As the days lengthen and the soil warms, change becomes noticeable in the Medicinal Herb Garden. Let’s take a virtual walk through and see for ourselves. In the bog at Cascara Circle on the western edge of the garden, the skunk cabbage is opening.
Lysichiton americanus (skunk cabbage)
most western site of new fragmented fruit forest
Lo and behold, the fruit forest from across the street magically migrated up to the slowly disappearing lawn, west of Cascara Circle. The log-bordered path will allow people to harvest fruit without stepping all over the plants.
In section B, to the east, yellow gentian has suddenly emerged. At this stage, it reminds me of our native Veratrum viride (false hellebore) when it first comes up in the mountains.
Gentiana lutea (yellow gentian)
This goji bush is indomitable. It gets powdery mildew every spring and last year I had to cut it back hard in May, yet it rebounded and produced an abundance of fruit in the fall. The berries are a sweet treat all winter. Everyone should have a goji bush.
Lycium chinense (goji/gou qi zi(fruit), di gu pi(root bark))
If you’ve not seen a plant with black nectar…you have now! This honey flower from South Africa(yes, it is hardy here) has black nectar that is sweet and plentiful. And the foliage, when crushed, smells like peanut butter. It has traditionally been used for various skin conditions among other things.
Melianthus comosus (honey flower) Why don’t you have one?
Mayapple is a woodland plant from the eastern half of Canada and the USA. The ripe fruit is edible and tastes(to me) like a cross between banana and pineapple, a bit like paw paw. It just popped up in the garden last week.
Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple)
It’s been so rainy lately, the rainiest March on record, so they say. But it’s warm and sunny today after a frost last night. Let’s make a final stop at the western American drylands. Though they are not the giants of eastern Washington, these big sagebrush plants have held their own in our wet winters. The sotol and the soaptree yucca appear to be indestructible. My kind of plants!
Yucca elata (soaptree yucca), Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush), Dasylirion wheeleri (common sotol)
spring frost this morning
today is almost April
the weather just that
See you in the garden.