Viewing comments posted by Sharon

Mullein has been used for many things throughout history. The stem, stripped of leaves and flowers and dipped in tallow, was used as a torch, and parts of it have been used medicinally. There are large concentrations of mucilage in mullein, making it a substance that soothes mucus membranes. It continues to be used by some herbalists in the treatment of some respiratory ailments. Tea from the leaf or flowers also has been used as an anti-inflammatory.

Lamb's ear has been used medicinally for centuries. It isn't edible, but it is medicinal. During the Civil War its soft absorbent leaves were used as bandages to bind war wounds. It has astringent properties and slows blood flow. Additionally it has mild antibacterial properties and helps prevent infection. It's also helpful in easing pain and swelling of a bee sting.

Beautiful outdoors in spring, summer and fall in zone 7, the Boston fern is easy enough to overwinter inside. It's best to cut back to within a few inches to prevent small dead leaves from littering indoors. After cutting back, new fronds will soon appear and if kept fairly humid, won't shed the new leaves. It will be gorgeous again by spring.

This is a most amazing plant. I planted it in a pot during the worst of our summer drought. It grew in spite of the weather and has bloomed non stop since August. Until we have frost, my guess is that it will continue to bloom. Beautiful.

It's October, the time of year when this plant becomes colorful and showy. Any other time, it simply appears to be an ordinary weed, which is the way most people treat it. It is toxic, all parts of it, but I've never seen a cat or dog try to nibble it. Its color is striking, low to the ground shades of red and pink, changing slowly to burgundy. A pretty plant.

This is a happy little plant in the hot, dry summers of zone 7 in Kentucky. In direct sun they are happier in pots where they are sure to get watered. They are a great addition to community pots where their little delicate jeweled stems rise to the top and show above others.

Chickweed is an excellent food source. It's rich in vitamins B, C and D. It can be snipped in small pieces and sprinkled on a salad or it can be pureed into a paste and used in soups, sauces or as pesto as well. It can be liquefied in a blender or juicer. Recipes are just a Google away.

It's also a soothing salve or lotion to use medicinally on bug bites or eczema, or as a poultice. It reduces itching and inflammation. I like keeping pots of it; it's much easier to have it ready for the kitchen without grasses mixed in with it.

Edible Uses:
Young leaves of henbit are considered to be edible raw or cooked. They have been used as additions to salads or as a potherb.

Medicinal Uses:
The plant is antirheumatic, excitant, fever-reducing, laxative, stimulant, and has agents that induce sweating.

It is widely naturalised in eastern North America and elsewhere, where it is often considered to be an invasive weed. However, its edibility and readiness to grow in many climes often mean it is permitted to grow when other 'weeds' are not.

Lavender is a medicinal plant. Its aroma is not only soothing, but its flowers contain tannin which is its main medicinal property. Lavender flowers have an antiseptic and calming activity; they also produce nerve stimulating effects. They are used in cases of digestive disorder, in hypertension, cardiac affections, headaches, insomnia, melancholia, dizziness or bronchial asthma. All of this can be accomplished by making a tea of the blooms either fresh or dried. In addition, they are beautiful plants.

This is a plant that has both positive and negative characteristics. Its sap is highly toxic and is a skin and eye irritant. It should be handled with gloved hands and with care. It is also quite invasive, spreading quickly with its fast growing runners.

On the other hand it does repel most wildlife and burrowing critters and it is a beautiful little 12 inch tall plant with its cluster of lime green blooms.

We called it snakeroot where I grew up in the mountains of SE Kentucky. It was considered by older folks to be a medicinal plant.

It's a plant of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), native to eastern North America from south of Ontario to central Georgia, and west to Missouri and Arkansas. Black cohosh grows in a variety of woodland habitats. The roots and rhizomes of black cohosh have long been used medicinally by Native Americans. Extracts from these plant materials are thought to possess analgesic, sedative, and anti-inflammatory properties. Today, black cohosh preparations (tinctures or tablets of dried materials, and often the dried roots themselves,) are used mainly to treat symptoms associated with menopause, though early on it was used for a variety of other ailments.

This little plant grows wild in yards in western Kentucky. A lot of people consider them invasive. I like them because they are a sure sign of spring. I also like them because they often will grow as ground cover where nothing else grows.

Viola odorata is a species of the genus Viola and is native to Europe and Asia. In India it is commonly used as a remedy to cure sore throat and tonsilitis. Some of our Native Americans used it in the same way medicinally. The sweet scent of this flower has proved popular to many generations particularly in the late Victorian period, and has consequently been used in the production of many cosmetic fragrances and perfumes. The French are also known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets. In the United States, this French violet syrup is used to make violet scones and marshmallows. (Wiki)

Datura inoxia is an annual shrubby plant that typically reaches a height of about 3 feet with a matching width. Its stems and leaves are covered with short soft grayish hairs, giving the whole plant a grayish appearance. It has elliptic edged leaves. All parts of the plant emit a foul odor similar to rancid peanut butter when crushed or bruised, although most people find the fragrance of the flowers to be quite pleasant when they bloom at night.

The flowers are white, trumpet-shaped, maybe about 3 or 4 inches long. They first grow upright, and later incline downward. It flowers from early summer until late fall. The blooms glow at night and last only until late morning.

The fruit is an egg-shaped spiny capsule. It splits open when ripe, dispersing the seeds. Another means of dispersal is by the fruit spines getting caught in the fur of animals, who then carry the fruit far from the mother plant. The seeds have hibernation capabilities, and can last for years in the soil. I've had several to come up in odd places in my yard, after having a mother plant in a pot years ago.

All parts of this plant are toxic.

I've had this tree for about 30 years, I grew it from a seedling. It's one of my favorite trees, mostly because of it unusual and attractive bark. While its native habitat is wet ground, it will grow on higher land, and its bark is quite distinctive, making it a favored ornamental tree for landscape use. It is not planted in wet ground here in my yard, in fact there have been a few summers when we were in drought conditions, but it is a survivor and no worse for the wear. It isn't a very large tree, compared to an oak or a maple, but it is a good shade tree for smaller yards.

The bark peels as the tree grows and occasionally I use those pieces that come off the tree in table centerpieces or various other craft projects.

Native Americans used the boiled sap as a sweetener similar to maple syrup, and the inner bark as a survival food. It is usually too contorted and knotty to be of value as a timber tree.

This vine surprised me. Here in the heat of western Kentucky most vines die out by the end of July, but not the Purple Hyacinth Bean vine. It seemed to grow and bloom forever, long after the leaves had fallen from the deciduous trees. It's a great vine for covering fences or a trellis quickly, producing purple flowers and those striking electric-purple colored seed pods. Lablab bean is a good choice for a quick screen, though. It grows so fast, has beautiful, fragrant flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and it even produces edible leaves, flowers, and roots. Dry seeds are poisonous due to high concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides. I particularly like it because of the numbers of hummingbirds it attracts.

Joker is a very short compact plant, short but sturdy stalk and small compact blooms. Its color is a mix of red and white. From a distance it isn't as showy as the larger brighter plants, but it is a lovely Amaryllis. Like the others, it's easy to care for. I have it blooming for Christmas and to continue the cycle, this is what I do.

After blooming, I always remove the bloom stalks but allow the foliage to continue growing. Food for the bulb is stored in the foliage. By summer, the foliage will begin to die back and that's when it begins its dormant stage. It works best if I store the bulb in a cool dark place until late November, then repot it, begin watering, and soon new growth appears.

Candy Floss has a strong tall stalk and a large beautiful bloom. It's one of the brightest pinks I've seen, almost hot pink. The stalk and buds appeared long before the foliage. It is a bloom that makes a statement all on its own.

Edited to add: I planted the bulb on November 21, keeping it inside out of cold weather. It's first bloom stalk appeared the week before Christmas, with 4 buds. The blooms on that stalk were beautiful for a week, then the second stalk appeared. It also had 4 large blooms and they are still blooming today, January 9. It is a striking plant and gets a small amount of water only once a week.

This is a beautiful plant, tall and with large blooms. Its color is a soft white with no hint of any other color in it. In a grouping of Amaryllis, this one would be in the back because it is by far the tallest of any I've had. The bloom stalk appears first, and now after having produced numerous blooms on two stalks, the foliage is finally appearing.

The cornflower, Bachelor's Button, is a native of Europe and widely cultivated in North America, so much so that it has escaped from gardens and naturalized. It is an annual herb, with an erect wiry stem that branches and can grow to about 2 feet tall. At the ends of the branches grow single brilliant blue flowerheads. It has long grayish green leaves that are lance shaped and downy like the stem.

At one time it was considered a medicinal plant, and it does have the qualities of an astringent.

Aloe grows well outside for those who live in consistently dry, sunny and sandy soil conditions. For the rest of us it is a houseplant. For centuries it has been used as a medicinal plant. The fresh juice squeezed from a broken aloe leaf provides instant relief for minor burns and wounds. You can find aloe in many lotions, creams, salves, shampoos and various other pharmaceutical products. It is also used in the medical world as a salve for the treatment of radiation burns.