Druidic/Wiccan Gardening

[shaberon]

This is something I've always been curious about, but never attempted until last year. Not much result yet, as it is a slow and meticulous process--with a few things that massively interfere with it. And some of that is the general "growing tips" you read about things. So I'd like to jot down some experiences that are less about common crops (such as tomatoes) or decoratives (azaleas), and more towards things that have traditional health or medical applications.

What kind of started this was I know someone who has a horrible sleep pattern, and, being leery of pharmaceuticals, I looked up a traditional remedy: valerian. Now almost all anti-depressants are based from valerian. Thus, we can pay big companies to synthetically imitate those molecules--or get the real thing fairly easily.

First though, full sun: this actually seems to be an ad hoc term for people living in the clammy regions of the UK/northern US. It really seems to mean "the leaves won't wither when exposed to six hours of brightness". It should be rephrased for sunnier areas like the southern US. We had the concept of starting a container garden, then putting some things in ground once established.

Well, the whole container situation allows you an extra degree of control, however: full southern sun on a container is pretty much just going to cook the roots, just as during the winter it can easily freeze them. Having it inside in a sunny window may even be worse. If you shrouded the containers with a reflective material, or moved them around constantly, it might work--otherwise, containers in full southern sun are virtually a death sentence.

So, valerian. General advice says this has a "low germination rate", that only about 30% of the seeds will come up in 2-3 weeks. These seeds are not much bigger than dust. I used a planter box: wet the soil, sprinkle and gently press the seeds down, and then barely cover them with some more soil. In a few days, the box was full of seedlings. I started putting them in individual containers as they got bigger.

With numerous pots covering a table in a sunny window, the cats decided it was the new couch. Every day I would find 2-3 of the seedlings squashed flat. The name valerian means "strong" (similar to valor), and I can safely vouch for the fact that being flattened by a cat is not going to stop this plant (unlike most everything else). Valerian is very adaptable, and one of the few herbs that can stand "wet feet" or marshy conditions. Which is good because the novice's common mistake is:

Overwatering. Most plants really don't need that much water. Not all potting soil is equal, either. Some dries in a couple of days, and some of it seems like it won't dry, ever. With most plants (herbs anyway), if you start seeing yellow leaves, chances are that it's being overwatered.

Valerian will return seeds quite generously; it makes a flower cluster similar to Queen Anne's Lace, and then makes scads of seeds with fuzzy little parachutes. You can try to pick those individually with fingers, tweezers, etc., but I found it was more effective to wait until the majority of them turn brown, then cut off the whole bunch; put it on a piece of blank white paper for a few days, then simply brush the seeds onto the paper and use it to pour them into a jar.

Some other types of seeds have done well directly in the planter box: chamomile and yarrow come to mind. A couple of different methods are at least as effective for different kinds of things. The "paper towel", i. e. you wet a paper towel, squeeze out the excess water, fold it up with seeds inside, place in an open baggie, check for sprouts in a few days. Works good with larger seeds that grow fast, such as morning glory and fenugreek. You can get vast quantities of fenugreek from an Indian grocer--it's often roasted to enhance the flavor, but if you get unroasted ones, they should work fine this way.

Cold stratification is an imitation of snowmelt and washes off chemicals that prevent seeds from germinating. Put some seeds in a small glass of water in the fridge, and every day, pour it out and replace with fresh water. Hyssop should succeed after about a week of this treatment. Belladonna longer--two weeks up to a month. Once "rinsed" in this way, they just drop in potting soil, either sown very shallow or with just a bit more soil sprinkled over them. Belladonna has an interesting trait of "staggered germination"; I got a full planter box, put most of them in individual containers, then a new crop emerged; repeated, let one get pretty big in the box, then as soon as I moved it, three more popped up. This plant is highly poisonous, do not touch it or consume it.

Perennial and evergreen don't quite mean the same thing. I found some Ashwagandha and put it in ground, because it's perennial--but only in India. Freezing will at least kill the top of it; not sure about the roots. This one and valerian are grown for the roots, so, to succeed, you have to have a lot of plants for a long time. Even small valerian and belladonna can do fine through a minor freeze, so I would tend to describe them more as evergreen. The small belladonna does wilt daily, like a daisy, in the night it perks back up.

The trouble with most commercial nurseries is they don't tell you exactly which variety of a plant you're getting. For example, we have two oreganos; one looks normal, and the other turned purple when it got cold. Brought it inside and in a few days it was green again. They must be two different kinds, but it would be nice to know what, without having to do more research. Most everything else I have is not from a big commercial source.

Full sun--here, anyway--was also detrimental to Lemon Balm (a variety of mint). This one gets yellow leaves from excessive sun. It is the active ingredient in the "Primum Ens Melissa" of Paracelsus, a potion which I am prepared to make, as we have loads of woody grape vines suitable for potash. But this is why "full sun perennials" should be a qualified term: used for both Lemon Balm and Ashwagandha, so I put them in the same plot, and got fried Lemon Balm and frozen Ashwagandha.

Since I had gotten intimidated by this "full sun" term, I planted the chamomile, hyssop and yarrow in the edge of the shade--and they hardly grew any bigger than they were in containers. So while it certainly doesn't mean "full southern sun", it doesn't mean "no direct sun" either.

I had no germination from mandrake after a week of cold stratification and then going to a warm sunny window. Going to try a couple more for about a month in the fridge and then a cool window. This is one of the hardest ones to grow.

If anyone else has favorite plants, growing tips, etc., chime in. I feel like I've spent a year getting beaten up by sketchy information and various elements of nature, but for some reason, I find this stuff fascinating. Oh yeah, such as bottom feeding. This is the safest way to water puny seedlings; set the container in a tray of water for a few hours until it soaks from underneath. Watering them directly can make them prone to root rot or "pinch off" caused by fungus.

[Vward]

Thank you for your post. I thought you might like this website adress. http://www.poyntzfieldherbs.co.uk
I was hunting for seeds and medicinal plants and came across it.

[shaberon]

Wow...that's quite a thorough seeming operation. I would love to work somewhere like that, maybe 20 hours a day. I think the UK is probably quite a bit more "with it" than here. Some of the plants I got were from a small local place that we heard about because...it went out of business.

The difficulty I'm running into now is native soil. Last year, for example with valerian, it would grow like a forest with almost no attention. Then I was forced to relocate about 60 miles south into a "turf" country--what's here is a few inches of "light, acidic, sandy loam" sitting on clay. There is a turf farm right down the street...with grass, yes, it does well and you can pretty much remove sheets of turf at will, perfectly. However, it seems like even the very resilient valerian will not grow in it. There are only a few small spots that are different.

Going to try the remaining mandrake seeds in a few days, and those will *never* leave the containers. Those need a specially shaped or deep container--the tap root can get up to four feet long.

[Vward]

So would I. Wow what a plant let me know how you get on. I am growing moss ferns and bog plants. The dog loves moss it does help worms.
http://botanical.com
I think Lichens are beautiful and a great indicators of air purity. They seem to be abundant in this area it was used for breathing conditions. Amazing.

[shaberon]

"Bog plants" sounds like a wide category? Venus Flytrap is native near here...kinda boggy and ever so slightly weird.

Moss Fern, new concept too. In my other yard was a stand of running cedar...which isn't a cedar, it's a club moss...which isn't a moss >.< The stuff had an archaic use in flash powder for photography, now apparently it is highly desirable for wreaths or other decorations...it grows slowly and is supposed to be hard to transplant but, if I can, I am going to try to swipe some and put it on the edge of the neighbor's property.

I swiped some cedar trees; you'd think this would be a no-brainer but, they sat in buckets for a while before I got a full understanding of where they were supposed to go, and a few of them might have dried out :/

We also have abundant holly, which is what made me think of the druids. Not much else interesting seems to have been natively available, there is a wild morning glory, kind of white with pink edges similar to a dogwood flower, but I ordered some Heavenly Blue which is very vivid, and produces abundant seed. As I think I mentioned, these are in the easy to germinate/strong, fast growing category. They did fine in full sun; most of the leaves were turned in to swiss cheese by ants (some of which are fire ants), but they lived their full course anyway. Morning Glory seems similar to Nasturtium; if a flower gets pollinated, it produces seeds nearby. Grown indoors, you might have to do that manually, but outside, no problem. There are so many moths here, when they hit the peak of their breeding season...sheesh, driving at night, by the light of headlights, it was like watching a blizzard go up. I bet if you threw a match into them, the whole atmosphere would have incinerated.

We were able to get some Wormwood (again, not sure exactly *what* species) which is a decent wormer for a goat, however for dogs it should only be a limited amount. Food grade Diatomaceous Earth is probably better; it's awesome stuff, great natural pesticide, softest thing I have ever felt. Wormwood I believe was demonized by the French wine industry, because Absinthe crippled their sales--early example of "bought and paid for" research saying it led to madness.

Going to have to find the right container to try the mandrake. Apparently, it's a tiny little thread that descends from the main root, and if this hits the bottom of the pot, the plant quits growing. The main "human shaped" root does not get much bigger than a thumb in one year, and takes several years to gain any appreciable size.

One of the things that does seem to do allright in this weird soil is St. John's Wort. This is one I kind of question because, firstly, I had never heard of it, and then back in the 90s when herbal remedies became more commercially acceptable, suddenly it was all over the place with a ton of hype. Supposedly it's a common weed around Oregon and such places, and it's going like a weed here, so perhaps it was floated to the market as a consequence.

In terms of herbs, almost all of them are mildly antiseptic, repel or kill insects and parasites--so that's not really special to anything in particular. But compared to a yard full of grass, which isn't really even edible and you have to keep mowing it, and then surmounting it with decorative shrubs most of which are outright sickening--I'd have to say, go against the landscaping industry.

[Vward]

You write beautifully. I am on a kindle presently so it's hard to flow.

[fourty-two]

Good post on your gardening experience! It seems that you are in Oregon.
There is a guy there - Richard Alan Miller who - among other things does herb farming.
His phone is 541 476 5588 and he has several websites among which are Herbfarminfo.com.

He is having a problem with Amazon and his book sales and mentioned his phone number on a discussion on this site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07_YThjnIP4.

I have a couple of his farm/plants type books and he would probably be glad to give you some tips on Oregon Herb farming - tho that's just my guess.

[shaberon]

Nope, not in Oregon...that was just a reference to a place where St. John's Wort is native..."Klamath weed". I'd guess Oregon is fairly comparable to the UK--do they even have different climate zones there? The climate here is insane, one day it will stay below freezing, and then it will be 70. Obviously, anything tropical isn't going to make it; frost hardy perennials should probably laugh, but, when in containers, it's a totally different story with cold, as it is with full sunlight.

If you ever find your hands on an old farm, where the grapes haven't been tended in twenty or thirty years...let's say they make a right awful mess. After five or six hacking sessions, I can finally see the wire trellis they pulled to the ground. Thoroughly mixed with other vines, thorns, and bushes, which have to be uprooted...I don't mind doing the work, it's pretty slow without machines, really gives you a perspective on what agriculture must have been for our ancestors. It feels to me like the energy you spend doing that stuff is leagues apart from the food energy it might produce later on.

[shaberon]

I planted the mandrake over the solstice. So far, no dice. It can take potentially a very long time to come up, if nothing happens, I will have to try some more. Those seeds were pretty old.

Not only is this a bad time of year for this subject, but here comes disaster. In terms of snow, I was expecting we'd get nothing but a light dusting which probably wouldn't cover the ground. Well, here comes some kind of front...rain will turn to sleet and then deliver several inches of snow. We will then get a low of...three degrees...and not come above freezing for days.

It's kind of a neat phenomenon when precipitation changes like that, there is usually a period of time where the clouds seem to "inhale" before the snow falls, but this one is actually really dangerous. The rain on the ground will freeze and then the sleet will glom onto it. This kind of crust is very powerful, a 1/4" sheet of ice can break trees and bring down power lines, so you can't be too careful. I am going to try to cover my little things growing outside with bags or buckets, I just don't think there is any kind of small plant that can withstand that. If it was just snow, might be different. If you live in true snow country, I'd say you are better off than a borderline region like this, because here, that ice crusting thing is more normal. Usually, it's just a little bit, but this one sounds like it could get intense, then with the snow piled on top and no thaw, everything will be glaciated.

If they even have any snow plows, I'd expect them to make it out here by 2018.

[leavesoftrees]

Since I had gotten intimidated by this "full sun" term, I planted the chamomile, hyssop and yarrow in the edge of the shade--and they hardly grew any bigger than they were in containers. So while it certainly doesn't mean "full southern sun", it doesn't mean "no direct sun" either.


Chamomile is good for sleep problems, best as a tincture rather than a herbal tea. I grow herbs in pots, that way you can move them round till you find the best growing conditions for them. If they are happy and thriving then maybe plant them out but sometimes they do better in a container

[shaberon]

By tincture, meaning extracted with alcohol?

I am thinking the thing with teas is they probably ought to be an infusion--instead of boiled water, just *warm* water less than 140 degrees as that is the point which can volatilize the oils and you start to lose them.

Yes, with the chamomile, the ones I planted that weren't getting any straight sunlight did not grow very much, but I gave one to my mom, she kept it in the pot in a place with a few hours of direct sun and it did wonderfully. We had...a cup of tea from it, which all I can say is that it was absolutely delicious right off the plant. Pretty much like drinking the flower.

[leavesoftrees]

Yes chamomile is tricky. In Europe they grow chamomile lawns - I suspect with minimum direct sunlight and great soil conditions.

Tincture is best - macerated in strongest alcohol you can get for a few days up to week. Check regularly to make sure that the herbs are completely covered by the alcohol and that they haven't gone off. If you can, a spagyric tincture is even better - can give you very intense dreams as an added bonus.

[DeDukshyn]

In my hometown in central BC Canada - chamomile grows like a weed in places - in areas that get morning and evening sun but is more shaded during the high part of the day - seem to grow in hard soil well. It's a small plant, but can even spread to carpet some areas. When I was younger I used to eat the flowers (tasty!) before I even knew it was chamomile.

[shaberon]

From what I gathered, in Europe, the parts of the Hungarian plain which are unsuitable for growing food crops are used for chamomile. Doesn't need very fertile soil, but there is something about my acid loam sitting on clay that pretty much kills all of the valerian and belladonna I've tested in it. It supports *some* things--and since tobacco is a nightshade and our neighbor farms it, you'd think that would do well--it seems to me like everything requires a "trial run" before just sticking it all in the ground.

Fortunately we didn't get a disaster; mostly sleet which ripped a few branches off some pine trees. But sixty miles up the road where I used to live, they got up to ten inches of snow. Very unusual for here. My small plants look ok since I covered them with containers, hope they can survive several days sub-freezing.

[shaberon]

Much to my surprise, a mandrake was born today. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. We get a lot of "strays" along with anything planted, but this doesn't look like anything I've seen. It's tall for a 1st day, over an inch, light green, with a thin stem and long, narrow set of first leaves.

[BongoBob]

I've also held space for a small garden of psychoactive herbs in the past (current situation doesn't allow me the opportunity for now to continue unfortunately) consisting of a wide range of plants on varying degrees down the length of the poison path. I wish I could find some more of the pictures.

A peaceful, albeit small, refuge in suburbia, which had consisted of two fences smothered with morning glories, moonflowers, and native passiflora, the beds lined with small peppers, herbs from lemon-bee-balm to thyme. There was a sprig of the ominous and dissassociative Datura that defiantly grew- a foot tall with sickly-purple 6 inch trumpets draped upwards toward the cannabis plant that had quickly covered a large swath of the 12 footsquare place of peace.

At one point, my roommate and I transplanted a fairly large Angel's Trumpet tree (it's a flowering plant- same family as the Datura, but this Angel's Trumpet had aged beautifully in it's previous home) to fill out the corner.



I purchased a live cutting of Salvia Divinorum (Diviner's Sage) which made a wonderful houseplant that filled out beautifully. I was enamored with her growth. When I received her after a two-day trip in a mail-truck, she survived with a single wilted leaf and grew from there-

http://i.imgur.com/Bb2UsWQ.jpg

Once I began my trip across the 'states, I had her in my van during the moving period, and she fell off the desk upon a sharp turn, where she got transplanted into a barren and forgotten city-street cul-de-sac to nowhere that I had stopped at.. I still wonder if she survived the stress. In the past, I had collected the leaves she dropped when she had plenty to share, but I never got around to preparing them for any sort of ritual.

I take some delight in exploring the realms presented by some of our more prominent and psychoactive plant allies. I've grown these plants (and thier fungi cohorts) to further my own learning and experiences of breaking through the veil, and because I feel the connection between plant and human for these sort of experiences are deepened further through caring for them as they reach their potential- like children in many ways. I remember harvesting the 10-foot-tall backyard cannabis plant on the night of the full harvest moon with my roommates, as we trimmed and cut, then trimmed some more.

I hope one day soon i'll be able to begin another wondrous garden of beautiful oddities.

[Octavusprime]

Two of my favorite plants are holy basil and Sage. Both grow very easily and are extremely hardly. The only sage I didn't have success with was pineapple sage. I think it is grown mostly as an ornamental, the taste was very bland in my opinion and the plant was delicate.

Anything in the Mint family is borderline a weed so make sure you keep it contained or it will take over your garden. Mint, catnip, lemon balm, etc.

I've been moving more and more towards perennial plants as much as possible. Chives, oregeno, sage, thyme are all thriving at the moment in my herb garden. Come spring time I plan on expanding the garden with perennial and self seeding vegetables.

[shaberon]

Nice picture of Salvia. Always nice to look at the success stories.

Holy basil is the Indian tulsi, I believe?

We have a really nice piece of sage I put with some lavender. Covered those with pots today as it's going to rain for about 24 hours, and they like it dry.

Just tried starting some hyssop, after about a five day soak on 18+ months' old seeds. I can't tell if this mandrake is the real deal or not yet, but whatever it is, it isn't dead.

[shaberon]

So, I have been really busy doing exactly this for a few months. Again, it is a tangent to a proposal offered me two years ago which was based from using a tiller to prepare a vegetable garden, to which I said sure, in conjunction with that, I have an interest in many of the traditional magical and medicinal plants, which I'd like to add in with that.

It took two months to find out that the tiller didn't run (from being left outside for a few years until the gas tank/carburetor bowl/etc. rusted), and to this day it remains disfunctional. I'm relegated to the use of spade and hoe, which does give an appreciation for the pre-industrial struggle for existence. And yes, even during spring here we get temperatures of 90 F or more; just a few days ago, the heat index reached 106. Being now around the solstice/end of spring, I'm making a review of those plants which can flourish in that type of battering better than I can, whilst trying to sort the general information that seems mostly to apply to New York or somewhere like that.

Dianthus is one that seems to straddle the definitions. It needs full sun, it needs part shade, it needs to be watered, it needs to dry. Huh? Well, this observation is based from the black variety, as the standard colored ones are readily available almost anywhere that sells plants. And from what I have found, it is very prone to rotting by water; at the same time, it can easily dessicate.

The Dianthus does need full sun, but only about 6 hours. Afternoon shade is pretty much required. Its soil should not dry out, but it only usually needs a little bit of evening moisture. The extra relative humidity benefits it, but it does not like having wet leaves, particularly while it is small. The useful phrase "Water the soil, not the plant" applies very strongly to this one, it does quite well with a perfect balance, but a little slip one way or the other can mess it up quick. Due to the hardships it has suffered, I have not dared to put any of them in the ground yet.

I did a "pilot run" in some of our sunniest (12+ hours) and worst (sand on clay) soil. I have found seven things that can either take it, or require it: German Chamomile, Hyssop, Yarrow, Calendula, Butterfly Weed, Licorice, Astragalus.

Mostly those were all started in containers and transplanted. This method is excellent for better control over the seedlings, with a slight disadvantage. Most of these herbs in fact grow better in poor soil; rich soil tends to make them extra floppy, and makes them vegetate more than flower/produce their specialized oils and other components. So when started in potting mix, it seems the cotyledons or first set of generic leaves fly up really fast and a bit too far, resulting in a relatively weak joint where the stem meets the soil. When transplanted, they can be buried a little deeper to help firm them up, but you don't want to do this too soon (for most), they should have a few sets of true leaves first (Hyssop) or start getting a bit stalky/clumpy (Chamomile).

Licorice may be an exception. It has a fairly low germination rate to start with, and in a container at least, is very sensitive to overwatering and overheating. I've not been able to save any overwatered ones, they perish almost immediately, but a sun fried one can possibly recover. Being excited about seeing any at all, I put two in the ground that only had about one true leaf, and they seem to be alive so far.

Butterfly Weed on the other hand has a really high germination rate; I directly sowed some of these, and, although a bit slower than ones from containers, its new sprouts took the roasting fairly well.

Calendulas that went in places that meet the definition of full sun (6 hours) are very slow and don't look too happy. The ones in the plot of "real" full sun (12+ hours) so far are the biggest plants of any kind. These are very fast germinators with a good percentage of them coming up, are anticipated to start flowering in a short time frame, and of course these flowers are one of the pre-eminent treatments externally and not too bad internally. I would strongly recommend this plant to anyone who has enough sun to support it. The name is related to the same root as "calendar", referring to the likelihood it can just keep on blooming.

Anise hates containers. It may sprout in them, but then it will typify the overextended/weak plant, and easily die from heat or water. This one pretty much has to be broadcast or direct sown, in which case it resembles a slow parsley (which it is), so, compared to a few I killed in containers, the smaller/sturdier ones that came up from direct sowing seem preferrable. I am not sure if the twelve hours of sun would be better, it is in a spot that gets two shade breaks from two different trees, but at least it does work there.

Fenugreek remains a bit mysterious. The seed is extremely potent, if soaked for a few hours prior to planting, it can germinate overnight. It taproots, so it can't stay in a container too long, which prompted me to set out some seedlings very quickly. I tried some in 12+ hours of sun, and some in the spot with Anise, and they either died, or all still look like a puny mess. It may be looking for a slightly better soil, so, I direct sowed a few more in a spot of morning sun/afternoon shade, and so far at least they're coming up and look normal. The rest from containers will probably have to go near there soon.

On a lark, I did some Dyer's Madder; this one, like Yarrow, you may not wish to deal with, unless you are prepared to find it spreading aggressively by runners. It's fairly fast, fairly high germination rate, but gets floppy in a container quick. Seems to be surviving in ground with morning sun/afternoon shade.

Now the other side is the slow germinators and cool natured things. I decided not to attempt some things like the true Alpine Wolfsbane or Arnica Montana because I don't think they would survive here at all. The coolest spot I have is the basement, but so far that is yielding zero, maybe because it's not really that cool. But some seeds are not expected to show anything for a month, or several months, even up to a year or more, so we'll just let them sit, or maybe try some more after the weather cools off a little bit...in December.

The ones I do see are Ashwagandha, which is warm natured, but like a really slow tomato. Only two of those after about a month of starting them, but there's a reasonable chance more will come. Also, Jasmine Gardenia, which is one of the slowest/most difficult things to germinate. About four of those after a month or more. This one is a serious "helmet head", it sprouts with pretty much a full seed coat stuck to it. Now with things like Morning Glory or Madder, that's fairly common, but you can easily slip those off. The Gardenia is simply so tiny that I was afraid to disturb it, and of course I was also worried it would kill itself. It's just really slow. So the first two shed their coats in about a week, and, a week after that, are still just cotyledons. But, that makes me less worried about the next two that also just look like a seed rising from the ground. And don't even plan on transplanting these for a year, maybe two.

I moved last year's Lemon Balm to either partial shade or full shade, even though it's described as a full sun plant, around here it simply cooks; it lives, but becomes a flavorless ugly yellow. And it turns out that the one in the most shade is the greenest.

Now, for a wicked little anecdote. Belladonna works in partial shade, it does get a daily wilt like a daisy, but looks much better in the evening. What happened is not by my hand, as I don't eat red meat but I cannot prevent anyone from doing so, so let's just say an animal was slaughtered for its meat. Well, the blood was poured around a Belladonna as some sort of tribute, and the next day it flowered.

Everything done by my own initiative, I either knew what it was or researched it, but outside of that scope, one of the things I was given is a Primrose, which is a Common Evening Primrose I guess. I had no idea. Folks, that Primrose is a monster. In its first year, it doesn't look like much, but, if it wasn't in afternoon shade, it would probably be at least six feet broad. However, due to the shade, the back half of it is bent forwards, so it's not an ideal shape, nevertheless, it is staggeringly impressive, beautiful, lovely scent, and I expect it will crank out hundreds if not thousands of seeds. Primrose gardening with all its many varieties is apparently a big deal, I can see why.

I haven't gone much into the companion planting yet as it mainly pertains to vegetables, but, my understanding is that Rue, Anise, and Basil are sort of triangular opposites. Rue (Ruta Graveolens) apparently only likes Raspberry and Fig, so, by default, it went near the Figs, more or less making a hedgerow from there towards the Primrose, so with varying amounts of sunlight. Although it does live with afternoon shade, its looking like the less shade, the better it does.

Valerian, which was my main success at the previous property and which I have praised for its ability to rejuvenate from almost total destruction while a wee sprout, is still having a tough life around here. Out of the dozen or so planted last year, only one survived. I kept a few bigger ones in containers and then planted them in morning sun/afternoon shade, one of those started flowering, and then the big flower stalks all collapsed. I think it does need a good bit of sun to stay strong but seems to be looking for a moister/better quality soil. So some newer ones in a mostly shady area are looking pretty good in terms of young leaves, but, once they start getting big, I am not sure if they will do so well. No shortage of them to keep trying different environments, although, in general, it should be fairly effective almost anywhere (else).

[shaberon]

Eep, well, I have to rescind some things I said in the previous post.

Over the course of a few weeks, Astragalus definitely didn't survive in that hot spot. A few of them are still going in another place with afternoon shade. Also, although the Licorice didn't quite die there...it's not exactly thriving, barely growing at all. So the remaining five appear to be the real troopers, Hyssop, Chamomile, Calendula, Yarrow, and Butterfly Weed.

Overall, July came and brought the grim reaper with it...vast quantities of things just bolted and died, not just "specialty" plants, but ordinary things like Mustard which I thought would be heat tolerant. Now, I don't know how much of that derives from the heat/dryness, or the relatively late start on most of these things, and also it would probably be a safe presumption that the soil is relatively lacking in nitrogen.

It's hard to narrow down...for example, I put three large Valerian in one spot...two of them yellowed and died, and yet one of them is still green. The first batch of Madder I tried, well, a lot of those are yellowing as well, but the second batch, mixed in with them, is still green and perky. If heat/dryness was the culprit, I would assume it would have fried the newer, smaller Madders in step with the first, bigger ones.

Mostly, the method of starting plants in a small container, seems to do better than direct sowing, at least in these conditions with the late start. I'm guessing perhaps what is happening, is that initially, the potting mix supplies enough nitrogen to keep them happy for a while, but then as that small amount gets used up and the roots are reaching into the sandy loam, there's nothing there. Usually 2-3 inches under the dusty top layer, there actually is moisture in the ground, several days after the rain in this heat, which prevents me from totally placing the blame on dryness.

This is where it may come in handy from having rabbits and goats. Both of these manures can be directly used without any kind of fermentation or waiting period. Of course, it's not "standardized" like a lab product, but, generally, the rabbit will provide more nitrogen and phosphorus, the goat more potassium. Whereas I've tried to focus on "fire and forget" types of plants, the relatively high rate of mortality is making me water more than I anticipated, and now slinging some rabbit pellets is starting to sound like a good idea.

I mean...things do grow around here with no help whatsoever, we've found huge amounts of Mullein along the roadsides, it's the "common" yellow one brought by settlers; I think the Navajo and other peoples out west have native varieties in other colors. That plant produces over 100,000 seeds which are viable for 35 years. Whereas most of the Fenugreek withered to nothingness, except for ones I did in containers, and then something devoured one patch of those, leaving only four just a few feet away. So I'm just going to keep the last one in a big container--it was one that came up as a "helmet head", and when I pulled on the seed whole, the cotyledons came right off. It was just a stem. It took a few weeks, but it actually came right back to life.

Although it's not in the main "frying pan", it looks like Rue is unaffected by any of the conditions. Today was 100 degrees with a heat index of 115. So I'd say that anything that has survived to this point is solid and reliable for some fairly serious abuse. Personally, whenever I step outside in the afternoon, I get light headed and sick within about two minutes.

[shaberon]

I think what I am witnessing is a case of sunburn vs. lack of nitrogen.

For example, the rest of the licorice seedlings, I did not dare plant those. We got a week of that high pressure, dryer air from the midwest. So temps were cooler, but the sunshine was brighter. The licorice, which I believe has enough nitrogen, being in potting soil, started to turn yellow; pulled it back into more shade, and it's green again now.

Similar with year-old oregano and ashwagandha plants, that I have in a mix with native "sand". They have never grown, they build up a bit, yellow out and die back. Put them in more shade, and more green now. Ashwagandhas I grew from seed in the past few months, look much better than year-old plants, since they never lacked nitrogen.

The best I can do is run around with some fish emulsion as an "emergency response" to things that are burning up, but, without an expensive soil test, the general word from the county is that you're not going to grow anything without some nitrogen and lime. Although it doesn't *look* true since many things grow just fine, it certainly turns out to be true when you try to introduce something from somewhere else.

So I don't believe it's heat vs. water, but I do believe it's UV vs. nitrogen. If it was UV *or* nitrogen, you can tell the difference, because a sunburned leaf will still be pretty securely attached; a leaf that the plant is killing due to a lack of nitrogen, will just about fall off from touching it. But when you have both, well, you have both.

And, I have realized a very similar problem coming from the use of flimsy plastic containers, whether they are little cups for seedlings, or something bigger that comes from a nursery, these are all completely unfit for harboring any kind of plant at any age.

Even the chamomile, it's really just bolting, putting out teeny flowers and withering. I think one of them has already died from the core. And, as I guessed in a previous post...the second wave of Madder took a few weeks to get through its "allotment" of nitrogen, and now those are falling apart like the previous ones.

Note to self: you cannot even grow "fire and forget" plants without soil amendments. Most people whose yards are not made of dust can expect better results with less effort.

[shaberon]

I can't take this too personally; this seems to be a global phenomenon.

In broad terms, over the course of my lifetime, both the sun itself has gotten brighter and the ozone thinner, so most of us are receiving levels of uv that have not been around for centuries. Lots of farmers and gardeners report reduced biomass and yield, excessive browning-yellowing, over approximately the last thirty to fifty years.

Recently, companies have started making sunscreen for plants. One such simple formula is 62.5% calcium carbonate suspended in water and glycerin. I doubt you'd make it very well by running eggshells through a coffee grinder, but I bet you could do it with some industrially micro-pulverized stuff. In any case, using it seems to make a huge difference.

I'm pretty sure it's *mostly* sunburn I'm witnessing, as the majority of yellow leaves are still fairly well attached. Fortunately some clouds and moisture are about to show up, but, for future reference, this is not the friendly golden sun we grew up with. It's a platinum screamer extra harsh to vegetation, so if you are seeking to raise things outdoors and see this happening, looks like sunscreen is a must.

[BlueMoon]

I enjoyed reading this thread. The wonderful picture of Salvia reminded me of my own plant which I still remember, as if it was yesterday that it withered ...
Out of two cuttings, one of them survived, after shedding all its leaves twice before it finally adapted to the new conditions and started growing normally. After 2 years, she just didn't do well, I suppose there was too much water in the soil. A very sensitive plant.

I have a nice garden with lots of herbs such as sage, thyme, marjory, mint, melissa, oregano. After I worked on improving the soil of my garden before this season started, all of my plants are growing nicely without any special attention - and the weeds like it as well, which is slowly becoming a problem and calling for my attention.

Each and every plant prefers a different type of soil, climate, amounts of water, nutrients, minerals, etc. Plants with specific needs (the ones that can't survive outside on their own, depending on where you live) should be grown in pots, that way you have more control over everything. Many seedlings also require special attention and so it is better to have them sprout in some containers and keep them there until they grow big enough to be outside - but don't "baby-sit" them too much, and before you transplant them, try to adapt them to new conditions by slowly exposing them to the conditions outside - full sun, for example.

But for all of the plants that will be growing outside, the most important thing one can do is to improve the soil. Stop throwing food waste in the trash can and rather make yourself some compost. Wonderful addition to your soil (if you're not putting **** food in the compost, that is). Coffee grounds add nitrogen, eggshells for calcium, banana peels for phosphorus, ashes for potassium. And lots of green stuff, like weeds and other plant waste. It will also attract worms which are beneficial to your soil, but the compost can also attract some other animals, like rats for example, if you're not careful (they're looking for food, such as potatoes). Just don't let them in, that's all.

To further improve the soil: you have to have a balanced soil. Not too much sand, not too much clay. Absorb enough water, but not too much. Read some useful things about soil here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil#Physical_properties_of_soils).

Do not add too much chemical fertilizers. Try to find natural fertilizers instead. The plants also need different amount of nutrients in different stages of growth.

The plants also adapt to the environment - slowly. They acclimatize. If you want to have any impact on this and benefit from this, make your own seeds. Select the seeds from the plant that was the healthiest/biggest/resistant to drought/had the best tasting fruit, plant them for the next year, and repeat the process. Genetic modification of the plants is here only because we have eliminated most of the plant species that give us food. Biodiversity is very important and through selecting the seeds and mixing different plant species we can achieve the same results as with genetic modifying - no, what am I saying? We can achieve better results, with no risks and guessing if this new plant is good for human consumption or not.

And, since we're talking about Druidic and wiccan gardening, I'm sure it would only be right to mention the effect of the Moon on the plants. If you don't know about Maria Thun (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9146710/Maria-Thun.html) yet, check out what she was doing. The various calendars which supposedly use Maria Thun's findings on the internet differ from each other. So the best thing you can do is to research the correlation between moon phases (also moon signs, position of the planets) on the plants on your own. The most simple rule is to sow the seeds when the moon is waxing (not at new moon though). When the moon is full, the juices of the plant are above the ground, so that time is useful for harvesting the above-ground parts of the plant - such as leaves and flowers. When the moon is waning, the juices slowly go into the roots. This is also the best time for transplanting, as the plants are focusing their attention on the roots.

I hope any of you can find some new and useful information in my post. Take care :raining: :flower:

[shaberon]

Nice post Blue Moon, +1 for "melissa", i. e. lemon balm.

Yesterday I saw a green Chinese mantis, which had developed the yellow and brown of dying leaves. Don't think I've ever seen one like that before.

And on that note, I'm 90% sure that the sun is the true culprit of the high mortality rate I've faced. From looking around here and the neighborhood in general, well, some, mostly larger things, are unaffected...however, the tendency seems to be, that most or many plants simply de-leaf in July/August, and start over now. If the plant is small, it stands little chance of surviving the onslaught.

So after the struggle, my survivors are starting to look normal and full. All I added was some dolomite lime. I did start compost for next year.

As one example, the one year old lemon balms, a sun-loving mint that will take over your garden...they all withered into nothing. Now, a few of them that are mostly shaded, have started some baby leaves. Definitely a container plant for around here.

No licorice survived the beating, but in that same spot of maximum sunlight, hyssop, calendula, yarrow, and butterfly weed are doing fine and actually look like the real thing.

Next I'm going to try to make a properly amended patch for the remaining licorice and regular garden stuff. Again, the tiller "may" be fixed for this, which would be a lot more useful than just a hoe leaving all those chunks of grass to reassert themselves. I think I am done using a spade to slice out grass by the roots, you wind up with a hundred pounds of stuff from digging two square feet, and I'm out of space to dump huge mounds of topsoil.

Also, I've discovered that for an emergency dose of calcium, you are well off to foliar feed with about a 10% milk solution. Skim milk works best, as higher fat doesn't mist very well. It won't fix blossom end rot on tomatoes, because it is "non-mobile"; which means, the plant can distribute calcium gained from its roots, but as a foliar, it can only be used where it makes contact. As a top dressing, lime seems to take some three weeks to work its way in to be useful. Pre-mixed or amended is definitely best; of course, I haven't done much of this by way of plans, more like last minute rash opportunities. So if you don't have the money or time to basically plunge your whole life into growing, some milk may come in handy, if you see light brown spots developing darker edges, stems going weak and droopy, that's probably from a lack of calcium.

[shaberon]

As almost anyone who lives in the U. S. knows, around new year, we got blanketed with two weeks of Greenland. That was very unusual for the south. Here, it gets as cold as up north, but usually only for about three days. It was warmer in Alaska. It was the deepest freeze I can remember, and pretty much expected most of the plants to go poof.

Here's what seems to have frozen to death: nothing. Maybe calendula. Those are either annuals or can't take freezing.

I thought nature's trick was that foliage drops, but roots live, because a few inches underground, they're not frozen. Obviously that doesn't apply to containers. Two weeks of sub-freezing and below twenty turn them into ice cubes. I would expect that to be fatal. There were some anise hyssop and licorice plants I thought were already dead that I just left out there. Some of them were just in plastic cups. Multiples of each are leafing out now. That's simply mind blowing. Other container plants that survived outside with no maintenance include strawberries, yarrow, and valerian.

Yarrow and valerian also survived in ground, as did Hyssop, St. John's Wort, Primrose, Lemon Balm, Belladonna, Parsley, Lavender, and Rue, which did not even lose its tops. I've never succeeded with much, so it's kind of rewarding to have some survivors popping up in February, which is apparently the beginning of summer.

Looks like wormwood can be added to the survivors; pretty good for something that received maximum neglect.

[shaberon]

Hrm. A few Madder and Astragalus are trying to come back. I see a few Butterfly Weeds, which I thought were killed by fungus. I think some Calendula either lived or re-seeded, hard to tell as they are not very distinct when young. And, I think, even a couple of German Chamomile.

I believe that makes a few representatives of *everything* I tried to start, and some of them are even flourishing. It's like a handshake or hug with the Earth, very refreshing.

The one Primrose has sent out multiple pups, one of which went under or through some Parsley about ten feet away from the parent. Those things are serious business! It did not spread towards the shade at all, it moved toward the light, same as the original plant which was six feet across, but folded in half for that reason.

[shaberon]

I see a few new volunteers in one of the "slow" planter boxes from last year. They were in the basement and then outside and most likely caught a freezing cycle and now are sprouting multiples. What am I talking about? Not sure. I believe it is the schisandra, called wu-wei or "five flavor" fruit, a type of Chinese magnolia. Has full, rounded cotyledons; one of the stems may be turning reddish and sending out a vine tip. So I think that's what it is. One of the most difficult seeds to sprout; the Chinese dip them in sulfuric acid. No results for an entire year, and now seems to be about six of them.

If so, then I would have to conclude the boxes of Aconite and Gentian were variously spilled and otherwise messed up by creatures, so I can't report much on them. Schisandra is one of those rare things in herbal medicine that doesn't require any processing, you just eat the berries, which are still probably a year away. Anyway, it does germinate, just in a very unusual way that takes quite a long time, and freezing may be a requirement.