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Herbs O - Y


Painted Sage (salvia horminum) 
   

A.  CG.  Very attractive herb with almost tie-dyed flowers - in fact the upper leaves are the "flowers".  Similar properties to Clary.  Antiseptic.  Cool, moist, well-drained spot.  Good butterfly, bee and bird plant. 



Pennyroyal (mentha pulegium) 
   

HP.  CG.  Creeping evergreen withpurple flowers.  Strong peppermint smell.  Used by cottagers for making tea for colds.  Insect repellent.  Place Pennyroyal in your shoe to prevent weariness when travelling.  Sun.  Dry soil.

 

CAUTION - Very toxic in large amounts.  Will induce abortion if taken when pregnant, even as a tea.  Oil is extremely toxic.

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Purple Coneflower (echinacea purpurea) 
   

HP.  Large striking mauve petals pulled down from a conical brown centre.  Ht 4 ft (1.2 m).  Flowers through summer and autumn.  Valuable herb plant, used for many years by native American Indians who recognised its useful properties in stimulating the immune system and promoting healing.  Plant also has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.  Goldfinches love the seeds and the flowers make good cut flowers.  Full sun.

(only 1 x 9 cm pot left)

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Rosemary (rosemarinus officinalis) 
   
P.  Evergreen shrub with pretty blue flowers.  Makes a good hedge.  Many medicinal and culinary uses.  Plant near veggies to deter cabbage white butterflies and slugs.  Sun.

Salsify (tragopogon porrifolius) 
   
P.  Wf.  Tall thin leaves and flat heads of pink or mauve flowers from May to August.  Roots can be eaten as an appetite stimulant.  Sun.

Sea Samphire (crithmum maritimum) 
   

P.  WF.  Salty leaves and small white or greenish-yellow flowers June to August.  Can be eaten. Benefits from salty soil.  Sun.

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Sheep's Bit (jasione montana) 
   
HP.  Small blue Scabious-like flowers from May to August.  Ht to 12 ins (30 cm).  Infusion of flowers for asthma and fever.

Spearmint (mentha spicata) 
   

P.  Ht 2 ft (60 cm).  Used in sweets and toothpaste.  bushy herb with tapering spikes of tiny lilac flowers in mid-summer.  Good for indigestion, hicups and wind.

(Only 2 x 3L pots left)

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Sweet Cicely (myrrhis odorata) 
   

HP.  WF and H.  ht 3 ft (90 cm).  Whole plant has medicxinal and culinary uses.  Aniseed smell and taste.  Good bee plant.  Seeds have been used to polish oak floors.  Decoction of the plant used to be used to rub dog's nostrils to increase their sense of smell!  Said to be an aphrodisiac.  Umbels of small white flowers in June.

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Toadflax (linaria vulgaris) 
   

HP.  Wf.  Ht 1 - 3 ft (30 - 92 cm).  Food plant of the Toadflax Pug moth and the Marbled Clover moth.  Bumblebee plant.  Can be used to treat ulcers, sores, piles and inflamed eyes.  Has been successfully used in treating some forms of skin cancer.  Flowers June to October.  Sun.

(only 2 x 7 cm pots left)



Vervain (verbena officinalis) 
   

HP.  Wf.  Ht 1 - 2 ft (30 - 60 cm).  Flowers July to October.  An infusion helps mouth ulcers and bad breath.  Vervain was always gathered with the sign of the Cross because it was said to have cured Christ's wounds.  Butterfly plant.

CAUTION - do not use if pregnant

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Wild Honeysuckle (lonicera perclymenum) 
   

WF.  P.  deciduous climber.  Scented yellow flowrs tinged reddish-orange.  Leaves and flower buds contain salicylic acid, an ingredient of Aspirin.  Used for asthma and nervous headache.

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Woad (isatis tinctoria) 
   

B.  Ancient dye plant, yielding a blue dye.  Yellow flowers.Also used in the treatment of mumps, encephalitis, flu, sore throat and abscesses. 

CAUTION _ POISONOUS PLANT IF USED INCORRECTLY.

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