Do you know this herb?
I knew it only from books on herbs until I purchased a start and began growing it three years ago.
A lovely plant, it is drought tolerant, shrugs off the full summer sun, is never touched by deer, blooms with lovely purpley pink flowers, and is a powerful tool for healing.
This herb is very useful in an organic garden. Perennial, it develops extremely deep roots. The roots “mine” the minerals of the soil well below the depth most roots will penetrate. These minerals are deposited in the leaves. The leaves may be cut, on established plants, several times each season and used for healing or to improve the soil.
Left to steep in rainwater for a few weeks, the leaves make a nutritious organic fertilizer tea. Added to compost, they activate the microbial action and speed the “cooking” of the compost. Used as mulch directly on the soil, they feed the plant they are mulching as they decompose.
Common names for this plant include “bone knit” and “bruise heal.”
The powerful healing compounds speed cell repair and healing when applied topically. This herb is a frequent ingredient in herbal healing ointments, and may be simply wrapped around an injured area of the body to heal a cut, bruise, burn, or other injury.
Although there are medicinal uses which include ingesting parts of this plant, these are somewhat controversial and must be prepared by a qualified herbal healer. As with many medicines, a little helps, a lot can do significant harm. Please consult a good herbal medical practitioner or manual before using this herb medicinally.
Also, wear gloves when harvesting this herb as the hairs on leaves and stems can irritate the skin.
Plant in spring in a well prepared bed with moist soil. Ammend the soil with plenty of nitrogen, including manure, to keep this herb happy. Don’t harvest until the second year.
This plant spreads with underground rhizomes, and will take a large area of the garden when allowed. I dug up many divisions this year to establish it in new ares. It is a hardy herb, and needs little care after the first year.
Do you know this herb?
It is Comfrey, Symphytum officinale. Please remember this is a medicinal herb, but is never intended to be eaten. It can be poisonous if eaten in quantity. Which is one reason I’m spreading it around the sunny areas of our garden.
This is another plant that deer, rabbits, voles, and other hungry creatures will not touch.
Bees love it, and it attracts butterflies and beautiful moths. It is an entertaining plant to grow where you can watch the constant traffic to its flowers.
This is an herb generally only available from herbal nurseries. It can be difficult to find a start to establish in your garden. The more popular cultivars aren’t available as seed because they are hybrids, and may only be produced from divisions.
But it is an herb well worth growing for its beauty, hardiness, and its healing properties. If you grow herbs, please get to know the beautiful Comfrey plant.
All Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014
Forest Garden 