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^HERBARIST HSA Board of Directors Rae McKimm Nicoll Brinley Rle Sluder Janie Plummer Pat Greathead Bonnie Porterfield Cindy Meier Jen Munson

Mary Doebbeling PJ. StampsKitchen Jody Lacey

Jackie Johnson Karen O'Brien Carol Schmidt Dava Stravinsky Gloria Hunter Susan Liechty P. Allen Smith Katrinka Morgan

President Vice President Secretory Treasurer/Finance Central District Membership Delegate Great lakes District Membership Delegate Mld-Atlontic District Membership Delegate northeast District Membership Delegate South Central District Membership Delegate Southeast District Membership Delegate West District Membership Delegate Publications Chair Botany & Horticulture Chait Development Chair (duration Chair Membership Chair Nominating Choir/ Post President HonoraryPresident executive Director

Administrative Staff Katrinka Morgan Executive Director Laurie Alexander Membership Coordinator Christina Wilkinson hbrarion/Archivist Karen Kennedy education Coordinator Amy Rogers Office Administrator Karen Frandanisa Accountant Brent DeWitt (ditor/Designer

Drinking Vinegars: Shrubs, Switchels & Oxymels..................... 4 By Susan Belsinger and Tina Marie Wilcox

The Magic of Mugworts............................................................. 10 By Jane Knaapen Cole

Crataegus Our Native Hawthorns............................................ 16 By Jennifer Geib

Wildlife in the Garden.....................

............................ 20

By Rickie Wilson

A Scarborough Fair Tea Party....................................................25 By Barbara Blackburn

The Floral Art of Jersey Jo.......................................................

By Jo Ann Gardner

The Power of a Garden Visit: A Personal Journey................. 34 By Bath Haebel

Valerian {Valeriana officinalis).................................................................... 36 By Carol Ann Harlos

Growing Herbs on Rooftops.................................................... 40 By Michael Olszewski, Ph.D.,

The Herbarist Brent DeWitt SP Mount Printing impel Creative

(ditor/Designer Printer Publication Design

The Herbarist Committee Jackie Johnson Lois Sutton, Ph.D. Jean Berry Shirley Hercules Pat Larson Gayle Southerland Barbara Williams

Publications Chair Choir

the opinions expressed by contributors are notnecessarily those of The Society. Manuscripts, advertisements, comments and letters to the editor may be sent to: Ihf Herbarist, The Herb Society of America 9019 Kirtland-Chardon Rd. Kirtland. Ohio 44094 440.256.0514 www.herbsociety.org The Herbarist, No. 82

Louise D. Clarke and

Sasha W. Eisenman, Ph.D.

Virgil, Moretum & Pesto............................................................ 44 By Katherine Schlosser

Bloodroot: A Childhood and Adult Favorite!......................... 48 By Lois Sutton, PhD.

On the cover: "Goldenrod Illustrated" - illustration by Brent DeWitt, Editor It is the policy of The Herb Society of America not to advise or recommend herbs for medicinal or health use. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement of any particular medical or health treatment.

In the 2015 issue we highlighted gardens supported or maintained by The Society and many of its units. This issue reminds us of the herbal diversity that drew us into those gardens: herbs of magic and memory, herbs of history, herbs of artistry and herbs partnering with nature’s supporting cast, the pollinators. Alexander Smith wrote “In my garden I spend my days; in my library I spend my nights. My interests are divided between my geraniums and my books. With the flower I am in the present; with the book I am in the past.” Dreanithorp: A Book of Essays Written in the Country, 1863. We hope you take The Herbarist 2016 into your library and find a new herb or new interest before you return to the garden!

Drinking Vinegars The first shrub that we tasted was an

elderberry shrub. We drank it straight

up and immediately were intrigued by the delicious and stimulating flavor. When elderberries came into season that year, we gathered and made our first shrubs. We have been devotees ever since, researching shrubs and creating many variations on the beverages made from berries infused in apple cider vinegar and sweetened with honey.

Shrub Shrub is basically a fruited vinegar— a syrup made from fruit, vinegar and sweetener. Shrubs can be just that simple,

or they can contai n alcohol. This age-old beverage, both tangy and sour, is believed to be ofTurkish origin. Its first recorded use was in the 1600s. Travelers a nd t rade sh ips ca rried t he d ri n k across land and ocean, keeping scurvy away from sailors at sea. “Fruit vinegar" quenched the thirst of Europeans as well as

ost folks look at us oddly when we talk about

making and drinking shrubs. After all, we

gardeners know that a shrub is a woody

plant, usually smaller than a tree, producing numerous stems instead of a single trunk. However, we have been creating and imbibing shrubs (drinking vinegars) for

farmers in colonial America. The following is an entry in The Ark of Taste as published by the Slow Food Foundation: "Shrub is a colonial-day drink whose name is derived from the Arabic word sharab, to drink. It is a concentrated syrup made from fruit, vinegar and sugar that is traditionally mixed with water to create a refreshing drink that is simultaneously tart and sweet. In the nineteenth century, the drink was often spiked with brandy or rum.” Recipes for shrubs vary greatly and date

as far back as pre-colonial times. Some of the first shrub-like beverages, which were carried even by the British Royal Navy, were made with vinegar and citrus to help to flavor foul-tast i ng water or rum. Popu la r in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, shrubs were made by combining citrus fruits with alcohol, most often rum. sometimes brandy.

nearly 20 years. Sparkling rhubarb shrub Photo courtesy: sheeats

DRINKING VINEGARS: SHRUBS, SWITCHELS & OXYMELS

Benjamin Franklin made his shrub with rum and Martha Washington’s recipe included white wine and cognac.

balm or a bit ofsweet woodruff to enhance

beverage in The Long Winter.

the berry flavor. We also really like the kick ofchile pepper shrub. Sometimes we soften

sweetened the cool well-water with sugar,

During this time in history, the spirited concoctions were simply referred to as shrub and the vinegar shrub was often referred to as “fruit vinegar.”

its kick with fruit shrub, or even cocoa

flavored it with vinegar, and put in plenty

powder for a mole effect.

of ginger to warm their stomachs so they

Switchel

could drink till they were not thirsty. Ginger-water would not make them sick,

In colonial times, vinegars were a way to preserve fruit, especially berries. When

“I will give a traveler a cup of switchel, if

the fruit was eaten, the “drinking vinegar” that remained was used as a beverage.

with a sweet taste?”

Sweeteners like sugar or honey might be added, or the vinegar might be diluted with water or served over ice. Shrubs were

sometimes referred to as beveridgc, once a synonym that is no longer used, and switchel,

which is a bit different from a shrub as you will see in the following definition. Generally shrubs are sipped from a cordial glass, poured over ice or served with a bit of sparkling water. They arc a wonderful remedy for congestion or sore throat, and an excellent tonic for the body. Not only is vinegar thirst quenching, drinking vinegar in the summer causes one to perspire, which cools the body. Shrub has been secretly savored for centuries by herbalists across the continent and is now a popular ingredient used by mixologists in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic libations. Shrubs can be made with sweetened fruit juice, fruit, vinegar, honey or sugar. Today, shrubs are being concocted with tropical fruits, vegetables, herbs or combinations of any and all. Whether drinking vinegars are used medicinally or in cocktails, they add a lift and tart zing to other ingredients. We also like them in salad dressings and marinades. We enjoy elderberry shrub, but you

may use other berries such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries or a combination. A fresh strawberry shrub, infused for about a week, is a lovely spring tonic. Add lemon

he want it; but am I bound to supply him

“Ma had sent them ginger-water. She had

as plain cold water would when they were so hot.”

—Herman Melville I and My Chimney Switchel, also referred to as switzel,

swizzle, switchy and haymaker’s punch, is a water and vinegar based beverage, usually flavored with ginger. It was

sometimes simply called ginger water.

Oxymel This term is rather antiquated and

translates to “acid honey." It is an infusion

of vinegar, honey and herbs; the liquids extract the flavors from the herbs and also help preserve the oxymel. We infuse our oxymels at room temperature. We have

seen recipes forboiling down the vinegar and honey with the herbs to make a thicker syrup.

In the Caribbean, switchel’s place oforigin, the drink was sometimes prepared with cane sugar, though more often with molasses. It eventually traveled north on the trade ships and became a popular cooling

beverage in Colonial America. When it arrived in the U.S. in the seventeenth century, it was sweetened with sugar (white or brown) or honey. In New England, maple syrup was used to sweeten the drink and on occasion, oatmeal and/or lemon juice were used for added nutrition.

Our opinion is that healing the ingredients causes a loss of their nutritional values. Once prepared, this herbal drinking vinegar can be used as a strong concentrate and taken straight, diluted with a little water or juice, or added to hot water. Emily Han, author of Wild Drinks and Cocktails, recommends one tablespoon of an herbal oxymel as a typical dose. Hippocrates prescribed this preparation to be used as an expectorant for coughs and other ailments. Herbalists have formulated oxymels for congestion, colds, fevers, flu, indigestion and as

restoratives and tonics.

Elixir There are a few definitions for elixir: a magical liquid that can cure one’s ills or

In the nineteenth century, it was

extend life; a substance, taken orally, capable of prolonging life indefinitely; a

commonly referred to as haymaker's punch, which was prepared to sustain the workers

cure-all; and a sweet-flavored liquid, sometimes containing alcohol that is used

in the fields during haying season. Laura Ingalls Wilder describes a switchel-likc

for medicinal purposes or as a flavoring. Although they have been consumed

Issue 821 2016

DRINKING VINEGARS: SHRUBS, SWITCH ELS & OXYMELS

throughout history, we consider

and cane sugar, which are a bit less processed, may have a darker color and a hint of molasses. Because we use our shrubs both medicinally and for pleasure, we tend to use the

drinking vinegars—shrubs, switchels and oxymels—to be modern-day elixirs.

The Ingredients

more healthful local honey. We

Vinegars

taste as we go, to avoid making them too sweet.

We like to use vinegars for shrub making from naturally fermented foods like apples, grapes and rice. The sour taste of vinegar is a result of the presence of acetic acid which is created by bacterial fermentation in the presence of oxygen. The bacterium involved in this process is called Acetobacter. Vinegar causes us to salivate and it quenches thirst; it also assists the body in the absorption of minerals.

Fruits and Vegetables Use fresh fruits and vegetables at their peak. Peel them—or not, since the pulp and skins will eventually be strained out.

For instance, when working with soft plums leave the skins on. With harder fruits it is easy to peel off the skins.

Basic Shrub

Shrubs can be made with wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, although most recipes feature the latter. Usingorganic apple cider vinegar, raw and unfiltered, ensures that the shrub contains

the natural enzymes and probiotics that they have to offer, as well as flavor. Heat may dest roy some of t he vinegar’s contents.

Sweeteners Traditionally honey was used to sweeten shrubs since sugar was a precious

commodity and wasn’t available as often. In the Caribbean, molasses was what was available and so that is what was used— we've seen numerous recipes using molasses with citrus—which was thirst quenching in such a hot climate. Molasses is more nutritious and has a strong taste, a bit earthy and mineral-like, as well as a darker color. We most often use local, organic honey

and sometimes pure maple syrup to sweeten our shrubs. Their strong flavors can dominate, however. We love orange blossom honey which is milder and has a hint of

citrus about it. Clover and wildflower honeys are common, and there are darker,

intense honeys like buckwheat. Currently,

a We like to use vinegars for shrub makingfrom naturallyfermented foods like apples, grapes, and rice. The sour taste ofvinegar is a result ofthe presence ofacetic acid which is created by bacterial fermentation in the presence ofoxygen.

mixologists will use sugar, or occasionally agave, to allow the taste of mild-flavored

Trad it ionally, shrubs have been made with fruit, especially lemons and oranges. Today shrubs have become popular restaurant and bar ingredients and so they have become infused with everything from exotic fruits and herbs to fresh or roasted vegetables. Dynamite flavor combinations include apple shrub with cinnamon, blueberry shrub with lemon herbs, cranberry shrub with whole cloves, carrot shrub with ginger, tomato and basil shrub and a delicious roasted beet shrub. If you have some ripe apricots or there are red currants or gooseberries at the farmers’ market—then go for it! You are only limited by your imagination. Makes about 2 quarts: • 2 cups ripe berries, sliced fruit or

vegetables • 1 quart apple cider vinegar, preferably organic • 2 to 4 cups local honey Wash berries, other fruit, vegetables, and/or herbs. Remove stems or leaves; peel

the fruit or vegetable if desired (like fuzzy peach skin, tough pear skin or waxy cucumber peel) and slice or chop into

fruits or herbs to shine through, since they

pieces. Put them into a clean, canning jar and fill the jar with vinegar, leaving about

are both neutral in flavor and clarity. Raw

1/2-inch headspace; cap with a non-

■^HERBARIST

DRINKING VINEGARS: SHRUBS, SWITCHELS & OXYMELS

metallic lid. Let stand two to four weeks.

should not be ingested. Be sure to read the

Bottle in sterilized dark-glass bottles or

Shake the shrub daily. Mash the fruit or vegetable in the vinegar and strain through cheesecloth or

herbal safety website listed in the bibliography. The following recipe is from

jars with non-metal lids. Label contents in

The Creative Herbal Home, Susan Bclsinger

in a cool dark place.

muslin; discard the marc (leftover skin,

and Tina Marie Wilcox.

pulp and seeds). Add the lesser amount of honey, blend well and taste for sweetness. Some old recipes say to use equal amounts

of fruited vinegar to honey. We find this a bit too sweet and usually use about 2 1/2 to 3 cups honey to 1 quart vinegar. Blend well and taste for sweetness. Adjust with additional honey to taste. Bottle in sterilized dark-glass bottles or jars with non-metal lids. Label contents in bottlejkeep out of reach of children. Store in a cool dark place. We have never known of shrub going bad in storage. Keep in mind that it will do the body more good if it is used rather than stored. Try to use it within one year. Store your shrubs in a cool, dark place or in the refrigerator.

Makes about 2 quarts • 2 cups ripe elderberries • 1 quart apple cider vinegar, preferably organic • 2 to 4 cups local honey Wash and pick over the berries. Put t hem i nto a clea n, ca n n i ng ja r a nd cap with

a lid. Let stand two to four weeks; shake shrub daily. Mash the fruit in the vinegar and strain through cheesecloth or muslin; discard the marc (leftover skin, pulp and seeds). Mix with 2 1/2 to 3 cups honey to 1 quart vinegar. Adjust with additional honey to taste.

bottle; keep out of reach of children. Store

Marion's Habanero Shrub Our friend, Marion Spear, makes shrubs

from all kinds of fruits and introduced us to chile pepper shrub. We find this shrub an invigorating, delicious tonic and take it for sore throat, cold or allergy symptoms, or when we need a stimulant. We have made

this with various hot peppers such as habaneros, ’Fish’ peppers and ‘Fatali’ (as in fatal)—and found all of them to work!

Makes 1 pint: • 1/4 cup ripe, blemish-free hot chile peppers • 1 cup apple cider vinegar, preferably orga n ic • About 1 cup local honey Wearing rubber gloves, wash and halve the chile peppers. Put the chiles in a sterilized pint-size jar and pour in the vinegar. Cover tightly with a non-metal lid. Place jar in a cool dark place out of direct light, for two to four weeks and

Elderberry Shrub with Honey We have been preparing elderberry shrub for decades with only beneficial effects. It helps boost our immune systems and to fight colds and flu. For elderberry shrub, select only the ripe berries and carefully remove them from the stems before adding them to the vinegar. (Note: Whole corymbs of elderberry can be harvested and placed in the freezer in a plastic bag; once frozen the berries are easily removed from the stems.) One must be sure that berries are ripe; do not use unripe berries since they contain prussic acid that causes cyanide poisoning. Unripe berries should be cooked before being consumed. To avoid this issue, just use ripe fruit. Stems, bark, seeds and leaves also contain prussic acid and

shake daily. This shrub will be infused with heat in less than a week. Taste periodically. When you are happy with the pungency, strain out chiles. Measure the hot pepper vinegar and stir in about 3/4 cup honey and

taste—add up to a cup of honey as desired. Bottle in sterilized dark-glass bottles or jars with non-metal lids. Label contents in bottle; keep out of reach of children. Store in a cool dark place.

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DRINKING VINEGARS: SHRUBS, SWITCHELS & OXYMELS

Quick Shrub Although many traditional shrub recipes are left to macerate for weeks, some of the modern-day recipes call for a brief maceration time. We find that these are quite good, especially when prepared with soft, seasonal fruits like strawberries or raspberries. This is a delicious beverage when poured over ice and combined with equal amounts sparkling water.

Measure the strawberry-honey syrup— there should be about 1 1/2 cups. Add an equal amount ofapple cider vinegar to the syrup. Stir well and pour into a sterilized bottle or jar with non-metal lid. Label contents in bottle; keep out of reach of children. Most recipes that we have seen for quick shrubs recommend that they be stored in the refrigerator.

metallic lid. Shake well to combine ingredients, open and taste for sweetness. Add more honey to taste, if desired. Let stand two to four weeks, shaking the oxymel daily. Strain through cheesecloth or muslin to remove the herbal marc (leftover

botanical residue) and discard it. Bottle in dark-glass, sterilized bottles or jars with non-metal lids. Label contents in bottle; keep out of reach of

children. Store in the refrigerator and use within one year.

If using peaches or nectarines, peel and pit them first.

Makes about 3 cups: • About 2 generous cups sliced strawberries, or other soft fruit • 1 cup honey • 1 1/2 cups organic apple cider vinegar Wash, pick over the berries, hull and slice them into a bowl. Mash them with a fork or a potato masher and pour the honey over them, stirring well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let them stand for 24 hours. The berries will give offliquid. Strain the honey-berry mixture through cheesecloth or muslin; do not press on the crushed fruit. (Save the strained fruit fora smoothie or sauce.)

a Although many traditional shrub recipes are left to maceratefor weeks, some ofthe modern-day recipes callfor a brief maceration time.

Fire Cider Vinegar Tonic Til is elixir is well known amongst herbalists and has been prepared by countless numbers of us for many years now. Susan makes this

Basic Oxymel Oxymels can be made with fresh or dried herbs; of course dried herbs are more concentrated so use about half the amount that you would use fresh. Really, one could make an oxymel from any herb—some of the more popular choices seen currently are lemon herbs, rosemary, sage, thyme and conifers like pine, fir or spruce (using the needles). As with shrubs, you can use equal parts vinegar and honey, or we tend to use a bit less honey.

Makes about 4 cups: • About 3 cups fresh herbs or 1 1/2 cups dried herbs • 2 cups apple cider vinegar,

preferably organic • About 1 1/2 to 2 cups local honey Wash the herbs; pat or spin them dry.

Remove large stems and roughly chop the

herbs. Put them into a clean, one-quart canning jar and add the vinegar and the lesser amount of honey; cap with a non-

jXherbarist

easy recipe every fall after harvesting her horseradish and uses it throughout the winter months for a general tonic and to help fight colds and flu. The creator of this recipe is Rosemary Gladstar. The first time Susan tasted Fire Cider Vinegar was when she took Gladstar’s Science and Art of Herbalism Course in 2004. She has been making her own version ever since. The basic recipe includes fresh horseradish root, ginger root, garlic, onion and cayenne peppers infused in organic apple cider vinegar. There are many different adaptations. The Free Fire Cider website recipe includes lemons, oranges, rosemary and turmeric. In the past, we have added elderberries for an additional boost for the immune system—it does make it a darker color. (There are current attempts by industry to register and trademark “fire cider vinegar” and other

traditional names for herbal preparations made by individuals for many years. More information on this issue is available on the Free Cider website listed in the bibliography.)

DRINKING VINEGARS: SHRUBS, SWITCHELS & OXYMELS

To make fire cider, we grate horseradish and gingerroot, chop garlic and onion and

book Horseradish, Herb of the Year 2011.

mince chile peppers. We don’t really measure—just sort of follow the recipe loosely, usually doubling the recipe so

or when in the throes ofa cold or flu, a shot glass is better. It can be diluted with water or a bit of juice. Andrea also uses it as a

there will be plenty for sharing with family and friends. Shake it daily. Let it infuse for anywhere from four to six weeks although it can be used after just 24 hours of infusion.

rub for sore muscles and aching joints.

Sometimes, we strain it offand other times, we just decant it as needed. Some folks like to add a little bit of honey to make it more palatable, which also is great for coughs or a scratchy throat. The following recipe is an adaptation by Andrea Reisen, of Healing Spirits Herb Farm and Education Center, published in the International Herb Association’s

We take it straight by the teaspoonful—

Makes about 1 quart: • 1/2 cup grated horseradish root • 1/8 cup chopped garlic • 1/2 cup chopped onion • 1/2 cup grated gingerroot • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper • 1 quart organic apple cider vinegar • Honey to taste

Place the first five ingredients in a quart jar and cover with apple cider vinegar. Cover tightly with a non-metallic lid and label jar. Steep for eight weeks or more; then strain off the marc. Taste and add

honey if desired (we generally use about one cup or so). Pour into a clean jar, seal and store out of sunlight.

Bibliography

Belsinger, Susan, and Tina Marie Wilcox, The Creative Herbal Home. Brookeville, Maryland: herbspirit. 2007.

Bobrow, Warren. Bit ters & Shrub Syrup COCKTAILS: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails & Elixirs. Beverly, Massachusetts: FairWinds Press. 2015.

Dietsch, Michael. SHRUBS, An Old-Fashioned Drink for Modern Times. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press. 2014. Han, Emily. Wild Drinks and Cocktails. Beverly, Massachusetts: Fairwinds Press. 2016. http://www.greekmedicine.net/therapies/Drink_to_Your_Health.html

http://www.herbalsafety.utep.edu/herbs-pdfs/blackelder.pdf www.freefirecider.com

kberry-Raspberry Shrub

www.healingspiritsherbfarm.com

and

Herbal enthusiasts,

met in 1996 when Susan presented two herb programs at the Ozark Folk Center, where Tina Marie is herbalist, head gardener and herbal events coordinator. Susan cooks, writes and takes photos, blogging weekly for

www.vegetablegardener.com. Timber Press released her latest book, co-authored with Dr. Arthur Tucker, The Culinary Herbal: Growing & Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs, in January 2016.

Gardening from their respective homes, Susan in Maryland, and Tina Marie in Arkansas, they've exchanged seeds, plants, roots and ideas over the years. They have collaborated on presentations and workshops across the country, from the Smithsonian to Epcot and have done many programs for HSA. They co-authored the creative herbal home, which celebrates their living the herbal life and have written for national

publications like Mother Earth Living, The Herb Companion, Herbs for Health and GRIT, as well as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Regions Guides. Tina is a member of the Ozark Unit of the HSA and Susan belongs to the Potomac Unit. They are both members of the International Herb

Association, American Botanical Council and United Plant Savers—and they both like to create and drink shrubs.

Issue 82 x 2016

*MrtClCtMUGWftff5 Jane Knaapen Cole

was planning a scented garden. Looking for information, I reached for The Scented Garden on

the library shelf. I flipped through the pages and these words of Eleanour Rohde captured me: “The very word ‘herb-garden’ suggests old-world peace and fragrance. It conjures up a vision...

of a secluded pleasaunce full of sunlight and delicious scents and radiant with the colours and charm of all the lovable old-fashioned plants.. .We live in such a hurrying material age that even our gardens seem to have forgotten the elves and fairies who surely have the first claim on them” (Rohde 1969).

I was intrigued; I needed to find out more. Interloan (no ‘Google’ in those days) found more books

for me, treasures by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, Adelma Simmons and Rosetta Clarkson.

•‘Xherbarist

THE MAGIC OF MUGWORTS

I started planning my scented garden of wormwood to not only decorate our doors herbs inspired by Eleanour s words: “Where and walls, but to protect us from witches indeed shall we find scents to equal those in and ward off evil. Mrs. Maud Grieve, in her Modern the herb garden? They are so full of sunshine and sweetness that it seems there Herbal, quotes from the Herbarium of can be no tonic like them... Small wonder Apuleius. She writes, “Of these worts that that in former days herbs were so largely we name Artemisia, it is said that Diana used to ward offblack magic” (Rohde 1936). did find them and delivered their powers I then became fascinated with the myths, and leechdom1 to Chiron the Centaur, who magic and superstitions surrounding first from these Worts set forth a leechdom. herbs. Later, when I started giving programs about them, I loved to start with a quote from Herb Gardening in Five Seasons by Adelma Simmons. She said it was a Scottish proverb: “A little muggings [mugwort] eatten in May will protect the eater from consumption, poisoning, physical exhaustion, wild beasts and the necessitie of paying too many bills” (Simmons 1964). I thought those words showed how folklore, magic and medicine twined together in the history and use of herbs. It has taken centuries to get to this age where we have some understanding of the causes of disease as well as the cures. However, in earlier times, people attributed these diseases to spirits, demons, witches, elves and so on. Moreover, it seemed that if a plant was effective in driving out an illness, it would also drive away evil spirits or witches. By the time these beliefs were being recorded in the early herbals, we see

recipes noting “it helpeth this afflection, and drives away all fanatical spirits” (Clarkson 1940). Eleanour and Adelma convinced me that artemisias are the most magical group of herbs, in appearance as well as in use: “they become the glory of autumn, providing accents and graceful patterns both day and night. ...they are at their best in the light ofa harvest moon, or in the cold white nights of November when their wispy stalks wave their goodbye to the old year” and “... silver filigree ... lacy look ... cloud-like effect.” Adelma described the decorative artemisias, especially Artemisia ludoviciana ssp. albula, as “indispensable for fresh and dried arrangements” (Simmons 1964). We weave wreaths and swags of silver king, mugwort and

and he named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is Artemisias” (Grieve 1931). Another story attributes the

name to Queen Artemisia of Caria, who lived about 400 B.C.E, and was known for her studies in botany. While there are many members of the artemisia family, the old herbalists valued these three the most: Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort: so called from its use to flavor beer and ale, or from mougftte-moth or mucgwrt-midge because it protected clothes from insects. People took it as a spring tonic, as an old saying advised: “If they would drink nettles in

March and eat mugwort in May, So many

Issue 82x 2016

fine maidens would not go to the clay”

(Rohde 1936). Less aromatic than some artemisias, it has a long history of magical use in Greece, China and across Europe. It was one of the nine sacred herbs described in the Saxon Lacnunga, and the Saxons considered mugwort to be the “mother of herbs” (Rohde 1936). According to the Grete Herball (1539), “Yf this herbe be within a house there shall no wicked

spyryte abyde.” William Coles, in his The Art of Simpling (1656), says, “If a footman take Mugwort and put it into his shoes in the morning, he may goe forty miles before noon and not be weary." In his 1597 herbal, Gerard quotes Pliny: “the traveler or wayfaring man that hath the herbe tied about him feeleth no wearisomnesse at all; and he who hath it about him can be hurt by no poysonsome medicines, nor any wilde beast; and also it is drunke against Opium, or the juyce ofblacke Poppy." Mugwort is dedicated to St. John the Baptist as it supposedly protected him while he was living in the wilderness (Grieve 1931). According to a 16th century writer, people

THE MAGIC OF MUGWORTS

handful each of rue, sage, mint, rosemary, wormwood, and lavender. Infuse in a

gallon of white wine vinegar. Pour into a stone jar, seal and keep in warm ashes for four days. Strain and bottle in quart bottles with an ounce of camphor in each bottle.

Carry a sponge impregnated with the mixture to sniff ifclose to anyone suffering

from the plague” (Lyte 1986). Culpeper tells us, “this herb Wormwood being laid among cloaths will make a moth scorn to meddle with the cloaths as much as a lion scorns to meddle with a mouse or an eagle with a fly.” Gerard also says, “Taken in wine it is good against the biting ofthe shrew mouse and ofthe sea dragon." Thomas Tusser, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie (1577), gives this advice: While Wormwood hath seed get

gathered around bonfires wearing chaplets of mugwort and vervain, performing ceremonies to lure the sun back.

Much folklore surrounds the use of mugwort on St. John’s Eve and Midsummer Solstice. To obtain protection from evil, one should wear a crown of mugwort on that eve. Gathered on St. John’s Eve and hung over the doorway, mugwort specifically protects the house from lightning, and generally gives protection against diseases and misfortunes; burning a bundle, wreath or swag of mugwort in the Midsummer Solstice fire will drive away last year’s evil and bring good luck for the coming year. In Italy, a piece of mugwort would be placed under the pillow of a sick person, without telling him. If he went to sleep, it meant he would recover; ifhe were to lie awake, he would not.

out of Paradise. One belief was that if the juice of wormwood was rubbed over a baby’s hands before the child was 12 weeks old, it would never suffer extremes of heat or cold. In The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747), Mrs. Hannah Glasse urges housewives to make Plague Water: "Take a

Artemisia absinthium, wormwood: Absinthum means “without sweetness", and wormwood has been a symbol for bitterness since biblical times. However, Moldenke notes that this artemisia is not native to the Holy Land (Simmons 1964). Tradition has it that wormwood sprang up in the track of the serpent as it was driven

■Xherbarist

a handful or twaine, To save against March, to make flea to refraine; Where chamber is sweeped and

Wormwood isstrowne. What savour is better (ifphysick be true)

For places infected than Wormwood and Rue? It is a comfortfor hart and the braine, And therefore to have it, it is not in vaine. (Rohde 1936).

THE MAGIC OF MUGWORTS

Wormwood served in divination and to draw )ove to oneself as we see in this love charm: “On St. Luke’s Day, take marigold

flowers, a sprig of marjoram, thyme, and a little Wormwood; dry them before a fire, rub them to powder; then sift it through a fine piece of lawn, and simmer it over a slow fire, adding a small quantity ofvirgin honey, and vinegar. Anoint yourself with this when you go to bed, saying the following lines three times, and you will dream of your partner that is to be: ‘St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me, In dreams let me my true-love see”’ (Grieve 1931). Its ancient name, Wermut, or Wermod, means “preserver of the mind.” Some believed it was a tonic for the brain. We can easily understand how the use of a narcotic or hallucinogenic plant would encourage belief in the magical properties of the plant. Wormwood contains thujone, which can cause hallucinations. Prolonged use can damage the central nervous system. Il is an ingredient in absinthe, the liquor favored by Edgar Allen Poe and many others in the late 19th century. Banned in the early 1900s because its consumption had become a serious problem, absinthe has seen resurgence in recent years using thujone-free wormwood.

Artemisia abrotanum, southernwood, is also known as Lad’s Love, Old Man or Garde Robe. Walafred Strabo, ninth century German monk, said the plant has as many virtues as leaves. The lemoncamphor scent of southernwood made it a favorite to use as a strewing herb and to place in chests or hang in cupboards with clothing, protecting woolens and linens from moths. Country lovers frequently tucked it into bouquets presented to their lasses. Southernwood was used in love spells and even placed in the bed or under the mattress to arouse passion. Culpeper calls southernwood a “gallant mercurial plant” and says that when taken in wine it “is an antidote, or counter-poison, against all deadly poison, and drives away serpents and other venomous creatures; also the smell of the herb, being burnt, doth the same.” He also says, “The ashes mingled with old salad oil, helps those that have hair fallen, and are bald, causing the hair to grow again either on the head or beard.” It was customary for women to carry nosegays of southernwood and balm to church as the scent kept them from feeling drowsy during long services. Judges carried posies of southernwood and rue. Bundles were hung about the courtroom

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a While Wormwood hath seed get a handful ot' twaine, To save against March, to makeflea to refraine; Where chamber is sweeped and Wormwood is strowne, What savour is bettej' (ifphysick be true) For places infected than Wormwood and Rue? It is a comfortfor hart and the braine, And therefore to have it, it is not in vaine. (Rohde 1936).

THE MAGIC OF MUGWORTS

Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, Rosetta Clarkson and Adelma Grenier Simmons Susan Betz and Lois Sutton

Jane refers to the books of Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, Rosetta Clarkson and Adelma Grenier Simmons as treasures and recognizes these three herbal trailblazers as inspirational for her. We thought you might

like to know a little more about each of them. Eleanour Sophy Sinclair Rohde (1881-1950) was a

British gardener, garden historian and horticultural writer. She was an only child, educated at Cheltenham Ladies College and at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. Of the herb gardens she designed the most visited was that at Lullingstone Castle in Kent. Her many books have inspired gardeners (the 1920 A Garden of Herbs and the 1931 The Scented Garden) and garden researchers (e.g., The Old English Herbals, published in 1922 and reprinted by Dover Publications in 1971) alike. She wrote about the practical side of gardens (e.g., The Wartime Vegetable Garden, first published in 1941) but she also described the joy of gardening in this poem about her friends’ gardens at Sibbersfield Hall:

Rosetta E. Clarkson (1892 -1950) wrote about growing and using herbs during the early 1930s before extensive information, herb seeds or plants were readily accessible to home gardeners. From 1936 through 1939 she published The Herb Journal, which was sent to thousands of people free each month. She is the author of three classic herb books: Magic Gardens: A Modern

also provided an herbal luncheon in her 18th century farmhouse. The content in many of the forty-odd books and pamphlets she wrote reflects her love of rituals and festivals, such as A Merry Christmas Herbal and Saints in My Garden. The joyous herbal celebrations in 1971 included sixteen May parties, twenty summer parties, Lammas Festival, St.

Chronicle ofHerbs and Savory Seeds (1939), praised as the “very lavender and rosemary of literature,” Green Enchantment: The Magic Spell of Gardens (1940), and Herbs, Their Culture and Uses (1942). Along with her husband Ralph P. Clarkson, she founded The Herb Lovers Book Club to publish and reprint old herbals and gardening books. She opened her gardens, Salt Acres in Milford, Connecticut, to hundreds ofvisitors annually. She lectured widely and generously supplied seeds to commercial growers and private individuals at no charge. Rosetta E. Clarkson and her work with herbs are credited with reviving the cultivation of

Fiacre’s Day - and more! Noted garden writer and lecturer, Sharon Lovejoy, remembers Adel ma’s encouragement for opening her own business. She says, “Adelma looked up, flashed her forest faerie smile and said, ‘You’ll never make lots of money, but you’ll always have a rich full life.’” If you don’t have works by any of these three herbal legends on your book shelves, explore The Society’s library collection. Take advantage of the members’ borrowing privileges!

“Sprawling for elbow room, Spearing straight spikes ofbloom, Clean, wayward, and tough; Sweet and tall and herbs in the United States. slender, Buoyant, and Adelma GrenierSimmons (1903 -1997) founded bold, and bluff, Caprilands Herb Farm (located in Simplest, sanest ofstuff Coventry, Connecticut) in 1929, creating the first extensive herb garden and herb - Thus grows lavender, business open for public visits. She gave thence breathes England" daily lectures to visitors and on Thursdays

.-■Xherbarist

Bibliography Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science Available from https://books.google.com/books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanour_Sinclair_ Rohde

http://www.sibbersfield.com/1931-to-1974/

THE MAGIC OF MUGWORTS

and at the side of the prisoner in the dock to protect against jail fever. As with other artemisias, it was an ingredient in amulets

or spells to guard against troubles and evil. As Adelma Grenier Simmons wrote: “Happy is the herb gardener through all the seasons and the years. His[hers] is a life enriched with rare fragrances...open up herbals and old garden books to study with

amusement, tolerance, and not a little awe the wonderful history of herbs. Trace their uses from pagan ritual to Christian ceremony, their inclusion in early medicines, in witchcraft, in song and story until their enchantment lays a gentle hold on your daily life” (Simmons 1964). ®

1. Leechdom: medicine or remedy

Literature Cited

Coles. William. 2000. The art of simpling (1656). Pomeroy, Washington: Health Research.

Clarkson, Rosetta E. 1940. Green enchantment. New York: Macmillan. Culpeper, Nicholas. 1990. Culpeper's complete herbal & English physician. Glenwood, IL: Meyerbooks. Gerard, John. The herball or generall historic of plantes. Accessed May 22,2014. Available from: http://caliban.mpipz.mpg.de/gerarde/index.html

Grieve, Mrs. Maud. 1931. A modern herbal. Accessed May 21,2014. Available from: http://www.botanical.eom/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html

Lyte, Charles.1986. The herb garden. Oxford: Oxford Illustrated Press.

Rohde, Eleanour Sinclair. 1936. The scented garden. Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint. -1937. Herbs and herb gardening. New York: Macmillan. -1969. A garden of herbs. New York: Dover Press. (Reprint of the 1936 edition) Simmons, Adelma Grenier. 1964. Herb gardening in five seasons. New York: Penguin Books. Treveris Peter (printer). Grete Herball (1539), Accessed May 24,2014. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139833/

Tusser Thomas. Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie (1577). Accessed May 24 2014. Available from: http://www.archive.org/stream/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft/fivehundredpoint08lussuoft_djvu.txt Bibliography Bown, Deni. The Herb Society ofAmerica's New Encyclopedia ofHerbs & Their Uses. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited. 2001.

Tucker, ArthurO.and DeBaggio, Thomas. TheEncyclopediaofHerbs. Portland, OR: Timber Press. 2009.

Green Bay nurseries only offered parsley, dill and their skepticism that any others would survive. She unexpectedly discovered The Herb Society of America-Wisconsin Unit at their plant sale at Boerner Botanical Gardens. She

promptly joined the unit and served in several positions, including unit chair. She served as the Central District Membership Delegate in 1999 and from 2004-2007. Jane is a founding member of the Green Bay area Herbs in Thyme garden club which helped plan, plant and maintain the herb garden at

the Green Bay Botanical Garden. She has helped plan and plant herb gardens at Historic Hazelwood and Heritage Hill.

Over the years she presented programs and workshops on growing and using herbs for local Green Bay garden clubs, Master Gardener organizations across Wisconsin, Boerner Botanical Gardens, Green Bay Botanic Garden, Old World Wisconsin, The Chicago Botanic Garden, and various HSA symposia across the country.

Issue 82 x 2016

mention it as one of the three sacred trees along with the ash and the oak. A magical grove made up ofold, entwined hawthorn trees

How would we know ifthey existed or not? There would be no way for us to crawl into the old, dense grove to find out! Hawthorn trees are very long-lived and can live 400 years or more, each year getting thicker and more dangerously thorny. Decades ago in England it was common for older people to make a daily visit to their favorite hawthorn to carefully pick and eat several of the fresh, crunchy and tasty leaves. They believed the leaves would strengthen and invigorate their heart and circulatory systems. People consumed a hot tea of the dried leaves in winter. Also, those animals that regularly munched on hawthorn leaves were seen as being more robust than those

is supposed to be the perfect habitat for faeries (Phillips 2012).

that did not (Phillips 2012).

I chose to write this article just after I planted two very tiny hawthorn trees in my front yard this last summer. Unfortunately, I did not plant our natives (I didn’t research well) and I am afraid that my little babes will not make it through the winter. They will

take many years to grow even if they do survive, but it will be worth the wait. I encourage you to plant a native hawthorn or two

in your yard to enjoy their healing gifts. The hawthorn tree is mentioned throughout history, in mythology and in various religions. Older British religions

Photos: Above Left, Blossoms ofCrataegus holmesiana. Above Right, Fruits of the Crataeguspunctata. Right, Thorns on the Crataegus crus-galli make harvesting fruit a challenge! Credit: Nadia Talent 16

■^HERBARIST

CRATAEGUS: OUR NATIVE HAWTHORNS

Hawthorn (Crataegus, spp.) is a deciduous member of the rose fruit! Some herbalists believe that only those with thorns should (Rosaceae) family. The budding May flowers profusely coat the be used for medicine making, but fortunately all hawthorns are tree with tiny white balls that are interspersed with the new, bright said to be medicinal. The common name for hawthorn comes from haw, which is an green leaves. When the buds open to the sun, each has five snowwhite petals, soft and shining, set around slender stamens with old English word for “hedge.” The tree's name simply means bright pink heads. On the underside ofeach hawthorn flower are “thorny hedge." After the British General Enclosures Act of 1845 five green, star-like sepals. Under the sepals the stalk is slightly hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) was used extensively as swollen as it contains the ovary, which, after the flower is hedgerow plant because of its thorny nature and quick growth. pollinated and the petals fall, grows into a small green fruit in The hedges angered peasants who could no longer enter the lands the mid-summer. By fall the green pomes ripen into scarlet red to they previously roamed freely. Its Latin name, Crataegus, dark purple one-half inch comes from the Greek word or larger fruits that hang in Krataigos (flowering thorn). long-stalked bunches. They Breaking down the Greek typically persist to late word: Kratus means hard or fall/early winter making strong referring to the the hawthorn a wonderful late season food for migrat quality of the wood, and ing birds. akakia or akis means thorn When in bloom the flower (Eat the Weeds). If the trunk of the tree were straight and emits a rich pungent scent that permeates the air, which larger, it could be made into beautiful furniture as the some describe as an unpleasant odor, but others grain of the wood is unique. find captivating, especially A perfect use for the branches insects and flies of all types. (along with the yew tree, This makes the hawthorn a Taxus spp.), by both Native verybusy tree for pollinators. Americans and early Birds love the trees as they Europeans, was for making are a safe haven from strong and flexible hunting predators and a favorite place bows. The English author. for nesting. Hawthorn Bill Vaughn, experimented blossoms contain both male and made a working hunting and female parts and are bow from his hawthorn fertilized by the numerous (Vaughn 2015). types of insects that crawl, fly and live on and around them. This Historically the hawthorn fruit has been used primarily for provides the bird parents with plentiful meals for their youngsters. urinary tract issues and digestive problems. The Chinese used There are about forty different species of hawthorn that are their native hawthorn for specific digestive issues, but now it is native to the U.S. Crataegus grows in most well-drained soils usually formulated with other herbs considered useful in treating including alkaline or clay. They thrive in sun or lightly dappled digestive problems (Chen & Chen 2012). Native Americans used shade (woodland edge). The University ofWisconsin lists the more native hawthorn roots, bark and twigs for stomach and intestinal numerous (common, with their native distribution): Crataegus issues (Moerman 1998). Many tribes used the fruits for winter crus-gall (cockspur hawthorn - the thorn is slightly curved, found food by making them into dried cakes mixed with other fruits and in central-south WI), Crataegus douglasii (black hawthorn - the seeds. Early American Eclectic physicians' found hawthorn fruit fruits are black, found in the northern most regions of WI), and bark useful for functional cardiac problems. Crataegus holntesiana (Holmes hawthorn, found in southeastern The use of Crataegus for cardiac issues, begun in Europe, is now counties), Crataegus pedicellata (scarlet hawthorn, found widespread in modern medicine and clinical trials. The medical in southern WI), Crataegus punctata (dotted hawthorn, found research actually dates back to the late 1800s. A letter in the 1896 in most of the state), Crataegus succulent (fleshy hawthorn - New York Medical Journal (M.C. Jennings, 1896) references produces big fruits, found in southern and western WI) hawthorn’s use by an Irish physician, but Dr. Jennings advises that (University of Wisconsin). its use should be coupled with digitalis. Hawthorns have been widely hybridized, mostly to reduce or In more recent times numerous European clinical studies show eliminate the long thorns as those plants with the one- to five-inch the use of hawthorn for various sorts of cardiac issues (Kress thorns make it a challenge to pick the wonderful healing 2013). While many herbalists think it is best to make a complete

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CRATAEGUS: OUR NATIVE HAWTHORNS

heart tonic using the berries, leaves and flowers, the German Commission E only recommends the leafand flower preparations (American Botanical Council 2013). Hawthorn’s medicinal

seeds contain amygdalin (a compound that may be converted in our digestive system as the potentially toxic hydrogen cyanide). An adult may be able to tolerate a few seeds but children should

never be allowed to eat the

preparations include water extracts, water-alcohol extracts, wine infusions, syrups and fresh juices. Modern medical herbalists and naturopaths find hawthorn to be effective in managing high blood pressure, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial weakness. Further studies suggest it may be of value in slowing damage to the arteries caused by ath erosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Note: It is important to have any cardiac concerns properly diagnosed by a physician before undertaking any self treatment. In her book. Practical Herbs 2, Henriette Kress cautions that hawthorn can make the heart drugs more effective and drug dosages may need to be adjusted (Kress 2013). If you want to use hawthorn, and you are on cardiac medications, it is imperative to consult with your doctor before experimenting with this herb. If you enjoy foraging or if you happen to have a hawthorn tree in your yard, springtime brings a great delight. The very young leaves, which are sometimes called “bread & cheese, can be eaten as a trail nibble” (Eat the Weeds), and the young leaves can besprinkled into salads as a tasty addition. The young flower buds can also be consumed, but not the opened flower, and never the “hip” which contains the unformed seed. The unripe or fully-formed

a A perfect usefor the branches (along with the yew tree, Taxus spp.), by both Native Americans and early Europeans, wasfor making strong and flexible hunting bows.

Photo Above: Crataeguspunctata flowers Credit: Nadia Talent

seeds (Vaughn 2015). If you are picking and tasting fresh hawthorn berries in the fall, be sure to spit out the seeds. The berry is quite popular for culinary uses in Britain, Europe, China, Russia and many other countries where hawthorn is found. Hawthorn berries are often used to make jams, jellies, sauces and cordials or other alcoholic drinks (Eat the Weeds). You can find hawthorn food products for purchase from various websites. The perfectly ripened berries contain a considerable amount of pectin, and for those adventurous types, you can make a fresh hawthorn jelly right in the field! A YouTube video, referenced below, shows you how to make fresh, wild hawthorn jelly. I have listed some additional recipe links as well. I have made jelly, sauces and a wonderful rum-based cordial. I would love to find a local place to pick fresh berries and do more experimentation with this amazing medicinal tree! ®

1. Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and

first half of the 20th centuries. (Source: Wikipedia)

CRATAEGUS: OUR NATIVE HAWTHORNS

RECIPES HAWTHORN RUM CORDIAL (AUTHOR'S RECIPE)

You can make any of the below with dried hawthorn berries. It may not be quite as good, but I've found it to be fine since 1 can't get fresh ones. Soak the dried berries overnight by pouring boiling water of sufficient amount allowing plenty for

3 cups dried hawthorn berries (or 4 cups fresh, deseeded)

absorption then proceed with the below recipes.

4 cups 40% rum (I use the cheap white stuff, but you can buy flavored rum if you want)

HAWTHORN JELLY, COOKED http://yorkshiregourmet.com/post/63727725754/hawthorn-jelly

1 cup honey or % cup brown sugar (add more if you want it sweeter)

DANISH SCHNAPPS http://www.danish-schnapps-recipes.com/hawthorn.html

Mix together and let sit for two or more months, shake at least once a week. The longer it sits the better it gets. Press, filter and bottle.

Will last many years.

HAWTHORN CATCHUP http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/hawthorn-berryrecipes-foraging

_______ ± Literature Cited American Botanical Council. 2013. Hawthorn flower and leaf. Accessed October 26,2015. Available from: http://cms.herbalgram.org/commissione/

Kress, Henriette. 2013. Practical Herbs 2. Helsinki, Finland: Tammerprint Oy.

Chen, John K. and Chen Tina T. 2012. Chinese medical herbology and pharmacology. City of Industry, CA: Art of Medicine Press, Inc.

Phillips, Stuart. 2012. An Encyclopaedia of Plants in Myth, Legend, Magic and Lore. London: Robert Hale Ltd.

Eat the Weeds. Hawthorn harvest. Accessed October 26,2015. Available from: www.eattheweeds.com/the-crataegus-clan-food-poison-2/

Vaughn, Bill. 2015. Hawthorn: TheTree that has nourished, healed, and inspired through the ages. London: Yale University Press.

How to make fresh hawthorn jelly (no-cook) Accessed October 26,2015. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a$rAZH4eblk

University of Wisconsin. Hawthorn. Green Bay Herbarium. Accessed September 23,2015. Available from http://uwgb.edu

Moerman, Daniel E. 1998. Native American ethnobotany. Portland & London: Timber Press.

Jennings, M.C. 1896. Crataegus oxyacantha in the treatment of heart disease. The New York Med. J. Accessed March 25,2016. Available from: https://archive.0rg/stream/newyorkmedicaljo6418unse#page49l/mode/1up

3P '

her husband, two cats and the abundant wildlife that love the yard that she has created. For the last five years she has studied garden design and, as a project, changed her city plot into a wildflower and medicinal plant cultural garden. Her hobbies are

writing, gardening, painting, photography, Tai Chi and studying historical herbology.

Issue 82x2016

IN THE GARDEN (J“ Attract important pollinators to your yard by planting fragrant, colorful, sometimes tasty and always delightful herbs!

WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN

As you sift through the catalogs this winter, mulling over your plans for spring, don’t

nectar and pollen, but they don’t have a great sense ofsmell. Plant herbs with strong

forget the birds, bees and other important pollinators. These animals rely on various flowers, shrubs and trees for food, shelter and protection from predators. In turn, we rely on them to pollinate our crops. With pollution, pesticides and other threats to their welfare looming large, it’s more

aromas so they don’t pass your garden by. Hummingbirds love bright red and orange hues (which is why sugar-water feeders tend to be red). They need flowers with tubular, trumpet-like shapes, from which the birds feed using their long- tapered bills and tongues.

Common sage (Salvia officinalis): Plant

this herb in full sun, and look for its blue and purple, deep-throated flowers.

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.): These sunny plants produces bright yellow blooms and not surprisingly love full sun! Lavender (Lavandula spp.): While these herbs can be a little difficult to grow, they are well worth the effort because ofthe

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important than ever to provide these species with a sanctuary. And it offers us a chance to delight in the beauty of the natural world in action—in our own backyards.

Include some of these humming-bird fragrant and colorful blooms. friendly plants in your garden: Mint (Mentha spp.): This herb likes sun Anise hyssop (Agastachefoeniculum): or partial shade and is very aromatic. Plant This plant has a wonderful anise aroma. It it in a container to keep it from overtaking enjoys the sun and develops long spikes of the garden. purple-blue flowers in late summer. Musk mallow (Malva moschata): A Help for Hummingbirds Bee balm/bergamot (Monarda spp.): close cousin of hollyhock, this plant prefers One of the greatest memories of my life is Bergamot always draws hummingbirds. The full sun but will tolerate some shade. It the encounter my late husband shared with plants grows best in sun to partial shade. produces flowers similar to hibiscus and a hummingbird. It was my husband’s habit Different cultivars of these tall plants emits a musky fragrance. to water the plants in our yard in the produces pink, purple, orange or red flowers. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis): evenings after dinner, and as he moved Catnip/catmint (Nepeta cataria - People love this common herb for its great through my mint garden, a beautiful green Nepeta x faassenii): These herbs require aroma and taste, and so do hummingbirds. hummingbird approached him night after sun and shade. Catnip flowers are white Grow it in full sun, and allow it to produce night getting closer and closer in an with small purple spots; catmint produces its lavender or white flowers from late attempt to drink from the hose. One night lavender flowers that bloom in late summer through the fall.

it finally happened! The little bird became brave enough to take a sip from the stream

of the garden hose. From that night on, the little guy was a regular visitor. Hummingbirds are attracted to several plants, herbs included. They eat tree sap,

summer. Ofcourse, these herbs also attract cats, so be careful where you plant. Comfrey (Symphytum spp.): Blue to

Verbena (Verbena officinalis): Sporting pale, lilac-colored, tubular flowers, this herb will grow in sun or light shade.

mauve flowers usually appear on this medicinal plant, although some species have creamy red, pink or white blooms.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): This herb produces small, flat-cluster flowers with a very pungent odor.

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WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN

If you want more pop and color in your garden, you can also include snapdragons, sweet alyssum, fuchsias, Shasta daisy, aster, zinnia, clove pink and trumpet vine. The plants above will not only attract hummingbirds, but several other varieties of birds. Adding depth and texture to your garden will attract a wider array of bird species. Place birdbaths in different spots around the yard to provide water and a

place for them to wash. Plant your herbs near bushes and trees to offer protection from predators as they feed. Of course, feeders go a long way toward drawing in more birds.

Benefiting Butterflies

species. The initiative also encourages homeowners to plant milkweed in their own gardens. Ofcourse no butterfly garden is complete without butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), another milkweed species with orange flowers. It provides adult butterflies with nectar, while young caterpillars feed on the foliage. (Feeding on the leaves of this plant causes the young larvae to taste bitter to predators.) You will attract a wide variety of

butterflies by planting large sections of yarrow, goldenrod, purple coneflowers, several types of mint and butterfly bush

(Buddleia davidii). The white, pink, purple and blue flower spikes of different cultivars of this plant, which are fragrant, will attract adult butterflies such as red admirals, gulf fritillaries, monarchs, mourning cloaks and many other species.

favorite among humans and c alike, this tasty herb needs full s Parsley (Petroselinum crispt, swallowtail caterpillars find particularly delicious. (As th< dill, fennel and anise!) Don’t forget the nectar herbs li that irresistibly draw adult butte Calendula (Calendula of Enjoy the bright and cheery r blooms of this perennial favorit Nasturtiums (Tropaeolm These favorites among herb 1 tasty shallow, trumpet-like orange, red and yellow.

Oregano (Origanum spp.): I needs full sun and midday shad< let them flower. Thymes (Thymus spp.): At swallowtails with these ear which enjoy full sun. Violets (Viola spp.): Fritillary adore this purple bloom. Winter savory (Satureja tnot white, star-like clusters of tt flowers a re a delicacy for adult. As with birds, butterflies; predators. Keep them safe I

A well-planned herb garden can serve as a haven for butterflies and a source of enjoyment for your family. Start by planting herbs in a sunny location. As cold blooded creatures, butterflies don’t generate enough heat to fly on their own, so they depend on heat absorbed from the sun. You’ll also need some host plants for butterfly larvae, along with flowers that produce nectar for the adults.

find a range of artemisias for the garden, and an even wider array of caterpillars that

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), in particular, is an incredibly important herb for dwindling monarch populations. The

enjoy feeding on them. Anise (Pimpinella anisum): Grow this herb in sunny areas that are sheltered from

United States and Mexico are working together to create a “pollinator highway,” planted with milkweed and other butterfly friendly plants, along the 1-35 corridor to

the wind. Dill (Anethumgraveolens): This kitchen

hedges throughout your garcd water in birdbaths or other shia (upside-down jar lids work we'll

herb requires full sun and protection from

actually love muddy pudid

wind. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare): Another

provide them with nutrients well as water. Finally, ifyouhsav

provide food and shelter for this migrating

The following herbs are a favorite among caterpillars: Artemisia (Artemisia spp.): You can

c£&HER8ARIST

WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN

you’re thinking of removing, consider leaving it - butterflies can use the nooks

and crannies as hiding places.

What's Best for Bats? Bats provide a huge benefit for herb and other gardens. Some estimates suggest that a bat can eat 600 insects per hour - and this can include gnats, corn rootworm moths and those mosquitos we can’t stand. They do all of this at night, when other insect predators have gone to sleep. Bats are also pollinators - another reason to have them around. In fact, some plants depend partly or exclusively on bats to pollinate them.

food supply. Additionally, don’t forget

these herbs: Chives (Allium schoenoprasum): These onion relatives prefer full sun but will tolerate part shade. Borage (Borago officinalis): This herb likes full sun and it attracts bees as well. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis): Plant this herb in full sun with midday shade. Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis): This pretty plant grows best in a sunny area, and its long narrow petal tubes attract moths. Sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis): These violet-colored flowers like full sun or

the verge of collapse. This situation, of course, trickles down to farmers, who rely on the pollination services of bee businesses. Eventually crops could decline and devastate food production. Bees are considered a keystone species - a group that has a crucial and unique role in how an ecosystem functions. Without them, the ecosystem changes drastically or ceases to exist altogether. Not only that, bees function as an indicator species reflecting the health of the environment. Some studies suggest that the majority of biologists believe the decline of honeybees poses a greater threat

Commercially available bat guano makes great natural fertilizer for the soil. Unfortunately, bat populations have declined significantly (by 80 percent) in recent years because of a disease called White Nose Syndrome, which infects their skin (nose, ears and wings). Because they hibernate in closed quarters, the disease spreads rapidly. Since they don’t produce many offspring - sometimes just one pup per year, bat populations don’t

light shade. to humanity than even global warming. Don’t forget the trees and shrubs (if not It’s not yet clear why bees are dying. The considered invasive in your area, disease known as Colony Collapse honeysuckle is a good choice) that provide Disorder may have something to do with a feeding areas for the bats. And once again, new class of systemic neu rotoxin pesticides you’ll want to provide a source of water. called neonicotinoids. This type of Bats earn a bad reputation, thanks to pesticide may alter the behavior of these horror movies and vampire enthusiasts, social animals, cause immune system but they’re actually quite shy and gentle. deficiencies and lead to stress in the hive. They prefer to avoid human contact as Additionally, an increasing lack of diverse much as possible. plants from which to feed has led to rebound quickly. nutritional issues. You can do your part by planting flowers The Needs of Bees Some European countries, including and herbs that attract their food source - Bees are amazing creatures and fall under Germany, Italy and France, have taken insects. Growing night-scented species the class of “you don’t know what you’ve got strict measures against neonicotinoids to such as Nottingham catchfly, white ‘til it’s gone.” Since approximately 2004, protect their pollinators. This approach has jasmine, night-scented stock, Datura honeybees have been dying off at an achieved significant success. Their and tobacco plant can help provide these alarming rate. Many commercial beekeepers beekeepers have reported a steady recovery. nocturnal mammals with a plentiful in the United States fear their industry is on Unfortunately, the United States lags

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WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN

behind, and beekeepers here have pointed the finger at the heavy influence big agriculture and chemical-producing corporations have on policy makers. Planting bee-friendly gardens is something you can do to help curb and prevent this devastation. Honeybees enjoy several herbs, including many of the ones we’ve mentioned (catmint, chives, mints, comfrey, hyssop, thyme, lemon balm, fennel) that attract other pollinators. A local beekeeper in our area of California plants rosemary, sage and thyme which her bees love. Here are a few more "bee” gourmet herbs to consider. Ifyou're buying

seedlings or full plants, make sure they’re organic.

Angelica (Angelica archangelica): this heavenly plant with white, puffy flowers prefers light shade but can tolerate full sun with the addition of mulch.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum): Who doesn’t have this delightful herb growing in the garden? Make sure you let some of your basil go to flower for the bees. Betony (Stachysofficinalis): Both people and bees will enjoy the purple-red flowers of this herb. Grow it in sun or shade. Oregano (Origanum spp.): Grow it in

full sun (but provide some midday shade)

>X. HERBARIST

and allow some to flower. Myrtle (Myrtus communis): This evergreen shrub provides a range of color, depending on the variety. It thrives in full sun but needs protection from wind. Do your part. Take time to create a sanctuary for valuable pollinators. It’s an invaluable way to help our Earth! ®

Our appreciation to Rickie Wilson and The Herb Quarterly for permission to reprint this

modification of the article "Wildlife in the Garden," published in the Winter 2015 edition.

/ /

tea party! Why not take four classic herbs along: parsley (Petroselinum cti'spum), sage (Sa/vz'a officinalis), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and ^■✓'''thyme (Thymus vulgaris). When you think of a tea party, your first image may ■

be of Victorian ladies of genteel society, gathering to gossip over their floral teacups. Maybe this image appears because of Anna, the wife of the Duke of Bedford, who began the custom of serving tea to her aristocratic friends in 1840. The participants, seated at low tables, would eat small amounts

of a large amount of food. What was really an afternoon or “low” tea became confused with “high” tea where those taking a country supper were seated at high tables.

J!/! blether you sit at high or low tables, or dine in the afternoon or in the evening, 1/ 1/ you may still have a Scarborough Fair tea party. You must have properly brewed tea, sweets and savories, including scones, crumpets, finger sandwiches and shortbread. What makes this tea party different from many others is the starring role of herbs that elevate the food above just the “passing fare.” Let me entertain you with my culinary cast of characters, appearing in alphabetical order, for our tea party.

We gave a nod to Anna, our A who launched the first

D is for Devon Cream, also known as clotted cream. Since

genteel tea party.

obtaining fresh clotted cream is challenging, I have devised a substitute. I whip a half pint of heavy cream and then add one tablespoon of either sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk. I let it sit for a while in the refrigerator. It keeps about ten days, wellcovered. I feel the need for a plain foil, something unsweetened and unflavored, to accompany all of the tea goodies. This is perfect.

B is for bread and butter. Most sandwiches are trimmed of crusts and then spread with a sweet, unsalted butter. We all know that the walrus and the carpenter liked to top their bread and butter with some oysters - a simple Lewis Carroll version of the New Orleans “Po Boy.” By blending the featured four herbs in equal quantities, say 1/4 teaspoon each for each stick of butter, cucumber slices as well as smoked salmon will take on new life. Or pair the parsley and sage with the salmon and the rosemary and thyme with the cucumbers. I rarely ever repeat the same recipe in the teas I do for my classes in that Victorian haven called Chautauqua. While you're really into the fun of making herbal sandwiches, gather some nasturtiums to make a third

E is Eccles cakes or a similar pastry made of shortcrust or puff pastry enclosing currants or raisins or other dried fruits. Defrosted frozen puff pastry can be shaped around the moistened fruit

and done up into a pouch-like little bag. The bag is flattened with a rolling pin so that the shadow of the fruit shows through the pastry veil. Many fine bakeries will sell these. Try a pinch of Earl Grey tea in yours.

variety. Use them like watercress (Nasturtium officinale), but garnish each sandwich with a flower.

F is for fruitcake. Not just for Christmas is the fruitcake but a standard item on the tea table, as observed on my tea travels in Britain. Ifyou are ambitious, you can drape yours with marzipan and call it a Dundee cake. For a shortcut, use a good quick bread mix and add the fruit, along with more spices.

C isfor crumpet. Although tea and crumpets have become a verbal pair, crumpets are often missing from today’s tea table. If you are using purchased ones, butter them with some lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus). Ifyou make them, you will find that they are small, yeast-raised breads about the size of an English muffin. I think of them as a cross between a yeast pancake and an English muffin. Crumpets cooked in a little sizzling bacon grease or butter become crisp on the outside while staying soft on the inside— the way I like them. However, when I'm feeling fat, I just spray the skillet with an aerosol oil. For large teas, I cook up the crumpets in advance in plenty of butter, then keep them warm in a covered skillet at the minimum heat. Ifyou follow a crumpet recipe but use twice as much milk or halfas much flour so that you have a pourable batter, you will have pikelets. I make pikelets more than I make crumpets, and call them free-form crumpets as they are made without a mold. Sometimes I take a shortcut: I use low-fat Bisquick to which I have added some yeast bubbling in warm water. 26

6 is for gems and gingerbread. Gems are Victorian muffins made in various sizes but usually small. Gems can be frivolous or frugal, healthy or bordering on junk food—a term not used in the last century. But the health concept started growing with food reformers like Sylvester Graham. His graham gems revolutionized people’s thoughts on tea accompaniments. Continuing with “G”, making gingerbread into tea-size muffins

provides a gracious refreshment. Gingerbread was often made in special gingerbread molds. You can use a box ofgingerbread mix, to which you add a little grated fresh ginger. Your ginger will heat up the party.

^HERBARIST

A SCARBOROUGH FAIR TEA PARTY

His for herbs, of course! We’re dealing with those culinary friendly herbs that are used in the teapot and in the food. Chamomile (Chamaenieluni nobile) was at the center of the nursery tea. Picture a Beatrix Potter party with chamomile tea and condensed milk sandwiches. Spearmint (Mentha spicata), thyme, and anisescented herbs, such as sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), played their parts as did rosemary and sage. If Earl Grey (sometimes Gray) tea didn’t already use the peel of the bergamot fruit, you could add the bergamot or bee balm plant (Monarda fistulosa) to flavor black or

J is for jam • “Jam and Bread,” says the well-

green tea. Jasmine flowers perfumed the air and the palate at the Victorian tea. Lemon herbs are pleasers: lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), lemon grass (Cymbopogen citratus), lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla), pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) and lemon basil (Ocimumxcitriodorum), in addition to the lemon thyme. Brew up a heaping handful in water that has just been brought to a boil. Adding some honey to the steeping herbs produces a better flavor than adding the honey to the already steeped tea, I think.

I is for India—and China, too. When the tea hostess poured, she would ask, “India or China?" since the source of tea at the turn

of the last century was either one or the other. Tea’s reputation has triumphed and faltered. In the 1660s, advertisements by tea purveyors extolled the virtue of tea, particularly in vanquishing heavy dreams and strengthening the memory. The purveyor praised tea as a cure for headaches, sleepiness, scurvy, dropsy, colic and a number ofassorted maladies. Tea was later blamed for causing a number of maladies. Now tea’s image is again being boosted, particularly that of green tea. Possessing fluoride, tea is good for the teeth, regardless of the stains.

Tea history aside, you should include the three basic kinds of tea at your party: black, oolong and green. Let your guests know that the three teas all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. You can, of course, add to them your favorite herbs. Serving herbal tea along with a traditional tea will assure something for everyone. You might want to secure a tea brick for decoration.

known song from the musical The Sound of Music. In the morning at elevenses it’s orange marmalade, and in the afternoon it’s strawberry jam. But these days it can be any kind of fruity spread that you prefer. What I do for a compromise between my own homemade and a purchased product is to add chopped fresh fruit to a prepared jam. I make herbal jellies by following the directions on the pectin box, using any herb I choose. For example, I make a Scarborough Fair jelly, using parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Kisforkickshaws or Victorian savory preserves. When fresh cucumbers were not available, the bread and butter pickle entered the tea party. According to Victorian cookbooks, kickshaws included salty things, like sardines and herrings. Also, a kickshaw could be a pickled oyster. We’re extending the term to mean all of

those comforting condiments that make a tea so special. Pass the preserved watermelon pickle or the potted shrimp paste.

L is for lemon curd, a luscious lemony topping or a filling for cake layers. Lemon curd is traditionally cooked in a double boiler. Since I have a sturdy set of pots and pans, I omit the double boiler and use very low gas flame. To eliminate a lot ofstirring, you could try a microwave.

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A SCARBOROUGH FAIR TEA PARTY

do it your way. Mine tastes somewhat like a portable shepherds pie. Make them small as finger food for a lighter tea. Put some savory into your savory pasty.

To shorten what you might consider the laborious project of stirring eggs, butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice, you can use a lemon pie filling. Add some butter, grate a lemon peel, squeeze in the juice,

pinch in some lemon herbs and process all of

Q IS for CjUlche. This one crust pie from the

this. It will be better than simply using the

French region of Alsace-Lorraine is at home at

inexpensive lemon curd.

tea. Be creative with the flavorings for the eggs,

M is for marzipan. The sweet, pliable

cream and a form of protein—cheese or seafood. To make a less caloric quiche, you can

use yogurt thickened with some cornstarch to

mixture ofalmond paste, sugar and unbeaten egg whites, often tinted with food coloring,

replace the cream. My favorite herbs for quiches are lovage (Levisticum officinale), sweet

drapes a Battenberg Cake. Most large

supermarkets sell packaged marzipan in plastic

cicely, tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) and

wrapped logs or cans. You can form youi

marjoram (Origanum majorana). I’d recommend a mushroom quiche for tea.

marzipan into ribbons and bows to gild whatever

calls for decoration. You can even drape a store-

R is for rosemary. When I remember rosemary, I

bought angel food cake.

think of the grande dame of herbs, Adelma Grenier Simmons,

N IS for nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus). We already mentioned how to make nasturtium sandwiches. Oscar Wilde

who declared it her favorite herb. Like her, I put rosemary in my

baked goods. I make a tea time cake with rosemary added to a

mentions these a few times in his writings about tea time.

Bisquick recipe for shortcake. I serve it as a biscuit cake. Add a

Harvest the middles of the flowers; when pickled these pods

tablespoon offresh or a teaspoon of dried rosemary to a breakfast bread recipe - pancakes and waffles.

resemble capers.

0 is for oats. Once considered as food for animals, oats are now

Sis for scone. You may do without shortbread, but no tea is

recognized in haute cuisine. Certainly, oatcakes are standard tea

complete without scones. I like to rhyme my scone with gone and

items that may not be as refined as some foods at a tea. Whole

not bone. This Scottish quick bread takes its name, supposedly,

grains, particularly oat bran, add more healthy fiber to the tea

from the Stone of Destiny, where kings were once crowned. The original triangular-shaped scone was made with oats and was griddle-baked. Today’s scones generally use wheat flour and are

table. Packages of imported oat biscuits are available in the

market. However, you can make an oatmeal cookie and add a favorite herb to the dough. I add a tablespoon ofminced yarrow to the Quaker Oats recipe for cookies, yielding a spicy cookie with a unique guess-what-it-is flavor.

baked in the oven. Shapes vary with rounds, squares and diamonds, to add to the triangles. To me, a scone is a biscuit with a pedigree; it’s a richer biscuit because of the higher fat content.

Scones can be served with cream, jam, lemon curd and/or fresh

Pis for pasties. Cornish pasties fashioned from root vegetables

fruit. To make herbal scones, just throw in a sprinkling. Open up

and meat covered with pastry crust make a high tea savory. These resemble turnovers. I prefer my pasty made with lamb, but you can

a tea bag of your favorite herb tea and add a pinch to your favorite

recipe. Try Constant Comment, rose hip or Earl Grey.

/Mherbarist

A SCARBOROUGH FAIR TEA PARTY

T is for timbale, a favorite Victorian specialty, bringing out the best ofa pudding and a quiche, without a crust. The dish is usually based on custard, forcemeat or rice combined with meat, fish vegetables and cheese. This kind of timbale is baked in a mold. A timbale is also a crisp pastry shell made by dipping a timbale iron first into batter, then into deep, hot fat. A sweet or savory mixture is served in the cooled case. Any classic cookbook, such as The Joy

of Cooking, will furnish recipes for timbales of both kinds. Actually, you can mix and match timbale and quiche recipes.

of water, stems-down, covered with a plastic bag. Some watercress mixed with grated carrots and dressing makes a tasty vegetarian spread.

Xisforx-tras. For a touch of class at your tea you can search for those serving pieces that have gone out of style but can be found in antique stores, at estate sales or in Victorian catalogs. We’re

speaking of celery vases, strawberry forks and sugar tongs, just to

mention a few.

U is for unsalted butter, erroneously labeled as "sweet

Y is for yogurt. For people who want to continue with real

butter.” In truth, all butter made with sweet instead of sour cream

dairy but eliminate some of the fat grams, yogurt is the answer.

is sweet butter. Packages labeled “sweet cream butter” probably contain salted butter. Unsalted butter is essential to preparing many of the sweets and savories for the tea table. So many herbs

The yogurt spreads will not be direct stand-ins for the old-

can be incorporated into butter. Oregano (Origanum vulgare) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) make such good spreads

fashioned cream spreads and sauces, but they will be refreshing. I suggest you offer your guests a choice.

Z is for zest• The aromatic oils in citrus zest are what adds so much flavor to food, both sweet and savory. Zest is the perfumy outermost skin layer of citrus

for sandwiches. Let’s not forget the favorite foui already highlighted.

fruit, which is removed with the aid of a citrus zester, paring knife or vegetable peeler. I delight

V is for vanilla, seductively aromatic, the vanilla bean is the aristocrat of all flavors. Not only is it prized for taste but today, more than

my guests (and myself) by serving dishes of

ever, it is being used for its fragrance. Burning a vanilla candle during your tea while

orange zest. Just pop the rinds

grapefruit and lime zest as well as lemon and

into an air tight container and store in the freezer until you are ready for them. Once you

enjoying vanilla flavored treats approaches heaven. Since you can’t disguise the real thing

here, take the time to make a real vanilla pound

make your own zest you may never buy the packaged again. Purchased zest has quite a

cake or spongecake. Don’t flavor the clotted

chemical taste. The zest will be lovely in your plum pudding and fruitcake.

cream; consider serving a vanilla sauce in addition.

Tea is one of those eternal creature comforts, meant to be soothing to the soul. Herbs enhance this comforting

W Is for watercress. What would tea be without watercress sandwiches? (Unless you are serving nasturtium

ones.) To store watercress up to five days, refrigerate it in a glass

ritual. Give in to this romantic custom and cultural pleasure. Go to Scarborough Fair, if only at tea. ®

Bibliography

Blackburn, Barbara. Your A to Z herbal cookbook. Columbia, GA: Brentwood University Press. 1986. love of herbs began when she and her husband planted their first herb garden in Germany in 1970! She shares her love of herbs, gardening and

all things Victorian through HSA (a Rosemary Circle honoree), teaching at Chautauqua Institution and writing for the Western New York Family Magazine. She is a Certified Culinary Professional and an English teacher.

When she's not busy volunteering with the National League of American

Pen Women and the Williamsville, NY Garden Walk, she can be found reading for Niagara

Frontier Radio, a service for the print handicapped.

Victorian cookbook. Williamsville, NY: Three Tall Trees Publications. 1997. Foster, Steven. Herbal bounty. Layton, UT: Gibbs M. Smith, Inc. 1984.

Frey, Iris ihde. Crumpets and scones. New York: St. Martin Press. 1982. Gentry, Patricia. Teatime celebrations. San Ramon, CA: 101 Productions. 1968.

Stuart, Malcom. The encyclopedia of herbsand herbalis. London: Orbis Publishing Ltd. 1979. Tebner, Christian. The herbs and spices cookbook. Oxford UK: Transedition Ltd. 1996

Photos Barbara Blackburn

Issue 82 x 2016

o Jo Ann Gardner

I thought it was time to introduce JerseyJo to The Herb Society, for members to hear in her own words about herself and her craft.

NYJO: Tell us something about yourself. JJO: I am a retired educator, as well as a wife, mother of five sons, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of two. Fifty years

Pressing plants is not as popular as it once

were still living on a back country farm. We

ago, we moved into this house in Mount Arlington in northern New Jersey on the eastern shore of Lake Hopatcong. We started many gardens surrounding the house. We kept rabbits, ducks, geese, guinea hens and chickens, which provided manure to improve our soil. We could be called a mini-farm. When the children were growing up, we operated a nursery school and summer day care called Farmer in the Dell. The gardens and the animals were an integral part of the school. I have also had many volunteer jobs in our area and helped start the town of Roxbury Art Association as well as the town library. I spent thirty years doing research and presenting programs for our Mt. Arlington Historical Society as founder and life member. 1 have a passion for pressing plants and designing with them as a hobby. I also love photographing flowers. At age 81 1 believe that having many purposeful activities

discovered that we had more in common than our names: we are the same age, both born in January, and are both interested in examine them, nature shows me some studying and growing herbs. Over the years I enjoyed receiving Jersey extreme artistry, a new look. It suggests Jo’s signatu re note cards, some featu ri ng her designs that I use in my note cards. I love this photographs, others showing her pressed tedious and precise work. My complete floral artistry. I have been entranced with attention goes into each piece and I get great them. Even the ones with her photos may include pressed floral art on the reverse. satisfaction from it. And both versions often incorporate text, —Jo Ann Gardner (JerseyJo) front and/or back, often withan Irish flavor, influenced by her Irish roots. It’s the My friend Jo Ann Gardner’s name is the unexpected that delights the eye: whole same as mine. To avoid confusion we flower heads, pieces or petals, seem to be in keeps us young at heart. adopted short-hand names based on where graceful movement, and all look real. 1 have we live: she is known as “Jersey Jo (JJO)” seen people pass their hand over a card to NYJO: Where did you learn about herbs and from New Jersey, I am “New York Jo see if they could touch the plants. what attracted you to them? (NYJO)” from upstate New York. We I had no idea that all the years I collected JJO: I learned a lot about herbs from became aware of each other when she read and sometimes hoarded these treasures, workshops at Well-Sweep Herb Farm in a magazine excerpt from my first book, The my friend was suffering from macular Port Murray and from their famous Old-Fashioned Fruit Garden (1989), and degeneration. Even now, when it has gardens, where you can see herb varieties her letter to me was forwarded to Cape accelerated, I am astonished at the high from around the world. I have a large Breton Island, where my husband and I level she maintains in her work.

was, but for me it is a passion. When I press

flowers, herbs, leaves and weeds, and closely

^HERBARIST

THE FLORAL ART OF JERSEY JO

collection of books about herbs and for

many years the Herb Companion magazine was a source of inspiration. Everything about herbs attracts me. I love growing them, smelling them and tasting them. I am fascinated by the many herb

Making cards? This started as a project to raise money for our Roxbury Art Association Scholarship Auction. Then I

parking lot and picked the leaves to press. Now I’d like to grow the tree.

NYJO: Now we get down to the nitty-gritty. Please take us through the cards’ creation, from picking and pressing plants to designing and reproducing the cards. varieties, their textures and their hardiness. I adore creating them. JJO: Okay. I like the fact that they are not fussy about 1.1 pick mostly in the morning after the the soil and most are easy for me to grow. NYJO: Do most ofyour pressed plants come dew has dried: flowers—with or without They carry a lot of lore and being Irish, we’re from your garden? used to living with Celtic lore! some stems or as they grow all along the stem like NYJO: When did you start feverfew—foliage, growing them? and sometimes even JJO: We have always had small whole plants, mints in the yard and as with sage, to show grown sweet woodruff as their roots. a ground cover. My 2.1 use old phone mother, who lived with books for pressing. us, grew parsley and I’ve improved the thyme. We created a process over the raised bed section in our years with pads of garden for her, using long newsprint to wooden boxes and half supplement the whiskey barrels set on book pages, on cinder blocks, which which I carefully made it easy for her to arrange the plant tend the waist-high material into the plantings. shape 1 want. I used Ever since then I have to use silica gel in used the raised beds for growing and a cookie tin to dry whole flowers, but I did exploring the world of herbs. I also have a not like that method. I did have a flower thyme border in a tiered garden I call my press but it got lost. I should just say I did Irish Stone Wall Garden. We have not know too much about drying flowers containers of herbs on the patio. And on except for pressing them in a book and so the deck just beyond our kitchen door I that is the technique I continue to use. have containers planted with rosemary, Luckily I have a large collection of phone sweet and purple basil, mint, lemon books and they give good results. I keep verbena, curly and flat Italian parsley. them handy to my ‘studio,’ the dining room table where I do my work. I pile NYJO: When did you begin to consider them on top of each other and put bricks designing with pressed plants? Why cards? on top to press them down or else a very JJO: I’ve always had an artistic bent, an urge heavy stone bowl that works well. I stack to create in some form and have enjoyed them so the newest pressed plants are on painting in watercolors, oils, and pastels. I the bottom. trace my interest in pressed flowers to the 3.1 am always thinking about design: do time years ago when the Frelinghuysen 1 want to use single leaves, flowers of herbs, Arboretum had a Fall Harvest Show with a whole tops of plants, pieces ofthem? I study category for pressed flower pictures. I loved JJO: Many do, but wherever we travel I carry their size, shape and unique structure, and the idea of creating a framed picture, just along a pair of scissors and phone books for that suggests designs based in nature itself. like my painted pictures, but featuring pressing, and collect plants I like wherever I like the freedom to do that. When the plants are fully dry, I work my nature’s own plants. I won some ribbons I see them, on roadsides, in meadows, wherever. I saw a Gingko tree in the doctor’s designs out on the table where I can spread with my creations but never first place. started to give my cards away to friends

and relatives because they make a nice, personal gift, and because, to tell the truth,

Eueri/fhmg about herbs

attracts me. I love growing them, smelling them and tasting them. I am fascinated by the many herb varieties, their textures and their hardiness.

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THE FLORAL ARTOF JERSEY JO

out my work and see the designs I am creating. At this point I can’t break my concentration and I have to be able to work alone in a quiet space. I arrange the pressed plants carefully on card stock, the size of an 8 by 11-inch piece of paper, and fold it in half. I then open it up and do the front, turn it around and do the back. Working with dried herbs and flowers requires great care and one sneeze can blow your creation to an airborne mess. Gluing requires great care as well. I use Elmer’s, which I put into a small dish, then I carefully dip my

couple of weeks then offwith their heads. 1

good guesses. When I import the pics into

can get 9 or more flushes.

IPhotoand play the slideshow, then I see my photos.

NYJO: Are there any plants you have a hard time drying or have given up on? JJO: I have given up on nasturtiums and

My pressed flower work is okay so far. Right now I try to produce as much as I can for as long as I can. By the grace of God I hope to have more time. I’m always learning. I’m just getting to know the gingko tree, for instance.

morning glories. I like the blue flowers of wild chicory but have so far been

unsuccessful with them. I love bleeding

The leaves are interesting, press well and an extract from Gi ngko | biloba is used in I some countries to treat my eye condition. I think keeping

finger into it and spread it on the

active is better than giving in to the loss.

material to be glued. Some use a paintbrush or even a metal

tweezer. Me? Only fingers. 4. I had discovered earlier that designs made with fresh plant material fade with time and are best preserved by pressing. then color copying my cards. Staples’ color

copying technology has really improved over the years and it especially suits my pressed floral work. The staff has worked with me for a long time and they handle everything very carefully. 5. I photograph all the cards—some before they are color copied, some afterwards—so 1 have a permanent record of them. NYJO: Do you have a favorite plant for pressing?

JJO: I do love pansies, all violas. They have the dearest little faces and stunning colors. They are also so prolific. I grow them in flower boxes on the deck outside my

kitchen door. It is a glass slider so I get a good view of my herbs and other flowers. I go out and trim offall the blooms and press them right away. When I cut offthe flowers

it takes about a week or so for the next “flush” to appear. I enjoy the blooms for a

heart flowers but they have to be handled carefully. I press the pink ones only for a day or so to try and preserve their color, which quickly turns purple. I like working with dill but I can’t grow it.

NYJO: How have your eye problems affected

your work? JJO: I have suffered from macular degeneration since 1986. The loss of my central vision has been slow. At my threemonth exams the doctors always told me my condition was not good, but stable. But this has become worse the last few years. I do have a blind spot that blocks out what I am looking at directly. I have a problem with depth perception. I can see large font on the computer but sometimes 1 have to hold a huge magnifying glass to see the writing. My eye condition certainly affects my use of the camera. I really can’t see what I am photographing but most results are

u<Xherbarist

NYJO: Any future projects in the works? JJO:lam working on preparing a regular space for mywork. Ihopeto have a display of pressed flowers at the Roxbury Library in

October, along with a 50-year retrospective of my other art work. Andi dream of a way to transfer my floral art to linens and towels. I am a dreamer!

NYJO: Do you think your Irish roots have influenced your positive philosophy? JJO: My Irish immigrant mother has been an inspiration to me. She was a living example of purposeful living and survival. Throw in an Irish heart, smiling eyes,

music and ancient Celtic lore, and a few leprechauns for deviltry...

NYJO: Thank you for this and here’s hoping you have more productive years ahead. Your fans cheer you on. ®

Photos

Jo Ann Gardner

THE FLORAL ART OF JERSEY JO

Herbs & Flowers for Pressing ANISE HYSSOP complex flowers,

foliage BLEEDING HEART flowers difficult

but worth it CLEOME flowers for color and swirls,

pieces and entire budded head DILL huge flower, wonderful spokes,

seed clusters FEVERFEW (SINGLE) delightful flowers; entire stem with flowers/foliage

PLECTRANTHUS big, dramatic leaves;

Tri-colorSage color variations

GINGKO TREE bright green and yellow

tiny ones, too, at tips of stems, like

press well

leaves, lined texture, fan-like shape

rosettes

SCENTED GERANIUM intricate and

HONEYSUCKLE most interesting

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE a top favorite,

trumpet flowers

intricate flowers, great for pulling apart to make designs

fancy foliage types: rose, lemon, citronella, lime and more

HYACINTH BEAN VINE burgundy color

flowers; twirls and swirls, tiny bean pods JAPANESE MAPLE bright red and

yellow leaves; well-defined shape LAVENDER

HIDCOTE',others,too;

ROSEMARY (TRAILING) can be

shaped into wreath or heart shape SALVIAS (SAGES) Cooking Sage handsome leaf,

SWEET BAY only pressed once,

begged a branch at a nursery SWEET WOODRUFF leaf structure,

leaf formation TANSY flowers and distinctive foliage

entire small plant with roots

all parts

THYME not so easy to press

LEMON VERBENA leaf structure

Pineapple Sage late bloomer,

great color, unusual shape

VIOLAS darling faces, amazing colors,

supporting stems, foliage, buds, all useful

PARSLEY (FLAT) leaves

Herbs in Bloom, Living With Herbs, Gardens of Use & Delight, and most recently Seeds of Transcendence: Understanding

the Hebrew Bible Through Plants. She is a frequent contributor to The Herbarist. She can be reached through her website www.joanngardnerbooks.com

Issue 82 x 2016

While working at the Visitor’s Center of Tyler Arboretum, I met two women from the Philadelphia Unit ofThe Herb Society who were working to restore the Fragrant Garden for the Blind. I explained

to them that a Girl Scout visit to that very garden was the inspiration for my first garden - an herb garden. Tyler’s garden also helped me cultivate a career that included facilitating interactions

between people and plants. I was born into a family of gardeners, raised between rows of vegetables, framed by borders of perennials, woody shrubs and

attempt to dig a hole to China as well as the support and guidance of my mother, the herb garden began its 40 year journey.

jeweled berries. Gardens were an integral part of my existence. A garden was nothing new to me. However, this particular one turned out to be very much so. It was not about beauty like my grandmother’s

My path has included a career in which the care and propagation of plants has been a healing force in each and every place I worked:

Japanese rock garden or production like my mother’s kitchen garden. This garden was about a sensory relationship with the world.

residential care homes for the developmentally disabled, psychiatric day and in-patient hospitals, long term care facilities

It was visceral. For a 12-year old, it was life-changing. The immediate effect of the docent’s interpretation ofthe garden

and even a therapeutic preschool. Over the years it has become apparent that a relationship with plants can be an essential element of quality of life. I’ve witnessed the thick walls of an adolescent’s

uvas the reimagining of my world - a world of plants and people, a world ofgardens and the senses. I stood in the sunshine and briefly

depression begin to crack with the care of a simple spider plant. There is a restoration of hope that comes along with caring for

closed my eyes, listening to the docent. I enjoyed the smell of tlhyme and rosemary, the touch of lamb’s ears. Then my heart beegan to race. There in the safety and security of a garden created fo»r the blind, I discovered that the world with my eyes closed was a llittle frightening. Also a little intriguing. During the hike home, I tried again. The woods were familiar

something and seeing it thrive. In the preschool, tiny hands

territory. Eyes closed, I crushed some sassafras leaves. Their lermony aspect seemed different. When we rested by the brook, I

cooled my hands with my eyes closed. It too seemed different. At home, I wandered around, briefly pretending to be blind. In retrospect, these childish attempts at empathy seem a good indiicator of my career choice in human services. However, the pressing matter at that time was the creation of my Tyler-inspired herb> garden. With the confiscation of my brother’s abandoned

lovingly spooned potting soil over a little bean in a paper cup. Less than five minutes earlier these same hands slapped me hard enough to leave a mark. Mistakes are forgiven and we move on, planting new seeds. While I was working as “the Plant Lady” in a geriatric day program, a frail elderly woman looked up and asked about the plant in her hands: what did you say it was called again? Angel wing begonia. A week later she died, an angel on wings. The begonia still lives on. I know that visit to Tyler so many years ago, like my brother's abandoned hole to China, lives on in every plant I plant. I carry these experiences in my heart and hands. The herb garden inspired by Tyler is gone now. Like most, that garden is a story unto itself. The Tyler garden is being restored. May it continue to inspire. ®

Editor's Note: The 2015 edition of The Herbarist offered views of the National Herb Garden and a few of the many gardens maintained by members of The Society. This letter beautifully expresses what an impact those gardens may have.

Issue 82 * 2016

VALERIAN

he perennial plant valerian (Valeriana officinalis) used to

be very well behaved in my herb garden. It grew in a single

clump where it had been planted. Now six-foot (ca. 2m)

valerian plants with exquisite heads of pink, white or pinkish

white flowers bloom in early July, wherever I allow them! Recently someone on a garden walk even commented on my good taste because clumps of valerian and red beebalm (Monarda didynid)

were intermingled. I said “Thank you!” However, I had nothing to do with the beautiful effect. Why the change in behavior of my valerian? Cats. Years ago before 1 became a backyard birder, feeder and protector, we let our cats outside. Most cats love valerian almost as much as they love catnip. Thus the valerian never got a chance to spread because it was flattened from being a cat napping place. It seldom flowered. Now it grows with great abandon in both sun and shade in all four quadrants of the herb garden. How wonderful! I stuff old pillowcases with dried valerian for the cats who live indoors... they are very happy. Valerian is also commonly featured in British murder mysteries such as "Midsomer Murders." The victim is given valerian surreptitiously and the perpetrator gets to do dreadful things. This gives valerian a bad reputation which is a shame. What is this plant? The scientific name Valeriana officinalis indicates its use to promote strength and/or health. The officinalis specific epithet indicates its history as a medicinal herb. Its previous family Valerianaceae has been combined with the Caprifoliaeceae family, indicating valerian’s relationship to honeysuckle (National Plant Germplasm System 2015). The plant is commonly referred to as “garden valerian” to distinguish it from other plants mistakenly called “valerian” such as Centranthus ruber, an unrelated plant species, commonly called “red valerian.” It is even called "garden heliotrope” even though valerian bears no resemblance to any member of the Boraginaeceae family, such as Heliotropum arborescens. Other names include tobacco root, phu, setwell and tagara. The leaves of valerian are opposite, exstipulate (no stipules), pinnatifid (pinnately divided, but not all the way down to the central axis). Some sources describe the leaves as hairy (Gladstar 2008) but this has not been my experience. The individual small flowers ofvalerian are quite unique. V. officinalis is one of a very few plant species to have flowers lacking symmetry. Thus it has a "handedness”. (Another common example is Canna indica.) The clusters of flowers are cymose; this means the plants have a flat-topped flower cluster in which the main and branch stems each end in a flower that opens before those below it or to its side. The small, dry one-seeded fruit of valerian is an achene that does not open to release the seed, thus the seeds germinate relatively close to the parent plants because they are not easily carried by the wind. Valerian seeds can be purchased from some online seed companies or from Seed Savers Exchange when made available. The seeds germinate indoors in one to two weeks but faster ifone uses heater cables or mats. They seem viable for about two years. After that I have found that germination drops off considerably. The plants that 1 started from seed indoors have never flowered the first year in the garden. Probably they were establishing their roots. After that time the seed-grown plants were indistinguishable from those that self-seeded in the garden. Valerian can be transplanted from volunteer plants that sprout in the garden in the spring. Dig the plants being sure to get most of the root and replant where you want the valerian to grow. Valerian doesn’t appear to be fussy about soil pH, tolerating pH between 37

VALERIAN

5.5 and 7 (acid to neutral). Like most herbs, valerian needs six hours a day of direct sunlight. I find it to be shade tolerant but the most robust valerian plants are in direct sun. It is hardy in Zones 4 through 8.

Today valerian is a popular herb in the United States for treating insomnia and anxiety, but it has been used in Europe for a long time. Valerian has been used medicinally since ancient times (think Rome and Greece). Its properties were recognized by Hippocrates and Galen. The plant is native to Europe and Asia and was brought to the New World by colonists. It grows naturally throughout much of western to central Europe in fields and

(Syrphidae), Muscid flies, blow flies (Calliphoridae), flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), thick-headed flies (Conopidae) and skippers (Hesperiidae) as pollen and nectar

collectors on valerian. Because of its bitter taste and other properties, the foliage of valerian is not attractive to mammalian herbivores (Illinois Wildflowers). The blooms of valerian are beautiful and can be used in bouquets (unless you have cats). 1 do not find that the blossoms dry very well for use in wreaths or other dried arrangements. Cutting off spent blooms keeps the plants tidy and stops seed formation and thus unwanted plants. Some herbalists have told me that removing the flowers makes the roots more potent. This makes sense because seed production takes energy away from the rest of the plant

including the roots. The best time to harvest and divide the roots of valerian is in the autumn as is true of all root or tuber harvested plants that

along bodies of water. I have never seen garden escapees in the continental United States, but the Invasive Plants Atlas notes,

“Due to its multiple introductions, it has frequently escaped into the natural landscape where it can displace native plant species.” It is a common food for many European and Asian moth and butterfly larvae but not for larvae in the New World (Robinson et. al. 2010). This is probably because butterflies and moths evolve along with the plants that feed them. I have however observed honeybees, bumblebees and ground-nesting bees visiting the blossoms of our garden valerian, so it does contribute nectar to pollinator species. More

specifically Illinois Wildflowers lists honeybees, bumblebees, Halictid bees, dance flies (Empididae), flower flies

^HERBARIST

prepare for winter by storing materials below ground. The entire plant needs to be dug to harvest the roots. Be sure to leave smaller plants and/or pieces of roots behind for next year. (I like to use a fork to minimize damage to the roots.) After harvesting the roots, cut them off the plant, wash in several changes of water until clean and trim into pieces about onehalf inch long. Let the root pieces dry for several months. Don't use a food drier unless you can stand the smell! I can’t! Valerian roots are potent! Some folks say the roots smell like dirty socks. The dried roots can be stored in a tightly closed container. What do you do with these dried valerian roots? You can give some to your cats or you can make yourself a tisane by simmering the roots in water. The leaves ofvalerian also can be used to make a relaxing tisane. The chemicals present in valerian are present in a much lower amount in the leaves than in the roots (Foster & Duke 2000). Do be careful. No plant is entirely benign in its effects on our bodies. Studies at the Mayo Clinic have shown valerian to sometimes be effective in managing insomnia (Bauer 2015). Dr. Brent Bauer asks potential users to consider whether any medication is the answer for insomnia. He suggests that they seek the latest information from the National

VALERIAN

Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) or the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), both offices within

the National Institutes of Health. He advises potential users of valerian that a recommended dose is unclear including the period of time that valerian should be taken. He warns of some known side effects that include stomach problems, dizziness and headache. In addition valerian may interact with other medications such as alcohol and benzodiazepines. Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute posts, “In laboratory experiments, valerian extract prevents the breakdown of an important inhibitory neurotransmitter chemical in the nervous system, causing a calming effect. Human studies suggest valerian products have a modest effect on sleep quality. Valerian supplements often have a distinct odor that some may find unpleasant, and these products might interact with a number of drugs or health conditions. More research

is needed to determine the benefits and

anesthesia. They warn that patients should

safety of this botanical.”

avoid driving or doing other tasks that

Valerian also is used to treat anxiety, muscle spasms, insomnia and menopausal systems. Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute suggests that valerian should be stopped at least one week before surgery

because it can interfere with general

a Today valerian is a popular' herb in the United States for treating insomnia and anxiety, but it has been used in Europe for a long time.

require alertness when taking valerian.

The site also warns of withdrawal symptoms if valerian is suddenly withdrawn from a person using it regularly (Memorial Sloan Kettering 2014). In the United States valerian is sold as a supplement but it is not classified as a drug or medicine. Valerian based

pharmaceuticals are not available since no drug company will invest in a product that cannot be patented. This is in contrast to Germany, which has over one hundred drugs that are valerian-based (Foster & Duke 2000 p. 160). Please be careful if you are purchasing valerian to use as a tisane. Verify the species from which it originates. Indian valerian, for example, is Valeriana wallichii and Himalayan valerian is Valeriana jataniansii. These are different species from garden valerian and unwelcome side effects may result. ®

Literature Cited

Bauer, B. 2015. Valerian: a safe and effective herbal sleep aid? Accessed October 23,2015. Available from: http://www.mayocllnic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/expert-answers/ valerian/faq-20057875

Memorial Sloan Kettering. 2014. Information about botanicals and other products. Accessed October 23,2015. Available from: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/valerian

Foster, S. and J. A. Duke. 2000. Medicinal plants and herbs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company.

National Plant Germplasm System. Valeriana offidnalis. Accessed August 12,2015. Available from: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov

Gladstar, R. 2008. Herbal recipes for vibrant health. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.

Robinson, G. S„ P. R. Ackery, I. J. Kitching, G. W. Beccaloni & I. M. Hernandez. 2010. HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants. Natural History Museum, London. Accessed February 24,2016. Available from: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosts. See more at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/hostplantsftsthash.dzxCazEI.dpuf

Illinois Wildflowers. Garden valerian. Accessed February 22,2016. Available from: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/valerian.html

Invasive Plant Atlas. 2015. Common valerian. Accessed February 22,2016. Available from: http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=6580

Source for both images is Illinois Wildflowers. http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/valerian.html

a Society member at large, is a retired math and science

teacher (Buffalo City Schools) and retired lecturer at Buffalo State College. She is an active writer and

gardener. She is a previous The Herbarist author, served as editor for the Essential Guide to Monarda and participates in the HSA native plant conservation committee. She writes a gardening column for Forever

Young magazine as well as being newsletter editor and writer for Herb Gardeners of the Niagara Frontier. She is a Master Gardener, past MG President and MG Coordinator (Erie County New York state).

Issue 82 x 2016

■

Growing Herbs Michael Olszewski, Ph.D., Louise D. Clarke and Sasha W. Eisenman, Ph.D.

What is a "green roof"? Green roofs are vegetated roofs that serve a purpose. This purpose can be simply aesthetic (even a small green roof can be visually appealing), or it can be of more practical value such as contributing to storm-water management and decreasing energy usage (Oberndorfer et al. 2007). Green roofs can

be categorized into shallow-depth growing media types (extensive green roofs) or deeper-depth

growing media types (intensive green roofs). Many green roofs are labeled as extensive green roofs because of the weight load caused by deeper substrates. Sometimes six-inch green roofs are called semi-intensive.

GROWING HERBS ON ROOFTOPS

Green roofs are multi-layered constructions; one would not just toss soil on a roof and put in a few plants to make one. They may

contain a deck layer, a roof waterproofing layer, a water retention fabric and drainage layer, a growing media and vegetation layer and possibly other layers (Getter and Rowe 2006; Snodgrass and Snodgrass 2006).

Growing Plants Without Soil... Intro to Soilless Horticultural Media Many types of horticultural media are not soil-based. In greenhouses the material in small potted plants commonly is peat moss-based (organic component) combined with a certain percentage mineral (inorganic component) plus

fertilizer. Green roof media commonly consist both of organic (0% to 20%) and This picture is from a green roof at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. This green roof is roughly six inorganic (80% to 100%) materials plus inches deep and capable of supporting a greater variety of larger herbaceous plants than common shallow-depth slow-release fertilizer components (Beattie green roofs. and Berghage 2004). Not many direct comparisons of the require for growth. The physiological traits the possibility of growing herbs in green various types of media used on green roofs of various plant species influence survival roofmedia amended with biochar and this have been made, although the few studies on harsh green roof conditions. Via the study included: 1) an analysis of various done indicate that components are critical. process of evapotranspiration, plants take soil properties of heat-expanded clay, a Common inorganic green roof components in water through their roots, transport it common green roof medium, blended with include heat-expanded clay, heat-expanded up through the stems to the leaves, using a 5% to 15% biochar; 2) oregano (Origanum slate and heat-expanded shale while the portion for growth and metabolism while vulgare), two cultivars of basil (Ocimum organic component may be compost. Peat the majority of the water evaporates from basilicum), peppermint (Mentha x moss generally has a much higher carbon small pores (called stomata) on the surface piperita), and common mint (Mentha spp.) (C):nitrogen (N) ratio than compost and is of the leaves. Plants that are adapted to dry in various combinations of heat-expanded probably not as good to use on green roofs. conditions are often better suited to survive clay plus biochar; and 3) physiological The C:N ratio is an important determinant on green roofs without irrigation, where responses of basil and peppermint when of the biodegradation potential of organic water can be a limited resource. These growing in different horticultural media. matter through microbial processes (Day plants have evolved a variety of traits to and Shaw, 2001). A high C:N material takes cope with limited water supply: 1) smaller a longer time to degrade and will provide leaves; 2) fleshy succulent leaves; 3) plants with few essential nutrients. In fact, increased water use efficiency; 4) controlled microbes that degrade high C:N materials reduction of the evapotranspiration rate by will require additional nitrogen and will closing the stomata or keeping them closed often get it by “robbing” available nitrogen during the hottest part of the day; 5) from the media, to the detriment of plants. modified root systems; 6) modified However, the ‘ideal’ mix does not exist for biochemical macromolecules; and/or 7) Biochar granules all situations and green roof media may possibly other mechanisms. consist of a wide variety of materials. ‘Biochar’ usage can be traced back The water retention capability of varying Biochar thousands of years to South American soilless substrates is a very important Plant growth may be beneficially regions that were thought to be characteristic. Green roofs help slow the influenced by the additions of biochar, intentionally burned into what is now rate of storm water runoff and reduce the although the exact mechanisms for 'Dark Earths’ or partially burned charcoal total amount by retaining some of the increased growth are not always known like biomass; similar soils have been found rainwater. This retained water provides (Beck et al., 2011). In a project funded by in West Africa (see biochar review and plants with the necessary moisture they The Herb Society of America we looked at author citations within Sohi et al. 2010).

Issue 82» 2016

GROWING HERBS ON ROOFTOPS

Intentionally burned organic biomass is thought to be an early agricultural technique to deal with poor quality soils. Commercial biochar is a product of high temperature heating of organic matter in an oxygen-deprived environment and many types of organic matter can be used to create biochar including woodchips, crop residues, manure and other organic waste. Besides basic raw materials, the actual temperature seems to affect the properties imparted to the biochar. Reported benefits of biochar include carbon sequestration, microbial

stimulation, and improved soil chemical and physical characteristics. The biochar itself may contribute nutrients to growing media and can change the pH.

This picture is of a simple green roof at Temple University in Ambler, Pennsylvania in 2007-2008. At that time there was only various Sedum species growing on it. Over the years, hardy Dianthus and Allium have been added. The plant growth media depth varies from 2 inches to 4 inches and this is a primary determinant of the type of plant capable of growing on this unirrigated green roof.

Growing Herbs on Green Roofs One potential benefit ofgreen roofs is urban food production. Indeed, at a research

Oregano

Additional herbs that are being successfully grown on the Morris roof

conference in Miami I encountered a

Oregano can be branching and spreading and drought tolerant. When grown in the

rooftop herb garden containing rosemary, chives, basil, oregano and mint. According

appropriate conditions it grew well on most green roofhorticultural media.

include lavender (Lavandula x intermedia ‘Seal’), an English hybrid, and creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Magic Carpet’),

to the posted sign these herbs were used in one of the restaurants there. With irrigation

Peppermint

both of which attract pollinating insects. All of these are grown in full sun with

and minimal fertilization it is possible to grow basil and other crops on extensive

(shallow-depth) green roofs (Whittinghill et al. 2013).

In the HSA study, upright and spreading

minimal watering, in green roof medium

peppermint had a more pronounced response to biochar additions than did upright, large-leaved basil when grown in heat-expanded clay. ‘Stomatai conductance’, a measure of a plant’s physiological activity including

containing approximately 10% organic matter.

photosynthesis, generally was higher in

energy resources (Hendrickson 1996). The movement of food across long distances likely will continue even ifthere are further price increases. However, it seems a waste

peppermint than in upright, large-leaved basil after watering and during drying, indicating that it was more tolerant of dry

conditions and might be more suitable for

dry green roofconditions.

Conclusions The ‘food system’ of the United States, including transportation, uses substantial

of resources to move fresh produce over one thousand miles away from the place of production, as is currently done.

With irrigation, there is the potential for growth of crops on green roofs including herbs. This photograph was taken on a hotel rooftop in Miami, Florida.

Rosemary At this time, we are continuing to study

Although there are significant barriers to mass producing food on rooftops

Basil

will be planting rosemary seedlings soon.

(Whittinghill and Rowe 2011), there will be a tipping point where environmental

Basil is one of the few herbs tested in

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Arp’)

considerations and, perhaps, economical

research trials for growing on green roofs. There are multiple cultivars of basil and different forms, but for our research, it

has been successfully trialed on the Morris

ones will result in large scale alternative

Arboretum’s intensive green roof since

and locally sourced food products. One option for increasing locally sourced food

rosemary as a crop on green roofs and we

seemed that smaller dome-shaped, small leaved ‘spicy’ basil would be better than

2010'. Hardy to -10°F, plants attain a stature of 3' x 3‘, somewhat smaller than those grown terrestrially. Plants hold their

upright, large-leaved basil, likely due to

grey-green leaves through winter, adding

water-related issues.

visual interest to the roof.

^HERBARIST

within cities is to grow food on rooftops and other urban areas. Some green roofs allow edible plant culture including examples in Earth Pledge (2005) and

Dun nett and Kingsbury (2004). Large scale locally sourced city agriculture may include rooftop cropping because of polluted city soils and limited acreage within city limits.

Literature Gted

_________________________________________________

Beattie, D. and R. Berg ha ge. 2004. Green roof media characteristics: the basics, p. 411 -416. Proc. 2nd North Amer Green Roof Conf: Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities, Portland, OR. 2-4 June 2004. The Cardinal Group, Toronto. Beck, D. A„ G. R. Johnson and G. A. Spolek. 2011. Amending greenroofsoil with biochar to affect runoffwater quantity and quality. Environmental Pollution 159:2111-2118.

Not many research studies concerning growing herbs on rooftops have been done to date. In this study, we grew several herbs in green roof horticultural media. We also

Day, M. and K. Shaw. 2001. In: Compost utilization in horticultural cropping systems. Peter J. Stoffel la and Brian A. Kahn (eds.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC.

looked at an upright, large-leaved basil cultivar and peppermint for physiological responses to biochar additions. We conclude that horticultural media can be augmented to improve growth of herbs on

Getter, L. and D. B. Rowe. 2006. The role of extensive green roofs in sustainable development. HortScience 41:1276-1285.

green roofs; some herbs such as peppermint may be more suited for growth in these

Oberndorfer, E., J. Lundholm, B. Bass, R. R. Coffman, H. Doshi, N. Dunnett, S. Gaffin, M.Kohler, K. K.Y. Liu and 8. Rowe. 2007. Green roofs as urban ecosystems: ecological structures, functions, and services. Bioscience 57:823-833.

media than upright, large-leaved basil. Since stomatai conductance is related to plant photosynthesis and other

Sohi, S. P., E. Krull, E. Lopez-Capel and R. Bol. 2010. In: Advancesin Agronomy, volume 105, pages 47-82. A review of biochar and its use and function in the soil. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Inc.

physiological processes, this measure may be used as a marker for crop suitability in green roof media. Drought tolerant food crops such as oregano should also be considered and cultivars further analyzed for suitability on green roofs. ®

Dunnett, N. and N. Kingsbury. 2004. Planting green roofs and living walls. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc. Earth Pledge. 2005. Green roofs:ecological design and construction. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

Hendrickson, J. 1996. Energy use in the U.S. food system: a summary of existing research and analysis. Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Accessed 17 June2O1S Available from: http://www.cias.wlsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/energyuse.pdf0..

Snodgrass, E. C. and L. L. Snodgrass. 2006. Green roof plants: a resource and planting guide. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc.

Whittinghill, L. J. and D. B. Rowe. 2011. The role ofgreen roof technology in urban agriculture. Renewable Agricultureand Food Systems 27:314-322.

1. Morris Arboretum is located on the University of Pennsylvania's campus in Philadelphia.

This research was supported in part by a grant from The Herb Society of America. is an associate professor at Temple University, Ambler Campus. He has served on

the Temple faculty since 2006, teaching courses related to botany, entomology, plant pathology and plant propagation as well as conducting

research into seed germination and seed quality issues. He received his doctorate from the University of Delaware, studying seed treatment technology and parsley. Additionally he has published widely in an extensive array of horticultural and botanical science journals.

is a graduate of Temple University's School of Environmental Design and Horticulture who works at The

Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. She stewards Bloomfield Farm, using the intensive and extensive green roofs of the Horticulture Center complex for trialing woody and herbaceous plants to identify those amenable to green roof culture in the Delaware Valley. is an assistant professor at Temple University. He has a diverse array of research

interests including the biology of rare and endangered plant species, the chemistry of medicinal plants, the flora of Central Asia, and botanical history. Dr. Eisenman is the lead editor and co-author of the book Medicinal Plants of Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Kyrgzsta.

Issue 82 X 2016

“The beginning and root of all good, is the pleasure of the stomach!” —Epicurus A. curious mind is seldom idle and can take us unexpected places. Wondering about the origin of pesto, for instance, leads to at least 70 BCE and the birth of Publius Vergilius Maro in Andes, a small village three miles south of Mantua, Italy. Later known as Virgil, he was the son of a farmer, who apparently had some distinction as a public official for he had the means to see that his son was well educated. Virgil’s early education was at Cremona, about fifty miles from his home. On

“assuming the toga of a man” (turning sixteen) he went to Milan and then on to Naples where he studied with the philosopher Parthenius. By 47 BCE he was

in Rome where he studied mathematics and physics under Syron, a friend ofCicero. He was befriended by Marcellus, son of Caesar Augustus’ sister Octavia (Frank

2004). Certainly the son of a simple farmer would not be closely acquainted with such aristocracy. Virgil had two siblings, a brother who died in infancy and another who died in early adulthood. Virgil himself was reported as of “feeble health, ill adapted for the strifes of the forum or the hardships of military service,” which kept him from a public career, another indication of his father’s social position (Stuart 1876). Instead, Virgil returned to Andes where he spent his time in husbandry and studying Greek poets including Theocritus, creator ofGreek pastoral poetry. In his twenties he began his Bucolics, later called Eclogues, which was a series of pastoral poems including Moretum. It is here that we find a

hint of what we know as pesto. Moretum is a poetic glimpse of rustic self-sufficiency, the word itself taken from mortarium, the vessel in which the “pesto”

is ground (Ross 1975). In the poem Virgil uses “the minutiae [he found] aesthetically significant” to portray the morning routine ofa simple farmer, his garden and the foods e^HERBARIST

he eats (Frank 2004). Virgil had the luxury of ample time to observe peasant life, incorporating his observations in his political philosophy. Virgil’s meaning in Moretum was grander than a portrayal of the simple life. Rome was shifting from Epicureanism, which promoted “brotherly love, charity, agreeableness, and honesty of speech,” to Stoicism, which valued logic and self control (DeWitt 1932). For Virgil, the common bonds of Man were of greater importance than political principles. Typical of such works are Culex, the story of a gnat that saved the life of a shepherd, and Moretum. Scholars often assumed these poems to be expressions in favor of Epicureanism, phrased in such a way that simplicity is juxtaposed with the grander style of epics, which might be more aligned

with Stoicism. Symilus, the main character in Moretum, awakens in the dark of early morning. He proceeds to his hearth in search of embers to light his way and looks outside his door for grain (at this time the state controlled grain,

a form of tax, and saw that each family

Moretum is usually translated as salad

received a share) and begins the laborious process of grinding the kernels to make flour for his daily bread. He calls Scybale, his African housekeeper, to build the fire and boil water. While the bread rests, he gathers garlic, parsley, rue and coriander seeds from his garden of herbs and vegetables. He then uses his heavy mortar and pestle, preparing moretum to eat with his bread while he is

(garden herbs), but for the Romans it was a cheese and herb mixture to be eaten with bread. It has been described as a staple, perhaps a forerunner of a ploughman’s lunch, to sustain the worker during his daily tasks. Symilus begins his day by preparing bread, grinding his flour with a quern, or grinding stone. _____ ,_____ -—

out plowing his fields. Epicurus believed that____ pleasure is the greatest \ good, and the way to \ “attain such pleasure is to \

Giorgio Locatelli to recreate the recipe as part of his culinary investigations for Pompeii Live. You can watch a video of the preparation on the museum website. I suspect the flour used by Symilus, more than 100 years earlier than the loaf found in Herculaneum, was not so light, but would have been substantial. The moretum made by Symilus followed a recipe used for years before he made his own. His ingredients are familiar to us as well: celery or parsley, L rue, garlic, coriander seeds, salt and ....

\ which, if translated as heads rather \ than cloves, might be a bit much for \ our tastes today. The garlic he used \ may have been smaller or less

live modestly and to gain \ knowledge of the workings \ ofthe world and the limits of \ one’s desires," leading to a \

I pungent, or perhaps people in the \ first century BCE had a taste for \ strong flavors. Garlic was thought

state of tranquility and 1 “freedom from fear, as well as \ absence of bodily pain” (DeWitt 1932). Symilus personifies the doctrines of Epicureanism at a time when the politics of Rome rejected that philosophy in favor of Stoicism which was based on materialism and the presumed lofty purpose of some to rule over others. Stoicism opened the door for the “Triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavianus,” who favored ruthlessness over mercy in the pursuit of the common good. Moretum was a means for Virgil to record his position on the philosophy of the day, without, he hoped, jeopardizing

i hard cheese. \ The poem lists four bulbs of garlic

The British Museum provides a glimpse into the making of a loaf of bread in AD 79, based on a loaf that was excavated from an oven in Herculaneum, near Pompeii: “a baker put his loaf of bread into the oven. Nearly 2,000 years later it was found during excavations in Herculaneum” (The British Museum 2013). The museum asked

V to be a performance enhancer in Virgil’s time (and thousands of years earlier), and it formed a part ofthe military’s diet to provide courage and stamina. Perhaps in Moretum, Virgil was endowing his “hero” with an extra dose of strength for the day’s work. Garlic was the first ingredient in the mortar including the “leaves,” and was sprinkled with salt and cheese “hardened with salt.” Rue, celery tops or parsley, and coriander seed or cilantro were added

his own position, by infusing Symilus, a common man, with the physical and mental strength of Stoicism. Virgil’s efforts at parody were not entirely successful, as history reports that he did ultimately lose his farm to conscription, though not necessarily because of his pastoral poems. DeWitt described Virgil’s conflict between Epicureanism and the steadily overtaking Stoicism thus: “He is a vagrant soul; Dante did well to leave him in a borderland, neither in heaven nor in hell. There too belongs the kindly soul of Epicurus, who feared neither the wrath of gods nor the pain of death, and loved his fellowman.”

Issue 821 2016

VIRGIL, MORETUM & PESTO

and crushed until the mixture turned mostly green and the ingredients were indistinguishable. The work was aided with the addition ofoliveoiland a little vinegar. There are different interpretations ofapii gracilis in translations of Moretum. Most often used is celery (Apium graveolens), common in Roman cooking as a flavoring agent. Assuming the “strings” of celery would be difficult to blend, the leaves of celery tops are sometimes listed as the most likely ingredient. Folklore associated celery with bad fortune, so 1 wonder if Virgil may have used this ingredient as a part of his parody as well (Ross 1957). Parsley (Petroselinum crispurn) is in the same family as celery—Apiaceae—with a Southern European origin and is what we would expect as an ingredient in a product that evolved to our present pesto. It too was long in use in Roman cooking and frequently grown in gardens (Katzer2015).

Whether it is celery or parsley that Symilus used is a subject for debate. Rue is straightforward—somewhat. “Rutamque” was a very popular flavoring agent in Roman cooking for its bitterness, a desirable flavor at that time (Katzer 2000). We generally use rue (Ruta graveolens) as an ornamental plant in the garden, as many are sensitive to it, breaking out into a blistery rash similar to that caused by poison ivy but without the itch. Not everyone reacts this way. Recipes for its use in foods and medicine abound, albeit with cautions for women of childbearing age, for it has been used as an abortifacient for at least two thousand years. For Symilus the abortifacient activity would not have been a concern, and bitter flavors were far more popular then than in our culture today. One other question regarding rue is the difference in translation between Mooney

(Mooney 1916) and Fairclough (Fairclough 1918). On page 47 Mooney uses the translation “And stiffness-causing rue,” while Fairclough on page 459 uses “unbending rue.” Mooney, in a footnote,

explains his translation (that rue acts to increase sexual desire) by comparing it to a

comment by Pliny who says it is an anaphrodisiac. Fairclough seems to attribute stiffness or unbending to a character of the plant and not its action on a man. Mooney seems right to me, if Moretum is in fact a parody. “Coriandra” presents another slight problem with some translations reading “coriander seeds,” (Mooney) and others simply “coriander” (Fairclough). As both seeds and leaves (known to us as cilantro) were used in

Roman cooking, it seems another guess is in order as to which is correct. I am inclined to think cilantro is correct, as it is a pungent herb and the leaves would be

Just for fun, here are two contemporary recipes, one for moretum and one for an herbal cheese spread!

c^HERBARIST

VIRGIL, MORETUM & PESTO

easily assimilated into a paste. IfSymilus gathered parsley or celery leaves at the same time as “Coriandra,” it is not likely that is was seeds that he was gathering. Reading Moretum from the perspective of an herb gardener opens a multitude of opportunities, from testing various recipes for the cheese and garlic paste, re-reading Epicureanism and Stoicism along with related literature, to brushing up on Latin in order to determine for yourself what translation you support. It is also interesting to note that political divides have a long history, and we may not be as advanced as we like to think. Curiosity or idle thinking? There are astounding ways to be involved in the study of herbs! ®

Literature Cited

DeWitt, Norman W. 1932. Virgil and Epicureanism. The Classical Weekly, Vol. 25, No. 12 (January 18,1932). Johns Hopkins University Press. Page 91. Fairclough, H. Rushton. 1918. Virgil in two volumes: Aeneid VII-XII the minor poems. London: William Heinemann. Frank, Tenney. 2004. Vergil, A biography. The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vergil. Accessed March 5,2016. Available from http:// www.gutenberg.net/1/0/9/6/10960

Katzer, Gernot. 1999. Celery. Spice Pages. Accessed March 5,2016. Available from http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Apiu_gra.html -2000. Rue. Spice Pages. Accessed March 5,2016. Available from: http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Ruta_gra.html -2015. Parsley. Accessed March 5,2016. Available from http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Petr_cri.html Mooney, Joseph J. 1916. The minor poems of Vergil: comprising the Culex, Dirae, Lydia, Moretum, Copa, Priapeia, and Catalepton. Birmingham, UK: Cornish Brothers.

Ross, Jr., David 0.1957. The Culexand Moretum as post-Augustan literary parodies. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 79:260.

Stuart, George. 1876. The Eclogues, Georgies, and Moretum of Virgil. Philadelphia: Eldredge & Brother.

The British Museum. 2013. Making 2,000 year old bread. Accessed March 9,2016. Available from: http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/past_exhibitions/2013/pompeii_and_herculaneum/bread_recipe.aspx

has been a member of the North Carolina Unit of The Society since 1991, serving in many

local, district and national positions. She was awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature in 2008, and this year received the Helen deConway Little Medal of Honor. Her particular passion, developed through the native herb conservation committee and the GreenBridges™ project, is native herbs. She serves her state on the Plant Conservation Board; identifying, listing and pursuing efforts to

conserve the 421 imperiled plant species in North Carolina.

Issue 82 x 2016

Songuinariacanadensis — In the Ruth Zimmerman Natural Area, William Penn State Forest, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli

y grandmother’s house was only three or four miles from ours. She lived in the country;

we lived in town. Spring bike rides to visit her took me down country gravel roads and through a small, shallow valley mostly bordered by meadow. The exception was a

protected wooded and shadowed hill. I don’t remember the first time I laid my bike down to follow

the path at the base of the hill. The sun sent shafts of light here and there but all sounds faded away. Cascading down the hill were violets, trilliums, adder’s tongue, and multi-petaled white flowers with bright yellow centers and unfurling leaves. I was enchanted and remain so.

Advantages to growing the double forms are that you have not disturbed a wild woodland slopes. population and that the double forms have americanum), violets (Viola spp.) and Bloodroot’s growth sequence is longer lasting flowers. trillium (Trillium spp.) all had traditional exquisitely coordinated. Each plant The red juice that gives the plant its medical applications. To relieve the pain produces only two steins; one will support botanical name and common names from corns, the Romans applied fresh, the flower: the other, a leaf. As they emerge (bloodroot, tetterwort, Indian Paint, red bruised adder’s tongue leaves to the foot and begin to elongate, the leaf wraps puccoon) occurs primarily in the stems (Friends of the Wildflower Garden 2015). around the flowering stem. The flower and rhizomes. The referent ‘red puccoon’ Viola odorata has been used for such varied bearing stem reaches a height of six to ten originated from the Algonquian peoples, health complaints as bronchitis and skin inches. Thus, the white, multi-petaled 17th century poughkone referring to plants disorders (Bown 2001). Birthroot, a common blossom opens above the still unfurling producing red or yellow pigment (Memidex name for trillium, reflects its historical use leaf. The leaf fully opens as the short-lived 2013). The Cherokee Nation website notes for uterine bleeding (Bown 2001). flower begins to fade, and the stem grows to that a translation of one of its Cherokee The most intriguing plant to me was its full height of 12 to 14 inches. The mature, names is 'male dog genitalia’ but they offer bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis L. We lobed leafstill shows the larger indentation no further explanation of this name origin. had never dug the plants, but even a tweak that provided a perfect fit around the A less frequent common name, tetterwort, of the leaf stem magically resulted in red flower-bearing stem. is more often associated with Chelidonium droplets. The plant’s botanical name The blossoms have no nectar, but the niajus (celandine), a European native. The seemed so logical. Sanguinaria, sanguine, bright yellow centers still attract insect entire plant contains a bitter, orange-yellow sanguid - all Latin-derived words relating pollinators, most frequently bees. Upon juice that turns red when exposed to air. to blood, canadensis - commonly related occasion the plants flower before bees are The Native American Ethnobotany to Canada. That made sense, too, as my first active. In that case bloodroot ejects pollen Database provides a list of 142 citations on for potential ephemeral (airborne) childhood exposure to bloodroot was in the use of bloodroot by Native American the woods of northern Michigan, only one pollination of nearby plants (St. Olaf groups (University of Michigan). The 2015). Ants scatter the mature seeds, Micmac and Algonquin considered very large lake away from Canada! Bloodroot, a member of the poppy resulting in the frequently seen localized blood root an aphrodisiac. Bachelors in the family (Papaveraceae), is native throughout clusters of bloodroot. Ponca group rubbed bloodroot rhizomes Bloodroot may be propagated from seed on their palms as a love charm. eastern North America from Nova Scotia southward to Florida, westward to or from the rhizomes. There are Populations living from Quebec to the the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi commercially available double forms such Missouri Valley used blood root as a fabric, embayment (i.e., shoreline indentations as S. canadensis ‘Flore Pleno’ or ‘Plena’ for basket and skin dye. Boiling the object to along the edges of the Mississippi River in shady woodland gardens or borders. be dyed with bloodroot rhizomes yielded a What I didn’t know then was that those plants had value beyond their calming beauty. Adder’s tongue (Erythronium

its Midwestern regions). It grows in the shaded, moist, rich soils of woods and

Issue 821 2016

red dye. Many groups combined bloodroot with dogwood (Cornussericea ssp. sericea), sumac (Rhusglabra or Rhus typhina) and/

concerned about that as “no dyer is going to eat bloodroot” (Buchanan 1987). She had

or wild plum (Prunusamericana) for colors ranging from deep yellow to orange. Since only a small root portion is needed for dying baskets and clothing, Cherokee elders stress leaving a portion of the

spinning she developed a significant headache, nose and throat irritation, and facial flushing, all of which lasted for hours.

rhizome so that the plant will regrow the next season (Cherokee Nation).

The Potawatomi and Ojibwa drew clan marks on their faces while the Delaware painted their faces for the Big House

Ceremony. Many groups applied the bloodroot dye for facial coloration when they went into battle.

A note ofcaution to modern dyers comes from Rita Buchanan, in A Weaver’s

if consumed, but she had not been

dyed wool, rinsed it and let it dry. Shortly after she began to card the wool for

She warns dyers to be cautious, especially as bloodroot is not a “remarkable dye plant. Why take chances?” Medicinally, Native American peoples

US Pharmacopoeia (1820-1926) as a stimulating expectorant (Bown 2001). Bloodroot s medicinal applications are based on its alkaloid content. Bloodroot’s

sap, extracted from fresh or dried rhizomes, contains the alkaloids sanguinarine, chelerythrine, protopine and homochelidonine (University of Illinois). These alkaloids also occur in other plants: sanguinarine, Mexican prickly poppy; protopine, opium poppy; chelerythrine, greater celandine. The

used the plant across disorders ranging from diarrhea and constipation, stomach

veterinary medicine library at the

remedies, cuts, and boils (University of Michigan). The Abnaki used bloodroot as an abortifacient in humans and horses. The

significant variation in alkaloid levels

University of Illinois notes that there is across populations and regions. While all parts of the plant are toxic, the rhizome

Garden. She provides this anecdotal report of her reaction to bloodroot dyed wool. She

medicine and ground the dried rhizomes

contains the highest concentrations of the alkaloids. The alkaloid toxicity is based on

into a snuff for colds and nasal polyps.

cell membrane protein destruction (e.g. the

knew that blood root was potentially toxic

Bown notes that bloodroot appeared in the

Na + -K+-ATPase transmembrane

Cherokee used the infusion as a cough

.skherbmist

.00DROOT: A CHILDHOOD AND ADULT FAVORITE!

proteins), disruption of platelet aggregation and inhibition of histamine Hl receptors (Plant Physiology). One early morning at grand rounds for the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery I found my mind wandering a bit. The topic was "Mohs Surgery in the Head and Neck,” not my

area of specialty. But then I heard the word bloodroot; focus returned! In 1941 Frederic Mohs introduced a revolutionary approach to the chemosurgical management of accessible cancers (Mohs 1941). The technique allowed fixation of a lesion in situ with excision proceeding both laterally and vertically. Microscopic examination of the excised tissue margins revealed whether there were still cancerous cells at the margin or if the margins were only healthy tissue. Earlier animal research with his collaborator, M.F. Guyer, had described an appropriate fixative (zinc oxide) blended with two other chemicals, one to improve penetration of zinc oxide into the tumor and the other to hold the zinc chloride in solution as it had a tendency to settle to the bottom of the solution. Bloodroot provided that organic, adhesive material (Mohs and Guyer 1941). Even though bloodroot is no longer used in the tissue fixative, the Mohs technique of surgically removing skin cancer layer by layer and examining the tissue under a microscope until healthy, cancer-free tissue around the tumor is reached (i.e., clear margins) is widely used today. The efficacy and safety of using dental products containing the bloodroot alkaloid sanguinarine have been debated since the 1980s. Godowski described the anti-plaque activity of a sanguinarine extract and noted that these products did not cause a negative change in other normal oral flora (Godowski 1989). This

a The most intriguing plant to me was bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis L. We had never dug the plants, but even a tweak of the leafstem magically resulted in red droplets. The plant’s botanical name seemed so logical.

leukoplakia patches are noncancerous (benign) while some areas next to leukoplakia patches show early signs of

cancer (Mayo Clinic 2013). Bloodroot research continues in other areas. For example, a collaborative university study examined the impact on in vitro immune system cells of various bloodroot preparations (Senchina, Flinn, McCann, Kohut and Shearn 2009). Their study suggested that several bloodroot extracts showed anti-carcinogenic activity. They further noted that different responses were seen based on which plant parts had been used for the extractions and the overall composition of the extract. Comparisons of their findings to previous biomedical research are limited as some studies used sanguarine alone or failed to report the source of their extracts. Still this was supported by a report in 1999 research shows that blood root continues to addressing the safety of Viadent, a Colgate be of potential value in medical product that at that time contained applications. sanguinarine (Munro Delzell Nestmann Bloodroot was just one of the many and Lynch 1999). Later research at Ohio plants on that now faraway hillside that State University raised the concern that attracted my interest. I had no inkling that patients who had used products containing it would hold a spot first in my academic sanguinarine were at higher risk for oral studies and then in my personal herbal leukoplakia, thickened oral patches explorations. Perhaps its Native American (Mascarenhas Allen and Moeschberger use as a love charm also meant that we 2002). The Mayo Clinic notes that most would come to love the plant! © Issue 82 x 2016

BLOODROOT: A CHILDHOOD AND ADULT FAVORITE!

Literature Cited Sown, Deni. 2001. The Herb Society of America new encyclopedia of herbs & their uses. London and New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited.

Buchanan, Rita. 1987. A weaver's garden. Loveland Colorado: Interweave Press.

Mohs, F.E. and M.F. Guyer. 1941. Pre-excisional fixation of tissues in the treatment ofcancer in rats. Cancer Research. 1:49 -51. Accessed Novembers, 2015. Available from: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/V1/49.citatlon

Cherokee Nation. 2011. Ethnobiology: bloodroot. Accessed July 8,2015. Available from: http://www.cherokee.org/Portals/0ZDocuments/20B/01/31819Bloodroot_post.pdf

Munro, I.C., E.S. Delzell, E.R. Nestmann and B.S. Lynch. 1999. Viadent usage and oral leukoplakia: a spurious association. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 30 (3):182-96. Accessed November 11,2015. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10620468

Friends of the Wild flower Garden. 2015 Yellow trout lily. Accessed August 4,2015. Available from:http://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/yellowtroutiily.html

Plant Physiology. Sanguinarine. Accessed July 8,2015. Available from: www.plntphysiol.org/content/14/2/337.full.pdf

Godowski.K.C. 1989. Antimicrobial action of sanguarine.TheJofOin Dent. 1(4):96-10l. Accessed July 12,2015. Availablefrom: http://europepnic.org/abstract/med/2700895

St. Olaf College. 2015. Bloodroot. Accessed July 8,2015. Available from;http7/wp.stolaf.edu/naturallands/woodland$/ephermerls/bloodroot/

Mascarenhas AX, CM. Allen and M.L. Moeschberger. 2002. The association between Viadent use and oral leukoplakia - results of a matched case-control study. J Public Health Dent. 62(3):158-62. Accessed Novembers, 2015. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nigh.gov/pubmed/12180043

Senchina D.A., G.N. Flinn, D.A. McCann, M.L. Kohut and CJ.Shearn. 2009. Bloodroot (Sanguinoria canadensis I., Papaveraceae) enhances proliferationand cytokine production by human peripheral blood mononuclearcells in an in vitro model. J Herbs Spies Med Plants 200915(1): 45. Accessed July 12,2015. Availablefrom: www.ncbr.nlmnih.gov/pmc/artideS/PI«1966? UniversityoflllinoisVeterinaryMedicineLibrary. I

Mayo Clinic 2013. Leukoplakia. Accessed Novembers, 2015. Available from: httpV/www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/leukoplakia/basics/definition/con-20023802

Memidex. 2013. Red puccoon Accessed July 8,2015. Available from:www.memidex.com/red-puccoon

Bloodroot or red puccoon (Sanguinaria canadensis L.). Accessed July 8,2015. Available from: www.library.illinois.edu/vet/t ox i c/b Id root.htm

Mohs, F.E. 1941. Chemosurgery, a microscopically controlled method of cancer excision. Arch Surg. 42:279-295.

University of Michigan. Native American Ethnobotany Database. Bloodroot,.‘ Accessed November 7,2015. Available from: http://herb.umd.umich.edu .

an active Society member for nearly 35 years, an active member of the South Texas, Pioneer and most recently, Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan Units. She has held various roles on the HSA Board of

Directors including The Herbarist chair, symposia chair, education chair, vice-president and president (2008 - 2010).

Retired from her roles in health care administration (The Methodist Hospital, Houston Texas) and academic research/ teaching, she now pursues her hobbies of herbal writing and study as well as travel.

-^•HERBARIST

Join us for our Garden Bus Tour in June & Educational Symposium in October. Visit our herb gardens: Penn State University, Berks Campus; Historic White Horse Tavern & Mouns Jones House in Douglassville, PA

Issue 821 2016

Texas Thyme Unit Herb Society of America

Greetings members of The Herb Society of America From The Texas Thyme Unit, South Central District, Huntsville, Texas. We invite you to visit our Ella Ruth Herb Garden and Children's Sensory Garden at the Wynne Home. Please plan to join us for our annual Herb Festival on March 25,2017.

www. facebook.com/texasthymeun it

Bwww.texasthymeunit.org 56

6&HERBARIST

The South Ttyicw 'Unit ror Cl nit |nformation and

Details of F vents &■ Meetings

www.lierbsociety-stu.org F-O- EX’* 65 I 5

Houston, TX ZZ2-^-^ ' 5 We celebrate herb gardening in the

Houston area.

J5roud to annually award the H5A-STCJ Madalene Hill Scholarship

X "Unit of The Sherh 'Society ofAmerica since ig68

The Herb Society of America, Pioneer Unit Supporting the

Come Join us at the

Herb Gardens at Festival Hill

22nd Annual Herbal Forum at Round Top

in Round Top and the Brenham

March 17 & 18,2017

Elementary Sensory Garden

“Love It or Leave It”

in the Brenham ISD Outdoor Learning Center

with a focus on Coriander / Cilantro, Herb of the Year 2017 -plus much more

P.O. Box 23 Round Top, TX 78954 herbsocietypioneer.org

For information on the Herbal Forum please visit herbsocietypioneer.org, festivalhill.org, or call 979-249-3129

Issue 82 x 2016

Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine ONLINE HERBAL PROGRAMS

. CS&HERBARIST

The Central Ohio Unit The Herb Society ofAmerica

We cordially invite you to visit our Herb Garden at Inniswood Metro Gardens 940 South Hempstead Road Westerville, Ohio

Our garden features a collection of over fifty different thymes

among a delightful display of herbs grown for both their ornamental and herbal attributes.

JET

. Jj£. xi-L

Uetyour herbal interest not ebb, Dig into our site, We're planted on the web, See tbymely us day ‘n nite:

Annual Plant Sale The first weekend in May at Inniswood Metro Gardens

www.ccntralohioherbsocicty.org or contact: couhsa@yahoo.com

It’s About Thyme The Herb Society of America

Wisconsin Unit

Issue 82 X 2016

Ginkgo: The Tree

That Time Forgot C-T'T/i. Sir Peter Crane

Thursday, March 16, 2017, 2:00p.m.

(Contact us to pre-order the book.]

North Carolina Unit

www. ncherbsociety. org

/^HERBARIST

A Unit of the Herb Society of

America

Celebrating our 25th Anniversary

1991-2016 Come visit us on the 4th Thursday of

every month at 6:30 p.m. at the

Burden Museum & Gardens.

The Unit is building a Historic Ethnic Garden at the Burden Museum & Gardens in Baton Rouge, Loui

siana. This public garden will honor the ethnic groups

For Unit Information and

who settled in this area as well as the Native Americans

who lived here and will feature their culinary and me

dicinal plants. This garden will also be a therapeutic

Details of Events and Meetings

garden and will be entirely wheelchair accessible.

Greetings from:

Qhattahoochee

"the |“|erb (Society o'f j^merka

* Monthly meetings and educational programs, April through November, held at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Visit www.cuhsa.org find us on Facebook!

Issue 82 X 2016

invites yon to visit the herb gardens we designed, planted & help maintain

Visit our booth at Maymont’s Herbs Galore & More! This popular herb festival is Virginia’s largest and oldest herbal event, held the last Saturday of April each year.

rm: Virginia commonwealth init has been a i ntt of the herb society of ameer a since, ids? a

A3K-HERBARIST

■ With seventy-seven species of goldenrod spread across North America, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico,

Solidago truly is an American genus that can be

enjoyed by us all in one form or another.

■ One of the legends: "Goldenrod growing next to the door of

itive Herb

a home marked the arrival of good fortune." • The flowers yield a greenish yellow dye while an

orange-brown color comes from the whole plant

used together.

* Five states have awarded particular distinction to species of Solidago, including Delaware, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Carolina and

Alabama.

There is one species of goldenrod that has white petals.

Intrigued and want to learn more details? See Ute Herb Society ofAmerica’s Essential Guide to Solidago - Notable Native Herb 2017 on our website: www.herbsociety.org

FREE

Herb Catalog

I lie Salvia ( ol lection

15% off entire order of plants for Herb Society Members (with code HSACIFT)

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To find out more, visit: www.neworleanscitypark.com/botanical-garden www.longueyue.com

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Like and follow us on Facebook! Herb \ Society ofAmerica - New Orleans Unit

Over l%() varieties of herb plants for any use. thegro wers • exchange.com

Issue 821 2016

Arkansas Unit of The Herb Society of America Unit meetings held at Hillcrest Hall, 1501 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, Arkansas cfontcu@mac.com

Herbs Rock in Little Rock We've been "herbing" in Little Rock since 1966. We couldn't be more excited about sharing our wonderful city and gardens with you at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Members and Educational Conference! Little Rock is overflowing with little gems of art, entertainment, and attractions. Whatever you love, we've got it! All are easy to access and enjoy.

We're looking forward to an enriching and fun experience in 2017!

Find us on Facebook: The Herb Society ofAmerica Arkansas Unit