreen shrub (often referred to as a small tree) native to Asia Minor and areas around the Mediterranean. It has shiny oval leaves, pointed with dark green on top with a lighter underside. Flowers, which appear in clusters in the spring are yellow and are followed in female plants by small black or purple berries. In the wild it can grow up to 60 feet tall, but cultivated outside its native habitat it only reaches 3-10 feet in height.

Bayberry

Bayberry grows in thickets near swamps in sandy areas, especially near the Atlantic coast and near Lake Erie.
It is a shrub that can reach up to eight feet tall and wide. The lanceolate leaves are shiny, dotted on both sides and about 1-4 inches long. They are very fragrant when rubbed.

The flowers are small and unisexual, white or green. They appear in the early spring from March to May, usually before leaves are fully expanded. Globular fruit are drupes (like cherries), very hard dark green and covered with a waxy substance. They may remain on the tree for several years.

Bistort

Bistort P. bistorta is native to many parts of Europe and Western Asia. P. bistortoides, the American native version is very similar.

The leaves are ovate and basal, narrow at the base. The flower stalks can reach two feet in height and bear pink racimes that look somewhat like catkins. Different varieties may have different colored flowers, and some domesticated varieties have much showier flowers. The European variety has much less showy flowers and clasping, heartshaped leaves on an upright stem.

The rhizomatic rootstock is twisted blackish or purplish on the outside and reddish on the inside.

Black Cohosh

This perennial is a member of the buttercup family and native to the woodlands of North America. It has tall white feathery racemes (flower spikes) and thick knobby roots. The leaves are divided into threes, with trifoliate terminal leaflets. The thick, blackish rhizome is what is usually used in medicine.

Blackberry

There are many subspecies of this plant, but all work equally well. They are a member of the rose family and have the characteristic flowers, leaves and thorns similar to those found on wild rose bushes. These shrubs have a rather sprawling habit, however, and tend to take over wherever they can get a foothold, unlike the wild rose which is not nearly so hardy. Alli through the summer you can see the berries in various stages of ripeness and flowers in all stages of blooming on this plant, making it somewhat unique. In most common species, the flowers are white and the berries proceed from white, to red to purply black ripeness. The berries have a composite appearance, like raspberries or mulberries.

Leaves are ovate, double-serrate and pinnate with 3-5 leaflets. Flowers have five petals and the canes are studded with curved prickles.

Bloodroot

Bloodroot is an herbaceous flowering perennial native to the Eastern North American woodlands. This is a very pretty little plant that grows a single, deeply lobed palmate leaf from a basal stem which wraps around the white 8-peteled ray-type flower as it appears in very early spring (March-May). The leaf opens wider as the flower grows on its single stem an inch or two above it, like a lady shedding her mantle and tossing it behind her and then, rather than appearing to wrap around the flower, it looks more like a pedastal for the flower to stand on. The whole thing is only about six inches tall. The flowers, which are pollinated by bees and flies, disappear by Mid May or so and then the leaf itself goes dormant by midsummer, leaving only the elonged green seed pods above ground to ripen. These attract ants who take them back to their nests and eat the fleshy/fruity part before throwing the seed into the ant garbage pile where it then germinates.

Double-blooming varieties of bloodroot have been developed for the garden trade. These bloom much longer than the wildtype.

The root is a rhisome which stores a bright red sap, reminiscent of blood, which gives the plant its name. It grows just below the surface of the soil. They form colonies which become small mounds or clumps that look just beautiful in the early spring.

Blue Cohosh

Blue cohosh is a pretty, feathery wildflower that grows in North American woodlands. It's one of my favorite denizens of the woods. It's just an elegant plant.

The plant reaches about 2 1/2 feet tall. It has trifoliate leaves, the middle, largest one is usually tri-lobed, while the outter leaves may or may not be. They are a lovely blue-green. Yellow-green flowers bloom in early spring and they later give way to blue berries. I have seen these listed as anything from mildly toxic to deadly poison and also seen it reported that they are roasted and used like coffee. I wouldn't. The berries stay on after the leaves fall off in the fall, adding autumn interest.

Burdock

A native of Eurasia, especially England and Scotland, an invasive weed in the United States, Burdock grows in moist waste places, ditches and roadsides.

Member of the thistle family. Purplish flowers appear in July of the second year followed by round spiky seed pods that cling to fur and clothing. Very large waxy leaves, reminiscent of rhubarb. The lower most leaves are heart-shaped, sometimes over a foot long and downy on the underneath, giving them a silvery appearance.

Biannual, the basal rosette of leaves stays close to the ground the first year, and the second year sends up a central flower stalk. It can grow 3-7 feet high the second year.

The pictures below show the broad basal leaves of a first year burdock and the pretty thistle-like flowers of a two-year-old.

Calendula

Calendula is a mediterranean annual that has become a popular garden plant in much of the world. It has pale green leaves and bright yellow or orange ray blooms at the top of long single stalks that keep going from spring to autumn. Leaves are pale green, slightly hairy and long and narrow, but wider and rounded at the end. The plant is branchy, slightly sticky and aromatic. Calendula grows about a foot tall, though flower stalks can be taller if it's really happy.

Cardamom

Cardamom is a member of member of the ginger family and has a thick fleshy root, a rhizome. It is a bushy plant, about 3 meters tall with straight stems, symmetrical dark green pointed leaves, and lightly colored flowers with white and blue stripes and yellow borders throughout the year. Fruits grow in pods, about 12 per pod.

There are two varieties
Elettaria spp. Native to India and Malasia
Amomum spp. Native to Asia & Australia

Chamomile

Chamaemilum nobile- Roman Chamomile
A perennial. Reaches 4-12 inches high, makes a good ground cover. Feathery foliage, daisy like flowers with turned down petals, apple- like fragrance from both foliage and flowers.

Matricaria recutita- German Chamomile
An annual. Grows up to 20 inches tall. Feathery foliage with scented daisy like flowers.

Both can be used the same and work equally well. German Chamomile is usually used in the US, Roman Chamomile is usually used in Britain.

Cinnamon

The cinnamon tree is an Asian evergreen member of the laurel family. It has brown, papery bark and leathery leaves. Yellow flowers appear in the summer followed by purple berries. The best cinnamon is grown in Sri Lanka.

Coltsfooot

This is a plant in the Compositae family, to which dandelions and sunflowers also belong. The flower is similar in appearance to a dandelioni and forms a similar fluffy white seed head. The toothed leaves are much different, however, and are shaped somewhat like a rounded-off inverted heart shape or hoof. These leaves are fuzzy, top and bottom when young, but only on the bottom when mature. The leaves and flowers do not usually appear at the same time, however. First, a shoot emerges and flowers in the spring, and the leaves follow. The yellow flowers only open on sunny days.

It grows just about any damp area where the soil has been disturbed and is a common weed in England and in parts of the Northern and Eastern US and Canada where it has naturalized.

Comfrey

Varieties
Wild or common comfrey Symphytum officinale L
Prickly or rough comfrey S. asperum Lepechin (Do not use this internally)
Quaker, Russian or Blue Comfrey S. peregrinum Lebed (hybrid of the above) (Do not use this internally)

Comfrey is an herbaceous perennial. The large, hairy, lance-shaped leaves grow in clusters about 12 inches high. It sends up a central stem, which can reach three feet in height. The bell shaped flowers appear in clusters on this stem shortly before midsummer. The flowers of wild comfrey vary in color, but are most often yellow. Prickly comfrey may have blue or pink flowers, and Quaker comfrey has purplish flowers. The root is black on the outside, white on the inside and tuberous, shaped like a turnip.

Crocus

Crocus are members of the iris family native to Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and western China. Each stem bears one cup-shaped, six-petaled flower with three stamens. Various shades of purple are the usual flower color, but white and yellow also occur and the garden trade has produced a huge variety of colored cultivars (I am looking forward to bright orange crocuses next spring!) The leaves typically look like grass shoots and the entire plant is generally less than six inches tall including the flower. (New cultivars get bigger all the time though.)

There are about 80 species of crocus. The most well-known crocus in the garden trade is the dutch spring blooming crocus Crocus vernus. It and many of its brethren, are often the first flowers to bloom in spring with Crocus tommasinianus being the very earliest. Crocus sativus, an autumn blooming variety, is the source of saffron.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen is a low-growing perennial native to the Mediterranean region and Northeast Africa where they grow as an understory plant in dry forested areas. The leaves are green, heart-shaped and variegated and generally appear in late winter, dying back in the hottest part of the summer. Flowers appear in autumn on 4-6 inch stalks above the leaves. The flowers are fairy-like consisting of five united petals in white, pink, red or purple with pink being the most common. They are followed by a five-chambered fruit containing sticky seeds which are very attractive to ants, as they are designed to be dispersed by them. The root is a black tuber, somewhat like a turnip.

Echinacea

Echinacea is a native of North America and can be found in wild prairies and open woodlands. It also adapts well to the garden. There are nine species, three of which, E. purpurea, E. pallida, and E. agustofolia, have medicinal properties.

The flower of E. augostofolia has a bristly disk surrounded by drooping pink rays. The leaves are lance-shaped and narrow. This plant grows to about 20 inches tall.
E. pallida is taller and similar in appearance.
E. purpurea has broader leaves and petals of a deeper purplish-pink. The spines of the bristly disk are tipped with orange.

Here is one of my favorite garden pictures featuring my own echinacea. As you can see, echinacea is attractive to many insects, including all sorts of bees.

One of the nice things about this plant is that it is interesting to look at for a long time. It blooms well into autumn, and if you get an "indian summer", you may even get more blooms after snow. The spikey centers become rounded seed heads in the fall that are attractive to birds and add interest to the winter garden if you leave them alone.

Enchanter's Nightshade

Enchanter's Nightshade is a native perennial member of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) found in moist woodlands across the midwest United States. The leaves are opposite, ovate and up to five inches long. The central flower stalk extends at least six inches above the leaves and produces a sparsely populated racime of distinctive white flowers in late summer which continue to early autumn followed by a small, hairy, seedy fruit. The distinctiveness of the flowers lies in their petal number- there are only two. But they are deeply cleft and may appear to be four. There are also two green sepals and 2 stamens and a hairy, enlarged ovary at the base of the flower. The fruit is burr-like in that it is distributed by sticking to clothing and fur of passersby.

Small Enchanter's Nightshade Circaea alpina is less common and more particular about living in moist, cool areas. Its leaves are more cordate and indented at the base and the racime of flowers are clustered near the top of the flower stalk rather than distributed along its length. As its name might suggest, it is also quite a bit smaller than its cousin growing to a height of only about 1 foot tall. This species is listed as endangered in Illinois and Indiana and is a species of special concern in Kentucky and Rhode Island.

Hybrids between the two species can occasionally be found, but these do not produce seeds.

It is important to note that enchanter's nightshade is a member of the primrose family (Onagraceae), not a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae).

Eyebright

Eyebright is an annual that is common to dry fields and pasture lands in its native Britain and also in the US where it has become naturalized. It is about 2-8 inches high and bears spikes of small labiate flowers in white or purple veined with darker purple from July to September. In richer soil, it is a larger, more shrubby plant. In poor soil it is small and unbranched. When branched, they are opposite. The leaves can be round or oval shaped depending on conditions and are deeply toothed. Seeds appear in flat capsules in the autumn.

False Indigo

False indigo, baptisia, is a member of the Fabacea (aka Legumacea) family with distinctive blue pea-like flowers about an inch long. The flowers are bisexual and appear in upright racimes (spikes) in early June. The blue-black fruit ripens in late summer. It is about 2 inches long and filled with tiny, yellow-brown, kidney shaped seeds that rattle around inside once they have ripened. This gives the plant its common names Rattleweed and Rattlebush. Leaves are grey-green, trifoliate and arranged alternately upon the smooth stem which, if broken, releases sap that turns dark blue or purple upon contact with the air. The roots are woody, black and warty.

It can reach six feet in height, though it usually doesn't reach more than three feet, and spreads out by woody rhizomes into a nice big clump. It also reproduces by seed, but weevels enjoy the seeds, so a good harvest of viable seeds is rare in many areas.

False Solomon's Seal

As its name would imply, False Solomon's Seal looks quite a bit like True Solomon's Seal. The difference, at a glance, is in the flowers and berries. Rather than doing a comparison, I will give the plant its dignity and you can compare the two yourself.

False Solomon's Seal is a member of the Lily family in the Maianthemum genus, also called the beadrubies. It is native to North American woodlands. It grows a single erect stem from a rhisome. Several alternate, parallel veined leaves clasp the stem all the way to the top.(Smiacina trifolia, or 3-leaved false solomon's seal has three leaves) The flowers are white and star-shaped and appear in early spring in a loose bunch at the tip of the stem. They turn into red berries in the fall, which are savored by birds, especially the ruffed grouse.

Feverfew

Feverfew is an short lived perennial native to southeastern Europe which is now widespread across North America, Europe and Australia. It is a member of the Asteraceae family along with sunflowers and dandelions and has small ray flowers, similar to daisies, which appear in a dense cluster at the top of the stalk in late summer and autumn. It has a compact, bushy habit (once establish) reaching a height of 9 to 24 inches. The leaves are alternate, hairy, yellowish green and give off a bitter odor when crushed.

Foxglove

Foxglove is a striking plant for shade gardens, but it is also very poisonous and should be planted with this in mind. It reaches up to 5 feet tall and can spread to 18 inches. A multitude of thimbleshaped flowers will appear in the late spring of the second year in tall spikes in various pastel colors, depending on the variety. Throats are white with darker spots, usually burgundy.

Varieties
Common Foxglove Digitalis pupurea has purple to white flowers, though there are many different colored cultivars, including "alba" which is white without spots.

Rusty Foxglove Digitalis ferruginea can get up to six feet tall and has red flowers.

Yellow Foxglove Digitalis grandiflora has yellow flowers blotched with brown.

Merton foxglove or Strawberry Foxglove Digitalis X mertonensis is a perennial (unlike all the others which are biennial) that can reach about three feet tall and has bright red flowers.

Garlic

Garlic is similar to onion, except the bulb, rather than being one large bulb, is made of several cloves. It has long slender leaves that emerge directly from the ground and a striking flower head.

Geranium

These beautiful North American natives are among my favorite flowers. The wild ones bloom early in the spring and light up my woods with pale pink flowers and the various cultivars bloom lavender in my flower bed well into autumn. They have deeply lobed (5 lobes, serrated) palmate leaves that grow in mounds or clumps. Domesticated cultivars may sprawl. The mounds may be up to two feet tall. Wild types produce pale pink to lavender saucer shaped hermaphrodite flowers with five petals from April to May. After about six to eight weeks, "beaked" seedpods are formed which are said to resemble crane's bills. These seed pods explode in the height of summer, sending seeds everywhere. The exploded pod looks sort of like a little flower itself. The root produces rhizomes. The stems are slightly hairy.

Geraniums attract butterflies and moths and are an important food source for the larval stage of several species including Lacinipolia lorea, Heliothis virescens, and Hemerocampa leucostigma. The foliage is also browsed on by deer and small woodland rodents enjoy the seeds. These don't seem to cause lasting harm for the most part.

They can be found growing wilds all over the Northeastern United States and many cultivars are sold in nurseries. Geraniums make a wonderful ground covers for part shade to full sun and look lovely in containers as well. Alas, this flower has no scent.

If you have geraniums growing in your flower beds and window boxes you may be thinking "This doesn't sound anything like my geraniums" and you may be right. The flowers sold most often in nurseries under the name of "geranium" are actually Pelargoniums.

Ginger

The ginger root, which is the part that is used, is a twisty, knotted grayish-yellowish rhizome that is somewhat juicy with a pungeant, spicy aroma. The plant is about two to three feet tall, the shoots sprouting directly up from the rhizome. Flowers are purple with a cream-colored base and they give way to red berries with three chambers which contain small black seeds.

Hawthorn

This is a tree that will grow to a height of 30-40 feet. The fruit is a bright red to dark purple that is enjoyed by many birds. The white clumps of flowers give off a faint smell of rotting meat and it is fertilized mainly by carrion insects. The leaves are oval shaped, sharply toothed and alternate.

Heather

This is a European native common to fields, ditches and waste areas in the cooler areas of Europe and the British Isles, especially in the heath land habitats where it is an important food source for grazing animals. Heather is a sprawling evergreen shrub with hairy gray stems that spread out about three feet wide and one to two feet tall. The long, thin leaves are grayish green. Flowers are tiny, bell-shaped and any color between pink and purple or white and appear on branching spikes in the late summer and early autumn. There are many varieties and is easily confused with Heath.

Hellebore

Native to much of Europe. Helebores are members of the family Ranunculaceae, which is often confused with members of the Rosacea family. Unlike the roseacea family, however, most members of this family are poisonous.

The flowers have five petal-like sepals that surround a ring of cup-like nectaries (petals modified to hold nectar). These sepals stay on the plant sometimes for many months giving helebores a long "blooming" time. They often flower in winter and early spring with some evergreen species and are shade and frost hardy, making them quite useful for problem garden areas.

Some popular varieties include:
Helleborous niger Christmas Rose or Black Hellebore- White flowers appear in late winter or early spring and gradually age to pink. This is the oldest variety and most appropriate for a witches garden.
Helleborous orientalis Lenten Rose, Lenten Hellebore or Oriental Hellebore- Many colorful hybrids and cultivars. This is the most popular garden variety.
Helleborous viridis Green Hellebore or Bear's Foot
Helleborous argutifolius Corsican Hellebore- pale green, cup-shaped flowers and leathery foliage.
Helleborous foetidus Stinking Hellebore or Setterwort- Drooping clusters of pale green, bell-shaped flowers and evergreen foliage. (Cultivars with yellow foliage and reddish flowers are available) This is the old Black Hellebore that you may see in the old European herbals from the medieval era.

Hellebores look like members of the rose family but they are actually members of the buttercup family. These two families are very similar in appearance but they have two important differences. Most members of the rose family are edible, or at least harmless. Most members of the buttercup family are poisonous, or at least mildly toxic.

Holly

Holly is a broad leaved evergreen tree native to Europe. It is most commonly known for its glossy green foliage and bright red berries. This tree can grow up to fifty feet tall, but some varieties only grow about a foot tall.

Jerusalem Artichoke

Native to eastern North America. Grown for its tubor, root vegetable.

Tall plant, grows up to 3 meters tall with bright yellow flowers appearing in groups at the very top of the stalk in autumn. (Mine bloom in October here in Michigan) Oval leaves are opposite on the lower part of the stem and alternate higher up, also larger closer to the bottom and smaller closer to the top and hairy.

The tubers are gnarly and around 10 cm long generally pale brown but may be whitish or reddish.

The Jerusalem Artichoke is a tasty perennial vegetable. There aren't many perennial veggies out there!

Joe Pye Weed

Joe Pye Weed is a Native American perennial member of the family asteraceae found in all parts of the US with the exception of the deep south and the far north. It is also a popular cottage garden plant in Europe. It is erect in habit and forms clumps throughout moist midwest prairies. Leaves are hollow, so a strong wind can easily knock the plant over. Leaves are arranged in whorls of three or four all along the stem. They are dark green, lance shaped and coarsely serrated and may be up to 12 inches long, depending on the variety and they have purple leaf margins. Flowers appear in late summer and persist through the fall. They are purplish, vanilla scented and arranged in clusters of 5 to 7. Flowers give way to seed heads that persist throughout the winter adding winter interest to the garden. The root is thick and woody, purplish-brown on the outside, cream colored n the inside.

Mandrake

Atropa mandragora

formerly

Mandragora officinalis

Other names

European Mandrake, Mandragora, Mandrake, Mandrake Apple, Pome Di Tchin, Satan's Apple, herb of Circe, witches mannikin, wild lemon, sorceror's root, main-de-gloire, hand of glory, mangloire

Description

It has large, broad leaves that emerge directly from the base in a circular cluster. Flowers appear each on a separate stalk and are bell shaped and white with purplish tinge. The smell of the plant is generally unpleasant. The roots resemble a parsnip and can run up to four feet deep underground. They may be single or branched.

This plant is native to Southern Europe.

Cultivation

Seeds should be as fresh as possible and scattered over well-tilled, light soil in the fall. They should be kept moist and weed free and not transplanted after the first year. Keep it in a sheltered position in full sun.

Harvesting & Preparation

The roots should be dug in the third or fourth year.

Culinary Use

This plant is poisonous. Do not eat!

Medical Use

The leaves can be boiled in milk and used as a poultice for external ulcers.

The root is a powerful emetic and hallucinogen and if used internally, only with great caution, if at all. It is said in large doses to incite delirium and madness, though it was once used as a sleep aid, for those who were in too much pain to sleep. Pieces were also given patients to chew when they were about to undergo surgery.

Externally, the roots combined with alcohol make a rub for rheumatism.

Associations

Mandrake is masculine, ruled by Mercury and fire and associated with Circe, Hecate, Diana, Hathor and Saturn.

Magical Use

A dried mandrake root placed on the mantelpiece will protect and bring happiness and prosperity to the household. It will also prevent demons from entering. Placed on top of money, it will make the money multiply.

A mandrake root can be used as a poppet in sympathetic magic. It can also be carved into various shapes for magical use.

The berries as well as the root are used in charms to increase fertility. Carried, it is said to attract love. It is also used in aphrodisiac spells.

Mandrake intensifies magicki in any situation. Ingestion of a small amount is said to increase psychic abilities and creativity.

Add a bit of mandrake root to your moon water preparation for rituali use.

History and Folklore

The name Mandragora comes from the Greek meaning "hurtful to cattle".

The Anglo-Saxons considered mandrake, as well as periwinkle, the definitive herbs for use in cases of demonic possession.

Mandrake root was imagined by the ancients to look human in form and was often pictured in various texts as a man with a very long beard, or a woman with a very bushy head of hair. If the root was split into two, it was considered female. If not, it was male. The Female roots were the most valuable and believed to be a useful charm to promote luck and wealth.

The plant was said to grow under the gallows of murderers, sprung from the bodily drippings of criminals and to shriek when dug up. The sound would kill a man or drive him insane. So, to avoid this fate, you were supposed to tie a dog to the plant and he would pull it up and die in the man's place. Some legends say that you could harvest only after sunset, or that you must draw a circlei with a sword or wandi three times around the plant before harvesting. Once harvested, a witch must wash it in wine and wrap it in silk for storage.

Little dolls were sometimes made of mandrake roots and kept to aid the household and answer important questions. Possession of one of these mandrake dolls could be used as evidence during witch trials.

Mandrakes are mentioned in the Bible; Leah bought a night with Jacob from Rachel with some Mandrakes which Rachel wanted to help her conceive. It may also have been mentioned in the Song of Solomon.

Comments

Mandrake root is a hallucinogen, but it is also a very powerful emetic. It can also be used to help you sleep, but it is also a very powerful emetic. That being said, unless you want to poop your bed, vomit all over yourself, and be otherwise miserable, use something else.

American Mandrake Podophyllum pellatum has no relation whatsoever to the plant we are discussing here.

Marsh Mallow

Althea officinalis

Names

Mallards, Mauls, Schloss Teai, Cheeses, Mortification Koot, mallow, white mallow, common marsh-mallow, marshmallow, mortification root,
sweet weed, wymote

Description

A perennial, this plant grows 3-4 feet high and the stem only puts out a few lateral branches. Leaves are palmate, and lobed, 3-5 inches long and fuzzy, as is the stem. White flowers with a violet base appear in late summer to early autumn and are followed by flat seed pods called "cheeses" from August to October. The whitish roots are tough and fibrous and pliable and grow long, thick and tapering.

It can be found growing wild in salt marshes and ditches.

Cultivation

Sow seeds in the spring, prefers a moist situation with full sun. It can tolerate most soil types, including saline soils, but will not survive without lots of sunlight. This plant is self-fertilizing and will reseed.

Harvesting & Preparation

Leaves should be picked just as the plant begins to flower. The root has the highest mucilage content in the winter and should be harvested as late as possible in the season, on a dry day, from plants at least two years old.

Household Use

The dried root can be used to clean your teeth, or given to teething children to chew on.

Fiber from the roots and stem can be used for paper making.

The dried and powdered root can be used to bind ingredients when making pills.

Boil the root until a thick syrup forms. The syrup can be used as glue.

Marshmallow can be used in just about any cosmetic product including soap, lotions, shaving lotion, mouthwash and toothpaste.

Culinary Use

The leaves are used as a potherb. May be added raw to salads or to soups to thicken them. They are mucilaginous and adding too much to the soup will make it slimy.

The root can be boiled and then fried with onions and butter for a vegetable.

The root of this plant was once used to make pate de guimauve, a sweet confection similar to today's marshmallows. Prior to that, a similar treat was made in Egypt using marsh mallow sap and honey.

Marshmallows no longer contain Marsh Mallow, but instead use gelatin. The sap was mixed with egg whites and sugar and whipped into a foamy meringue, baked and cut into squares and used for sore throats.

The root can be boiled in water to create a consistency similar to egg whites. The water can then be used as a substitute for egg whites.

The seeds may be added to salads for an extra crunch.

Medical Use

Marsh Mallow contains a great deal of mucilage, which is soothing to mucus membranes, especially the digestive and respiratory tracts. This makes it useful for asthma, bronchitis, colds, coughs, inflammatory bowel conditions, ulcers, and general wound healing.

The dried root is often added to lotions to sooth the skin.

Marsh mallow can be used as a gentle laxative and has general soothing properties. A sweet paste can be made of the root to soothe the throat. Or the root can be steeped in water for several hours and drunk.

Fresh leaves are used to stimulate the kidneys. A strong tea may also be made of the leaves and flowers to encourage the passage of stones. Drink daily, once or twice, four days on and three days off.

The powdered root, with water added, or the crushed fresh root can be used as a poultice to prevent gangrene in stubborn inflammations. You can also add slippery elm to this to enhance the effect. It should be applied as hot as possible and changed frequently. The leaves can also be used as a poultice for stings.

An infusioni of the leaves can be used to bathe the eyes.

In France, Marsh Mallow is one of the ingredients in tisane de quartet fleurs, a traditional cold remedy.

Correspondences

Marsh mallow is a feminine plant ruled by the element of water, the moon or Venus and Libra or Cancer. It is associated with Althea, Aphrodite and Venus.

Magical Use

Marsh mallow is a protective and cleansingi herb. Burning marshmallow cleanses an area, indoors or out or steep the leaves and flowers in oil and use the oil to anoint yourself when you feel the need to be protected from demons or spells cast against you. If you are journeying in the astral and wish some extra protection, apply this oil before you enter your trance.

Marsh mallow is also used for love and fertility spells and is suitable for handfastings or to enhance sex magic. If your mate has left home, or likes to wander, a vase of marsh mallow flowers in your window will guide him/her home. To fight infertility and impotence, gather marsh mallow seeds under the light of the full moon and use them in sachets or aphrodisiac powders, or make oil from them and apply it directly to the genitals.

Also associated with death and rebirth, marsh mallow can be used in departing rituals and those to honor the dead or planted on or near gravesites. (Though I don’t recommend burying people in marshes.)

History and Folklore

A European native, marsh mallow was brought to America as a medicinal plant.

The name Althaea comes from the Greek altho, to cure.

A dish made from Marsh Mallow was a delicacy in ancient Rome.

Comments

Marshmallow root can be used in place of slippery elm where needed.

Marsh Mallow is high in carbohydrates. Diabetics should take this into consideration.

Marsh Mallow mucilage may absorb other medicines taken at the same time and thus reduce effectiveness.

Mayapple

Mayapple is an American native member of the plant family Berberidaceae common to woodland clearings in the Northern and Eastern United States and Southern Canada. It produces two deeply lobed leaves from a smooth, round basal stem and a single waxy white flower with bright yellow stamen that appears in the split between the two leaves. The flower has three petals and three petal-like sepals (so it looks like it has 6 petals) and appears in the early spring, usually in May, quickly ripening to produce the May Apple, which some report to be edible and others report is mildly poisonous. At any rate, it is an early spring food source for small wildlife. The rest of the plant is most certainly poisonous. The fruit is green to yellow and contains many seeds.

In its first year, the plant only produces one leaf, that pops up from the ground like an umbrella. These first year plants will not bloom. Mayapple often occurs in colonies, which elegantly shade the forest floor.

Mistletoe

Magical Mistletoe
Viscum album (European) OR Phoradendron Leucarpum (American)

Zonesi 6-11

Description

Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on larger plants, usually hardwood trees, its roots drawing nutrients from the sap of the host plant. It has lanceate green leaves and a short stem with many forks and can form a large, bushy clump hanging from the host plant up to three feet long. Plants are unisexual and greenish flowers form in clumps. White, transleuscent, veined berries with one seed follow.

Care

The juice of the berries is very sticky and allows seeds to stick to the bark of a tree. They prefer softer deciduous trees, especially apple trees and they are frequently found on Ash and Hawthorn as well. Only rarely are they found on something as hard as an Oak.

If you wish to grow your own mistletoe, you will need to obtain fresh berries. Squish them down onto the wood on the underside of a branch of an appropriate tree so that the juice makes the seed stick. Some people make notches in the wood for this purpose, but how much do you want this poor tree to go through? A threadlike root will form in a few days and pierce the wood, eventually finding its way into the tree itself. You should select a large, healthy tree and a branch that will get plenty of its own sunlight. The mistletoe will take up to two years to mature.

Berries can be picked in autumn. The plant should be harvested in the winter and hung to dry and stored in a paper or cloth bag with plenty of circulation.

Alternatively, you can buy bulk mistletoe herb for magical use.

Associations

Mistletoe is considered to be a plant of male energy. Indeed, the white berries are reminsicent of semen (if you imagine hard enough). It has feminine properties as well, however. It is also associated with the Sun and the element of Air. It is associated with the Gods Apollo, Venus, Freya, Odin and Balder.

Mistletoe is associated with both Yule and Midsummer festivals.

Lore
Mistletoe has always been considered a magical, good luck plant. Lovers who kiss beneath it will have lasting happiness and carrying

A sprig on your person will ensure good luck, protection and fertility. Hanging it in the home was supposed to protect it from
disease, lightening, werewolves and having your children switched with faerie changelings.

Kissing under the Mistletoe originated with the Roman festival of Saturnalia. In England, kissing under the Mistletoe took place on Christmas, of course. The man must pick a berry when the kissing was complete, and once the berries were gone, there was no more kissing. The mistletoe must then be burned on the twelfth night to ensure that those who kissed under it would marry.

In England and Wales, farmers gave a bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that calved to ensure the health and production of the whole heard for the year.

In Scandinavia, mistletoe was a symbol of peace under which warring parties swore truce.

According to lore, Druids held mistletoe in high esteem and collected it only when they received a vision ordering them to do so, and then with great ceremony.

Since the seeds are spread through bird droppings, our observant forebearers named Mistletoe "dung-on-twig", (the word literally
translated is a conjugation of "birdlime" or "bird dung" and twig) mistakenly believing that the plant actually sprang from the dung itself. Other beliefs held the Mistletoe grew where a tree was struck by lightening.

Mistletoe as a Yule Tradition

Many cultures have held Mistletoe in high regard as a magical plant, a protective charm and a cure for all ills. It is a parasite that grows on other trees and stays green all year round, even when its host plant has gone dormant.

It was revered by the Celts as an herb of fertility and peace and would ensure those blessings upon a home if it were hung in the doorway. One custom held that whenever enemies met under mistletoe that they must lay down their arms and observe a truce until the next day.

Throughout the Middle Ages, mistletoe was banned by the church because of its association with fertility and all of the fun debauchery that goes with it. As a substitute, holly was suggested. Even as late as the 20th century some churches did not allow people to wear mistletoe to services.

Mistletoe retained its lusty reputation, however. During the Victorian era, public displays of affection were largely frowned upon, but if you were standing under the mistletoe, you were going to get kissed. A traditioni we still hold dear today.

Magical Use

Use in spells to attract love, for protection, for luck while hunting, for forgiveness and reconciliation, to increase sexual potency in men and to help conceive.

It can be burned to banishi unwanted spirits, laid across the threshold of the bedroom to banish unpleasant dreams, hung in the home to attract love and drive away negative influence and carried as a general protective amuleti.

Its wood is useful for making wands and other rituali tools.

Culinary Use

None! Mistletoe is poison!!

Household Use

The sticky berry juice has been used to catch birds, but this is illegal. It might be useful around the house where you need stickiness.

Medical Use

European Mistletoe-

Mistletoe is used to lower blood pressure and for the general health of the heart and circulatory system. It is also used to treat epilepsy. For both of these, make a tea of 1 teaspoon dried leaves with one teacup of boiling water. As needed for blood pressure, and two to three times per day for epilepsy.

Compress made with this same tea can be used for rheumatism.

Mistletoe has also been indicated in the treatment of certain cancers.

American Mistletoe-

Stimulates uterine contractions and can be used for supressed menstruation and to aid in childbirth.

Cautions

Mistletoe is toxic. While you'd have to eat alot of it to kill yourself with it, pets and small children are at a great risk. Mistletoe berries should never be taken internally.

There are many different types of mistletoe, be sure to check the botanical name before use.

Women who are pregnant or nursing should never use mistletoe!

Additional Notes
Overcollection of this plant has led to its rarity in the wild. Most mistletoe you see these days is plastic.

Monarda

Monarda didyma, Mondarda media, Monarda fistulosa

Common names

Oswego tea, monarda, bergamot, horsemint, bee balm, beebalm

Description

A shrubby perennial with very distinctive flowers native to the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. Flowers bloom July through August and consist of dense, riotous clusters of pink, red or purple. This plant is a member of the mint family, with its distinctive square stem and strong-smelling leaves. The lance-shaped leaves are opposite, toothed and rough on both sides. Slender rhizomes allow the plant to spread like crazy.

Cultivation

Propagate by division every few years. These are native American woodland plants and prefer a well-drained loam in full sun to partial shade. It is drought tolerant and prefers an alkaline soil. Bee balm reseeds readily and you will have to thin it regularly as overcrowded increases its susceptibility to disease and mildew. Make sure there is good circulation around plants to decrease risk of mildew.

Harvesting and Preservation

Cut flowers when in full bloom, this will encourage more abundant blooming. Cut leaves as needed. Dry as any other herb.

Household and Decorative Use

Bee balm is one of the best plants to use for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden.
The flowers and leaves are very good in potpourri and the oils are used in perfumery.

Culinary Use

The entire plant above ground is edible and may be used as a pot herb, in salads, as flavoring for cooked dishes. The unique flowers make an attractive garnish. The fresh or dried leaves make a lovely minty tea that can be served hot or iced.

Medical Use

Monarda has a high thymol content and, therefore, antibacterial properties. It also has antifungal and anesthetic properties. It can be used in mouthwashes, footbaths and douches to relieve odor and/or itching. It is also useful as a wash for minor cuts and scrapes.

Bergamot tea is useful for fever and stomach problems and can be used as a gentle sleep aid. Simmer the leaves for 10 minutes to bring out their full flavor.

Associations

Wild bergamot is feminine in nature and associated with the moon and the element of air.

Spiritual and Magical Use

Bergamot has been used for spells for developing psychic powers, protection, and fertility. Wild bergamot can also be used to help induce sweating at sweat lodges.

History and Folklore

An abundant plant in the Oswego region of New York, this plant was used as a tea by the Natives there and by the settlers to avoid taxation on tea by the British. Thus John Martram named this plant Oswego Teai.

The man Bergamot was bestowed upon this plant because its scent faintly resembles that of a Bergamot Orange, to which it is not related. Bergamot is used to flavor Earl Gray Tea.

The genus name, Monarda, honors Nicholas Monardes, a botanist who specialized in New World plants in the sixteenth century.

Motherwort

Motherwort is an interesting and distinctive member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). It grows on a single, tall square stem decorated from top to bottom with opposite leaves. The leaf shape varies somewhat by location, but are generally lobed and palmate. The flowers appear in early summer and are quite unique and distinctive. They appear at the leaf axils. They are the labiate flowers of the mint family but have a rather furry appearance so that at first glance, motherwort looks like a tall plant with bits of fluff tucked into its leaf axils.

Motherwort is a European native but has naturalized all over the United States and can be found growing along roadsides and in waste areas in just about any temporate region.

Mugwort

Mugwort is a member of the daisy family (Asteracea) with characteristic disk flowers in panicles,(flower made up of many small flowers, in groups, several off the same stem) very small, reddish or greenish yellow. Blooms from July to September. Native to Europe & Asia. Grows in weedy areas and waste places. Reaches 3-6 or more feet tall. Grey-green pinnately lobed leaves, with silvery gray fuzz underneath and erect stem with purplish tinge (usually).

Not to be confused with Wormwood Artemisia absinthium. Tell the difference by examining the leaves. Mugwort is white underneath only and has pointed leaf tips.

Mullein

Verbascum thapsus

Common names

Common Mullein, Great Mullein, White Mullein, Wooly Mullein, Torches, Mullein Dock, Our Lady’s Flannel, Velvet Dock, Blanket Herb, Velvet Plant, Woolen Rag, Woolen, Rag Paper, Candlewick Plant, Wild Ice Leaf, Clown’s Lungwort, Bullocks Lungwort, Aaron’s Rod, Jupiter’s Staff, Jacob’s Staff, Peter’s Staff, Shepherd’s Staff, Shepherd’s Clubs, Beggar’s Stalk, Golden Rod, Adam’s Flannel, Beggar’s Blanket, Clot, Cuddy’s Lungs, Duffle, Feltwort, Fluffweed, Hare’s Beard, Old Man’s Flannel, Hag’s Taper, Hedge Taper, Candelaria, Quaker Rouge, Graveyard Dirt

Description

A biennial herb with large (up to a foot long) rosettes of thick, wooly, grey-green leaves the first year. The long, leafy flower stalk appears the second year with a spike of yellow five-petaled flowers at the top in late July or August. Leaves are alternate, wooly and much longer than they are wide. They can be 4-12 inches long and 1-5 inches wide. They are larger at the bottom of the plant, and become smaller near the top. Seeds appear in the fall and are pitted, rough and grooved. They can stay dormant for many years and still germinate.

Mullein is a native of Europe and Asia and is a naturalized import in the United States. It is common throughout parts of the Midwest and the Eastern United States. It can be found in any open area, along roadsides, ditches, waste areas, etc.

Cultivation

Mullein can grow just about everywhere that it can get full sunlight and, as such, can be a troublesome weed. It reseeds profusely and the seeds can remain dormant and viable in the soil for many years. It prefers dry, sandy soils, but it’s not picky. It requires at least 6 inches of precipitation per year and a growing season of at least 140 days. Seeds are more likely to germinate on or near the surface in loose soil. Take care to cut the flower stalk after you’ve collected as many seeds as you need or your mullein could go crazy and take over! This is considered an invasive species.

Mullein may be bothered by weevils and slugs.

Harvesting and Preservation

Mullein is easy to cultivate and is considered a weed, so most people won’t mind if you collect it from the wild. Be sure to get permission from landowners before collecting and never collect any plant from a state or national park or wildlife preserve without express permission. Mullein has a relatively shallow taproot, so it’s easy to just pull up the whole plant.

The whole plant can be hung upside down to dry over a paper bag to catch seeds that may fall out.

Decorative Use

Mullein is attractive to many types of insects and can be used to attract butterflies, honey bees and other visitors to your garden.

The flowers can be boiled to yield a bright yellow dye that can be useful for dying cloth or hair. Adding sulfuric acid (lower the Ph) will produce a green dye. Adding alkali (raise the Ph) to that will produce a brown dye.

Household Use

An extract of the leaves can be used to prevent the growth of mosquito larvae.
The dried leaves and stem make excellent tinder and can be used for lamp wicks.

Medical Use

Mullein is a great expectorant, soothing coughs and congestion and loosening phlegm. It also has very mild sedative properties. As such, it is the perfect tea for colds. Be sure, however, to strain the tea through a cloth bag before serving to remove the tiny hairs that will cause even more suffering through mouth and throat irritation.

Mullein tea with a bit of milk is also useful in the treatment of diarrhea.

A sweetened infusioni of the flowers, carefully strained can also be used to treat colic.

Mullein can also be smoked to relieve chronic cough and asthma. Get a cigarette machine so that you can stuff it into filtered cigarettes rather than rolling it so that the tiny irritating hairs can be filtered out.

Poultices of mullein leaves can be used for hemorrhoids.

Macerating mullein in olive oil, bruise the leaves and flowers and cover with oil in a clear container and place in the sun for several days, yields a useful treatment for frost bite and burns. The warmed oil can also be dropped into the ear to treat ear infections. This oil will have anti bacterial properties.

Tincture of mullein is useful for migraines and chronic inner-ear disorders. Take 8 to 10 drops of tincture several times a day with cold water.

Correspondences

Mullein is ruled by Mercury (according to Agrippa) or Saturn (according to Culpepper), and is associated with the element of Fire. It is feminine in nature and associated with the God Jupiter. It may or may not be one of Woden’s nine sacred herbs- opinions differ on this.

Spiritual and Magical Use

If you are making your own candles for rituali, consider using Mullein stalks for the wicks. Or the whole stalk may be burnt as a candle of itself. In Indian lore, mullein is considered a sure safe guard against evil spirits and magic.

Powdered mullein can be used in spells that call for graveyard dirt.

History and Folklore

Mullein was first introduced into the United States in the 1700s when it was used to poison fish in Virginia.
Some sources say that this was the plant that Odysseus/Ulysses took to protect himself from Circe’s bewitchment.

Comments

The little fuzzy hairs which cover every inch of a mullein plant are very irritating to the skin and mucus membranes. Use care when collecting, and always strain liquids with mullein in them very well to remove the little hairs before ingesting. Never smoke mullein without a filter!

Nicotiana

Nicotiana is better known as tobacco. An excellent choice for a moon garden, Nicotiana’s blooms are in their finest glory in the evening with a strange luminescence and a pleasing scent. There are many hybrids that will stay open all day, but they do not have as pleasing a scent. Nicotiana is a tropical perennial, but it is grown as an annual in northern zones.

N. alata A lovely plant, about three feet tall, with many 1 inch, star-shaped, tube-like flowers that bloom from midsummer to autumn. Although it can reach up to four feet in mild areas, it is compact enough for small gardens. There are many different colored cultivars available ranging from lime green to red. This cultivar is often called Jasmine Tobacco. It is very fragrant, especially at dusk.

N. sylvestris Is considerably taller reaching up to six feet in tropical areas with very long, white, tube like flowers that appear in a cluster atop a stalk. Its scent is more intense than N. alata and its foliage is impressive even before the springtime flowers open.

N. tabacum Is taller still with fragrant, star-shaped flowers, white to purple or red, that attract moths at night. This is the species grown commercially for the tobacco industry. It is also known as cultivated tobacco or Virginia tobacco.

N. rustica about 3 feet tall with terminal clusters of yellow flowers and wide oval leaves.

Oregano

Origanum spp

Names

Wild marjoram, rigani, bastard marjoram, Greek oregano, pot marjoram

Growing Zonesi: 8-9

Description

A warm, aromatic flavor and scent, slightly bitter. A member of the mint family with characteristic labiate flowers in pink or lavender. It is a bushy plant with opposite, oval shaped leaves and the square stem shared with other mints. The stem may be woody. Usually grows to 8 to 10 inches tall.

Although Oregano and Marjoram are different plants, they are often confused linguistically. Even Lennaeus confused them (he's the guy that did the classification tree, order, family, genus, etc. that science still uses today). The flavors are similar, but not identical.

Cultivation

Grow in full sun with well-drained soil. Do not let the roots sit in wetness. Oregano does not need fertilizer and using it will weaken the flavor.

Plants can be propagated by seed, division or cuttings. Sprinkle seeds over the soil, and do not cover, as sunlight sparks germination. Start indoors and transplant after the danger of frost has passed.

Prune monthly, clipping back flower stalks to keep the plant bushy and preventing it from bolting to seed. Once this happens, the flavor will be affected.

Different species of oregano can cross-pollinate, so if you have more than one species in your garden and collect and replant seeds the following year, you may get a surprise.

Spider mites and aphids may show interest in your oregano.

Harvesting and Preserving

Begin harvesting when the plant is about four inches tall. Just pinch off what you need above a pair of leaves. Harvest just before flowers form for best flavor.

Oregano dries well. Like thyme, the flavor of oregano increases with drying.

Attributes

Oregano is ruled by Venus and the element of air and associated with Aphrodite.

Ritual Use

It is used in spells for happiness, tranquility, luck, health, protection and letting go of a loved one. It can also be used in spells to deepen existing love.

When worn on the head during sleep, it is said to promote psychic dreams.

Oregano symbolizes joy. Use it for rituals celebrating joyful occasions, or in spells to bring joy into one's life. It is also suitable decoration for a grave to ensure the deceased finds happiness in their next life.

Wreaths of oregano may be used to crown the heads of handfastingi couples to ensure their happiness.

Culinary Use

Indispensable for Italian cuisine, oregano is a popular flavoring for tomato dishes, and other acidic vegetables. It's also great on various meats. It is a natural partner to basil and garlic.

Add oregano near the end of cooking. If oregano is cooked too long, it turns bitter.

Mexican oregano Lippia spp is similar in flavor to oregano and popular in Central America and the southern US. It is used to flavor Chili con Carne. It blends well with chilies, paprika, garlic, onion and cumin for a distinctive Southwestern flavor of chili powder.

These plants are not closely related. Mexican oregano is more closely related to verbena.

Medical Use

A cup of oregano tea can be used to soothe stomach upset, colic and many digestive complaints, nervous complaints and coughs. It also helps prevent seasickness.

It can also be used to help regulate the menstrual cycle. Drink some in the days leading up to when your period is due. As with all herbs used for menstrual issues, oregano should never be used by pregnant women.

Oregano contains natural antihistamines. For those with hives, or other allergy problems, try drinking a cup of tea made from equal parts oregano, tarragon, basil, chamomile and fennel daily. If you have hay fever, leave out the chamomile. Drink this with a meal.

Oregano added to an herbal bath will relax sore muscles and help you unwind after a stressful day

A tea used as a mouthwash or rubbed into the gums is good for toothaches. Add to massage oils for muscle aches.

Oregano is a powerful antibiotic and antifungal; highly affective against Candida.

Household Use

The tops of the plants, cut while in bloom, yield a reddish-brown dye.
The leaves can be rubbed over wood as a sort of wood polish. It leaves a pleasant scent.

History and Folklore

The name Oregano comes from the Greek meaning "joy of the mountains". It grows wild on the hillsides of Greece and shepherds used to encourage their sheep to eat it, so as to improve the flavor of the meat.

It has been grown in the Mediterranean for centuries, and became popular in the US after WWII.

Ancient Greeks believed that oregano was a useful poison antidote and used it in poultices to treat skin irritations and infections. If oregano grew on a grave, it was an indication that the departed was happy in the afterlife. Couples were crowned with wreaths of oregano at weddings in both ancient Greece and Rome to ensure their future joy.

Traditional Chinese healers have also used oregano for generations to treat a variety of complaints.

In Shakespearean times, oregano was used for just about anything. Ladies carried it in their tussie mussies to mask unpleasant odors. It was also used in a potion to enable them to see their future husband on St. Luke's day.

It has been used for centuries in many places in love potions.

Growing oregano near your home is supposed to protect it from evil forces. It has also been carried as a charm for the same purpose.

Varieties

Common Oregano, Wild Marjoram, Pot Marjoram
O. vulgare
Has a sweeter taste than Italian or Greek and is used more often in English and French cooking. This is the variety most sold to gardeners, though Greek Oregano is more potent.

Greek Oregano
O. heracleoticum
A very enthusiastic grower should be kept in a pot so it doesn't become invasive. It is excellent for cooking and has a high concentration of volatile oils, making it good for healing and magic.

Italian Oregano
Origanum onites
Milder than Greek Oregano, but less invasive, so a better choice for the garden. Butterflies love the lavender flowers it bears in the summer.

Sweet Marjoram, Knotted Marjoram
Oregaum marjorana
This plant is very frost tender and should be grown indoors in cool climates. Its trailing habit makes it attractive in hanging baskets and it does well in pots. Its flavor not as strong as that of other varieties.

Parsley

Parsley
Petroselinium crispum

Zonesi Most

Description

Parsley is a member of the carrot family with its characteristic feathery foliage. It is native to the Mediterranean, a biennial, and overwinters quite well if given protection, but is usually grown as an annual in cold climates.

Care

Prefers a sunny location where it receives a bit of shade for part of the day. If the parsley is getting too much sun, it will be a bit pale. It doesn't like too much heat, and is pretty cold hardy. You will need to give it some protection in the winter though. If you let it go to seed the second year, it'll reseed itself. But it doesn't taste as good the second year, so you should do a second planting. Then you'll have an eternal rotation of parsley. Assuming the cold doesn't kill it.

Plant in well-drained soil rich in organic matter, though parsley tolerates poorer soils well. Soak seeds in water for 24 hours prior to planting. Germinate in 3-4 weeks. Plant indoors 6-8 weeks before expected frost safety date in peat pots, so you don't have to transplant and disturb the delicate roots, or sow directly in the ground. Surface sow and water well. Plant or thin to 8-10 inches apart. Water at least weekly; do not allow to dry out. Water extra in the heat. Mulch to retain moisture and reduce weeds.

Can be grown indoors in a sunny location in a well-drained pot.

Slugs like parsley and so do many kinds of caterpillars. Swallowtail larvae can wipe out a parsley plant overnight, but they make lovely butterflies, so plant extra if you have them in your area.

Snip stalks close to the ground, beginning with outside stalks and working your way around. This will encourage new growth. For best flavor, pick early in the day while it is still cool. At the end of the season, you can chop the whole thing off at the ground.

Lay or hang to dry and store in an airtight container away from light and heat. It's best fresh though.

For best flavor, parsley should be frozen instead of dried.

Associations

Parsley is associated with Mercury and Air and masculine in action. It is sacred to Persephone, Venus and Aphrodite.

Lore

Parsley is sacred to Persephone and She is often depicted carrying a bunch. Ancient Greeks associated parsley with Death, and used it to decorate tombs, and in funeral ceremonies. They did not eat it and never grew it indoors, lest they bring death into the house, but they did use it as fodder for horses.

The Romans placed parsley on their plates to protect the food from contamination and ate it to sweeten their breath after meals. This is where its traditioni as a garnish originated. They also tucked it into their togas for protection and wore it on their heads to protect them from inebriation.

European folklore says that only pregnant women and witches can grow parsley properly and that it should be planted on Good Friday for the best crop.

Uprooting parsley will bring bad luck to your household. It will also kill the plant. Parsley doesn't like to be transplanted.

Medieval Europeans believed that you could kill someone by plucking a sprig of parsley while speaking his name.

Magical Use

Parsley can be used in a rituali bath and in ritual incense associated with communication with spirits of the dead.

Wearing or eating parsley is supposed to protect against drunkenness and increase strength, vitality and passion.

Parsley is also supposed to protect food from contamination.

Culinary Use

Rich in iron and calcium and vitamin C, A, and B. Add to soups, stews, sauces near the end of cooking to maintain flavor. Excellent in mashed potatoes, add just before mashing. Great in tabouli salad and on sandwiches. Often used as a garnish.

Parsley can be added to pesto and other sauces to stretch other herbs with good results.

Medical Use

A parsley infusioni can be used as a hair rinse to prevent lice. The oil can be used to treat infestations.

Parsley tea can be used for urinary and kidney ailments and for jaundice. For this, the root is most affective, but leaves can also be used. It will increase urination a great deal.

Poultices of parsley can be used for insect bites or make an ointmenti out of the oil. A compress of cooled parsley tea soothes swelling and puffiness.

Parsley can be used to encourage late menstruation.

The large amount of chlorophyll in parsley causes it to reduce mouth odors when chewed.

Cautions

Pregnant women should not eat large quantities of parsley.

Large amounts of parsley can have toxic affects on the liver, lungs and kidneys.

Parsley oil should never be taken internally.

Use care if collecting parsley wild. Fools parsley looks a great deal like the real thing but the leaves are more acute, darker green and don't smell as nice. It is quite poisonous, though it has its own uses.

Additional Notes

As your period, and/or that of various female members of your family, approaches, begin lacing your meals with parsley. It'll prevent late menstruation and give you an extra boost of iron for the week ahead. Feature parsley heavily in a meal to celebrate first menses.

Use parsley in meals celebrating your ancestors or the dead, including Samhain and similar holidays and funeral feasts, especially where the wine will be flowing!

Pelargoniums

There are over 200 species of pelargonium, far too many for me to list them all here. These are very popular bedding plants (annuals in most places) and houseplants (especially scented geraniums). These are African natives for the most part that were brought by traders back to Europe and quickly became extremely popular.

The leaves are alternate and often have interesting verigated patterns. They may be palmately lobed (esp. the scented geraniums) or pinnate. Flowers can be star-shaped or funnel shaped and come in a wide variety of colors. Because these plants have been bred for the garden industry (and perfume industry) for so long, the variety is endless and it is difficult to make generalized statements about their appearance and nature. One defining characteristic is the shape of the flowers. There are five petals in an arrangement of two up and three down.

Pennyroyal

Mentha pulegium

Names

Pudding grass, Mosquito Plant, Tick Weed, Lurk in the Ditch, Organ Broth, Organ Teai, Pilioerian, Squaw Mint

Growing zones: 6-11

Description

A member of the mint family, pennyroyal has the characteristic angled stem of its cousins. It has a prostrate, creeping habit with opposite, hairy, oval shaped leaves. The purplish flowers rise in clusters in mid to late summer and attract butterflies and bees.

Cultivation

Pennyroyal is a perennial, hardy to zone five. It prefers moist, rich soil in full sun to part shade.

Pennyroyal roots at growth nodes, meaning that stems touching the ground can form a new plant. It's a very aggressive grower and should be kept in a pot to prevent it taking over the world!

Harvesting and Preparation

Cut the stems when the plant is just about ready to flower and hang to dry in bunches, then strip off the leaves for use in tea.

Associations

Pennyroyal is of Feminine nature and ruled by Venus and the element Earth. Alternatively (that is, depending who you ask) It's Masculine and ruled by Fire and Mars. Because of its association with midwifery, Pennyroyal is also associated with Hecate and other Goddesses associated with the art.

Magical Use

Use Pennyroyal in healing spells and sachets.

It is said that pennyroyal in your shoes will protect you from tired feet. Include Pennyroyal in blessings before traveling and spells designed to protect a traveler.

It helps relieve blockages of the throat chakra and helps heal an aura damaged by addiction. Use in spells to protect your psychic energy from the negativity of others and to strengthen, cleanse and repair the aura.

Use also to protect against the evil eye and for spells for removing the evil eye.

History and Folklore

The botanical name of Pennyroyal comes from the Latin word for flea, alluding to its flea repellant properties.

Pennyroyal seems to have been a staple herb for the ancient physicians from ancient Greece to Northern Europe for a variety of complaints. It was even said that just hanging a branch in the sick room would aid in healing. Garlands of pennyroyal worn about the head was supposed to prevent headaches and giddiness and to help clear the mind. It was even believed to purify foul water.

Culinary Use

Pennyroyal was once used for stuffing pork in combination with pepper and honey. Its flavor is not as pleasant as that of other mints and it is not commonly used for culinary purposes today.

Household Use

Pennyroyal has been used since Roman times to keep away fleas. The tincture can be sprayed into the pets bedding or added to wash water or a sachet can be placed in the dryer. Do not let your pet eat it however!

Infusing olive oil with Pennyroyal and other insect repelling herbs will create an herbal insect repellant to smooth onto your skin, as long as you're not allergic or pregnant.

Medical Use

Pennyroyal tea is used for stomach complaints and to bring on delayed menstruation. It is still occasionally used in herbal combinations intended to end early pregnancies.

Pennyroyal may lower blood sugar levels; however, it should not be used for an extended period of time and is therefore not useful for this purpose for those who need to regulate their blood sugar levels. Also, if you are taking any medication to regulate your blood sugar levels, you should not use pennyroyal at all.

You should never ingest pennyroyal oil (or any other essential oil). Pennyroyal is generally used in tincture or tea form, that is, 1 teaspoon of dried leaves steeped in water and strained. Heavy concentrations of pennyroyal or prolonged use can cause severe damage to the liver and other organs and internal bleeding, convulsions, hallucinations and a number of other unpleasantries. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) can cause liver damage, and the addition of Pennyroyal into the mix can strengthen this possibility.

Some people have allergies to Pennyroyal. If you experience any irritation of the mucus membranes, itching, difficulty breathing, stomach cramps or vomiting, stop using Pennyroyal immediately and go to the emergency room if your symptoms are severe.

Use of Pennyroyal should always be carefully supervised because of the dangers associated with overdose. Pennyroyal should never be used for more than a week at a time. Pennyroyal should never be used in combination with other drugs or herbs that act on the liver.

Herbal abortion should never be attempted past the 8th week of pregnancy. Herbal abortion should never be attempted in any but the most normal of pregnancies. If any unusual cramping, especially in the side, should occur, discontinue use immediately and consult a medical doctor.

Varieties

American Pennyroyal
Hedeoma pulegioides
Much c