There is a lot to be learned from plant names. Most familiar garden plants have more than one, usually a formal name and a common name. Sometimes there are several common names, which can change from region to region and century to century.
Take cheerful, accommodating calendula, the 2008 “Herb of the Year”. We call the herb by its formal first name, Calendula, given to it by the Romans who observed that it bloomed in every month of the year. Calendula’s formal second name “officinalis”, tells us it was an important medicinal herb. Our great-grandmothers called the sunny, self-seeding garden favorite pot marigold, because the whole plant was used in cooking. Their grandmothers’ grandmothers knew it’s orange-gold flowers as Mary Goldes, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In even earlier times, calendulas were “flowers of the sun” or sunflowers, because each day their flowers opened with the sun, turned to follow it’s path across the sky and closed at dusk. That’s a lot of human history woven into the name of an ordinary garden annual.
Easy to grow and happy in sun or light shade, calendula’s daisy-like flowers are a golden delight dancing over the edges of pots, boxes and borders. As the herb-of-the-year, calendula is featured in many gardening publications and showcased at most garden centers. The latest ruffled hybrid colors range from pale yellow through deep orange to light pink with a maroon back. Earlier varieties have fewer petals and yellow or orange flowers.
Plants grow quickly from seed sown in the garden as soon as the ground can be worked. Sprinkle seed on a patch of prepared soil, pat it firmly into place and cover with a quarter inch or less of dirt. Started seedlings can be found almost everywhere plants are sold. Calendulas will bloom from May to October if faded flowers are kept pinched off.
Calendula is a very useful herb. Scatter the mild-tasting, slightly sweet petals on lightly steamed vegetables, grilled fish and salads. Use whole flowers to garnish serving platters or float in summer punches. Antibacterial, anti fungal and antiseptic, calendula petals are used in healing salves and ointments by medicinal herbalists. And, to top everything off, the cut flowers are lovely in summer flower arrangements. Just remember, the flowers will go to sleep at night. The kids will love that!
THIS SEASON IN THE GARDEN:
* If you have been able to restrain yourself, don’t begin buying basils until about May15, If it is above 50 degrees at night, plant them in the sunniest places you have. Basils like the heat. If the nights are still chilly, delay the planting until the end of the month. Give the pots a warm, sunny spot during the day, then bring them indoors at night.
* Indulge in basil mania! It’s cheap and legal but may be addictive! Buy four or five varieties you haven’t tried before and have fun all summer experimenting with recipes. Plant basils in pots and window boxes as well as the garden. They will add color, texture and fragrance to any collection of sun-loving plants.
*For a good supply of sweet basil during tomato season, sow a packet of seed when you plant the tomatoes. Basil and tomatoes make good garden companions, so plant them close to each other.
* Add as many fragrant plants to the garden as you can. Look for fragrant vines, shrubs, perennials and annuals as you make your plant-buying rounds. There is nothing as enchanting and relaxing as an unexpected drift of fragrance as you hurry off to work in the morning or sit in the garden in the evening.
* If your garden club is having a plant sale, fill a 12” pot with a collection of basils or calendulas. Type up an information sheet with variety names, cultural information and suggested uses, then raffle the whole thing off. Could be a good fund raiser!
* Check untended areas of your property for garlic-mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a delicious but invasive, escaped herb. A biennial with light-green, almost heart shaped leaves, garlic-mustard thrives in sun or shade. Because the seed is so vigorous and plentiful, it usually grows in colonies.
One way to control the march of garlic mustard is to eat the tender new leaves in salads or as sautéed greens. When the plants begin to flower in May and June, pull them out and compost them. If seed has already formed when you find a colony, don’t try to compost them. Either pull out the plants and burn them or put them the trash.
* Trying to garden without toxins? Try this tip from the Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Carol Killian: to repel insect pests on beans, spray the plants with two drops of essential oil of thyme mixed into a quart of water.
ON THE HERBAL CALENDAR
MAY 1 – May Day – The first day of May was the beginning of summer on the ancient Celtic calendar, a day of joyful celebration. The growing season had returned! The sun was warm, flowers blooming and all was well with the world. It was the day the nature fairies woke from their winter’s sleep and went back to work in the gardens, fields and forests.
Children used to leave little cakes in the garden on May Eve for the returning fairies to decorate as they danced by. Nibble on heartsease (Viola tricolor) and thyme today, perhaps in a salad, and sip a little May wine.
JUNE 20-24 – Midsummer, St. John’s Day and the Solstice – Midsummer‘s Day, the summer solstice–the longest day and shortest night of the year. The sun has reached the top of the sky, pauses for a bit and then begins its slow journey back to the dark winter solstice. Our European ancestors ate, sang and danced all day and night. Bonfires burned on hilltops and spirits were on the loose. Beware we are told, do not step on a stem of Saint John’s Wort tonight. It could turn into a fairy horse and carry you away!
If you want to revel a bit, grill a whole haddock stuffed with fresh fennel or dill over a charcoal fire. Serve it with melted garlic butter, new lettuce tossed with edible flowers and tender herbs, crusty bread and red wine. Happy Midsummer!
copyright 2008 Betsy Williams