What's blooming today?
A lovely Clematis Jackmani in the rain.
My oldest clematis vine is the Jackmani. Each year it grows in two directions along our wooden fence and reaches 15 to 20 feet each way. It’s huge. I drape the vine across the top of the fence as it gets fuller and heavier and when it blooms there’s a rich thick carpet of deep purple flowers.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
This weeks theme is Rows
When you take a close look at many flowers or leaves you can see that there’s often a pattern to how it’s been formed.
I mean, take this Liatris stalk. When it’s in full bloom it just looks like a puffy floral stalk in the garden, but when you look a little more closely you’ll notice that the stalk is composed of many flower buds in tight rows. Each stalk must have at least 50 flowers on it.
I can’t remember if this Liatris was about to bloom or if it’s blooms were fading when I took this photo, I believe it was finishing up it’s bloom.
I have several clumps of Liatris throughout the garden. I plant five to 15 bulbs or corms (I can’t remember which they are at the moment) in a circular pattern so that when the individual plants grow they form a natural looking clump.
I’ve only been growing Liatris (Gay Feather) for a few years and I haven’t yet noticed if any of the bulbs have naturalized to produce more plants. Does anyone know if they naturalize?
I’ve always found it fascinating how most herbs and a number of plants have been used throughout history to cure what ails us.
I actually have a number of books about herbs and their medicinal uses. I should dig them out and write about some of the more commonly found herbs from time to time. As I said, I’ve always had an interest in this, just as when I find that plants that we’ve always thought of as being ornamental turn out to actually be edible too.
Well, until I begin writing some articles about herbs you might be interested in visiting a site that I found that’s called Natural Herbalism. This site has articles that discuss various herbs, their uses, chemistry, the history of herbs, how to grow them, how to prepare them, herbal recipes and herbs that have specific uses for men, women, children and even pets.
It’s quite an informative site.
Take for example the article about Bayberry. Most of us think of Bayberry as an ornamental shrub, but it actually has medicinal properties. Did you know that you can make a tea by boiling the bark and root and that when the tea is drank it has stimulant properties that are effective against diarrhea. The root bark also contains a natural antibiotic and can be used to treat skin wounds or even used in a mouthwash to freshen breath and fight gum disorders such as gingivitis.
Many of us grow celery in the garden, and if we don’t grow it we often buy it in the grocery store. Did you know that celery is a diuretic and that oils from the seeds were thought in the past to relive the pain of arthritis and rheumatism. Celery has also been used to treat anxiety disorders and insomnia.
If you are curious about the medicinal uses of some of the other plants that you might grow in your garden visit Natural Herbalism and look them up. I found the articles quite interesting.