Unlike many recent years, we had a cool, rainy May and a cool, rainy June in Seattle. A bit more warmth would be nice but spring and early summer is when we really need rain, so no complaints here. With its warm, dry summers, our Mediterranean climate is delightful in many ways though it can be a most consternating irritant for gardeners, especially those doing any spring transplanting. But of course, for gardeners it’s always something. If it’s not the weather it’s bacterial, viral or fungal pathogens or herbivores. Aphids haven’t been bad so far this year and rabbit fences are more or less in place, but a deer has been spotted on campus once again. Last time a deer visited the herb garden it ate a lot of the chokeberry, prune plum and blueberry foliage. It’s so quiet on campus this summer that it must be a great place for a deer…to rest and quickly move on…without eating.
As usual, with spring came many new plants to the garden. Some are profiled below and others will need time to establish themselves before going public.
In section B, alpine lovage (Ligusticum mutellina), a perennial from the mountains of central and southern Europe. It’s more compact but looks somewhat similar to our North American medicinal plant, osha (Ligusticum porteri).
A few yards away is one of several Himalayan plants featured in the garden this year. It is in the Rutaceae, it looks like rue (Ruta sp.) and one of its common names is false rue. It is matsukaze-so (Boenninghausenia albiflora, var. japonica) and it is used for its antibacterial properties. Several varieties exist and the species is widespread from the Himalayas to Japan, where this variety is native.
Masuri berry (Coriaria nepalensis) is another medicinal plant from the Himalayas. Two are along Stevens Way by the bus stops and one is in section B. They are the only members of their plant family, the Coriariaceae, in the garden.
In section E, also from the Himalayas, herb paris (Paris polyphylla, a donation from a fellow gardener. Thanks Neal!) It has many, many common names and many medicinal uses in that diverse region of the world. And look at that beautiful, hand-lettered sign. Penmanship is a lost art…lost on me anyway.
The shati, kapur kachri, cao guo yao, spiked ginger lily (Hedychium spicatum) goes by many more common names than I’ve listed. It’s a Himalayan native whose rhizomes are used medicinally in all of the healing traditions in the great span of cultures represented in the Himalayas and their drainages. The fruit are also eaten. These are subtropical plants. They did fine outside this past winter when temperatures reached about 25F, their supposed limit. Time will tell how they do if we get down to the teens. Hopefully they will flower this year.
But the world is a big place and the Himalayas are just part of it. What about Uzbekistan?
luo hua shu kui (Alcea nudiflora) is a hollyhock, native from Uzbekistan to western China and north to Russia. That’s the only common name I could find for it. What do they call it in Uzbekistan? Your guess is as good as mine. The flowers, leaves and sometimes roots of this and other hollyhocks species are used medicinally wherever they grow.
Jiao hao (Incarvillea sinensis var. przewalski) has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat pain, especially rheumatic pain. They are supposedly annuals or short-lived perennials. These are less than a foot tall. They’re from northern China.
Lei gong teng (Tripterygium regelii) from China, Korea and Japan is a shrubby vine or maybe a viny shrub, sometimes described as scandent (having a climbing habit), not unlike its American cousin bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) also in the Celastraceae plant family. It was badly damaged by rabbits last year but it grew right back with hardware cloth protection. Extracts from the plant are used to treat certain autoimmune conditions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867260/
Nearby is waterside astilbe, xi pan luo xin fu (Astilbe rivularis) from southern China through se Asia. It is used in ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of gastrointestinal conditions. These are still seedlings.
Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) flowering up a storm next to section B. The scent of the flowers is sweet. I couldn’t locate the source until I grabbed the step ladder and got up into the tree. It has many traditional medicinal uses throughout its native range from southeast Asia to northern Australia.
Closeup of Chinaberry flowers.
In the sun, a few yards away from the chinaberry tree grows some white sage (Salvia apiana), a plant sacred to the tribes of northwestern Mexico and southwestern USA. The parched and ground seeds have been used to make pinole. Those pale flowers… they resisted but I persisted and finally got an image…not a great image but good enough. The shape of the flowers looks difficult for smaller pollinators to access and studies have shown them to be ineffective pollinators. However, bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) are large enough to push the lower lip of the flower down to get to the nectar, triggering the stamens to swing downward, allowing the anthers to make contact with the bee, releasing some of their pollen. It’s actually pretty fascinating and is succinctly explained here:
https://www.cabi.org/ISC/abstract/20163257085
In section C, pipicha (Porophyllum linaria) from Mexico is used as a condiment, like cilantro and much like its cousin papalo (Porophyllum ruderale) in section A. This is its first season in the garden so I’m not sure how big it will get.
Achoccha (Cyclanthera brachybotrys), an annual vine from South America produces small fruit with soft spines. They can be eaten raw, cooked or pickled. Pictures of the fruit appear quite similar to some African cucumber species I’ve grown in the past at the Medicinal Herb Garden.
Beach peas (Lathyrus japonicus) growing in section A, not the beach. I’ve seen them growing on saltwater beaches here but they are also found along the shores of our Great Lakes. As circumboreal natives whose seeds can remain viable for years while floating in sea water, it’s not too surprising they have also been reported in the southern hemisphere, in Chile and Argentina. The seeds and young pods are edible.
With a hardware cloth barrier, the Virginia mallow (Sida hermaphrodita) is growing again. It’s nearly 8 feet tall in this photo. It is used as a high-protein fodder crop, a pollinator plant and as a source of bioenergy, due to its fast growth and high lignin content.
Rabbits have been unable to get to the sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and it has shot up to almost 4 feet. Hardware cloth is the answer to rabbits.
It made it through its first winter. Pistachios (Pistacia vera) are supposed to be hardy around here in zone 8, however, their native range is roughly from Syria to Afghanistan. Let’s say that puts their latitude at about 34-35˚ N . Our latitude is almost 48˚ N, so probably not ideal. But I planted them near the olives and pomegranates so they can all shiver together through winter.
Meadowsweet or Queen of the meadow (Filipendula ulmaria) is one of the many tall plants in the western border of section E. The flowers have a sweet almond/cherry scent, or something like that…hard to describe… go smell them if you want to find out. The whole plant has been used to treat all sorts of digestive conditions as well as symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and gout. But don’t forget to smell the flowers.
Speaking of flowers, some random lilies (Lilium martagon?) near Cascara Circle. They escaped the rabbits.
The various blueberry cultivars (Vaccinium spp.) have heavy fruit sets this year. The cool, rainy weather has been good for them. If you find the lilies you’re near the blueberries.
Plains prickly pear (Opuntia polyacantha) flower in clear detail. The xeriscape bed looks pretty sad in winter but it shines in July.
Deer turned the little fig tree into a twig tree. This is the Monday update photo. Hungry deer did quite a bit of selective pruning in three days.
Final photo is faunal photo. This raccoon (Procyon lotor) was ravenously eating something large and either furry or feathery. S/he had a good meal and wasn’t interested in sharing it. The alarmed crows were getting too close and so was I. As our eyes met s/he conveyed a simple and clear message, “One more step and I’ll chew your leg off.”
That’s the news. If the deer sticks around I’ll have another short post with pictures.
abundant spring rain
gift gratefully accepted
herb garden bounty
See you in the garden.