Common Names
Sweet Fennel, Wild Fennel, Copper Fennel
About This Plant
Bronze Fennel and Green Leaf Fennel, commonly known as Sweet Fennel, are the wild cousins of the more commonly known garden variety bulb Fennel known as Florence Fennel or Finocchio. They differ from Florence Fennel in several ways. While the bulb variety is typically grown as an annual and a “vegetable”, Bronze Fennel and Green Leaf Fennel are grown as perennials and are commonly referred to as “herbs” since they lack the enlarged, flattened stem bases that form the bulbous vegetable of Florence Fennel.
Wild Fennel is a hardy herbaceous perennial in USDA Zones 5-11. In the lower zones, it can be Read More
Common Names
Blue Chamomile, Ground Apple, Scented Mayweed, Whig Plant, Maythen, Manzanilla, Sweet False Chamomile, Hungarian Chamomile, Matricaria, Pinhead, Babuna
About This Plant
German Chamomile is a delicate-looking but surprisingly tough fast-growing, herbaceous annual from the Asteraceae family with feathery leaves and small Daisy-like flowers. It is an airy, bushy shrub that has a bit of a wildflower look to it and grows one to two feet high and up to a foot wide. The plants can be tall and spindly and sometimes fall over in the garden if not supported by surrounding plants. It can be short-lived in hot summers and is cold hardy to -20 degrees fahrenheit. It grows best Read More
Common Names
Smallage (the original wild plant), Celeriac
About This Plant
Celery is technically an herb, not a vegetable, belonging to the Apiaceae family with cousins of Coriander, Parsley, Fennel, and Carrots. It is a biennial, though normally grown as an annual. Its Latin name, “Apium” comes from the Celtic “apon”, meaning water, and “graviolens” meaning “strong smelling”. Celery has a reputation as a fickle plant to grow, but once you understand what exactly it needs to thrive, you’ll find the task much easier. Most would agree that garden-grown celery is better tasting than store-bought, and less chemically-laden.
Today, there are basically three varieties of Celery available: Green Celery or Smallage, whose aromatic Read More
Common Names
Greater Burdock, Gobo, Edible Burdock, Lappa, Beggar’s Buttons, Thorny Burr, Happy Major.
Niu Bang Zi (Traditional Chinese Medicine), Bardana, Love’s Leaves, Cockle Buttons, Thorny Burr, Burr Seed, Clotbur, Cocklebur, Grass Burdock, Stickers, Stick Tight, Burs, Burrseed, Cuckoo Button, Cloth Burr, Fox’s Clote, Hardock, Hareburr, Hurrburr, Turkey Burrseed, Turkey Burr, Personata, Bat Weed, Wooly Dock, Prosopium, Philanthropium
About This Plant
Burdock is an easy to grow plant in the Asteraceae family. Known for its Thistle-like flowers and rough, sticky burred fruits, despite being labeled a “noxious weed” in some states, it is an interesting vegetable and has a long history as a medicinal plant, offering deep, nutritive health to the body, especially Read More
aka Garden Angelica, Archangel, Wild Celery, Norwegian Angelica, Root of the Holy Ghost
About This Plant
Angelica archangelica, with its mystical past and musky, juniper-like scent is a unique member of the Apiaceae, or Carrot, family. It is considered a biennial or short-lived perennial herb, depending on where it’s grown. It is hardy in USDA zones 4-9. In warmer climates, it’s likely to mature within two years. In cooler climates, Angelica makes little advancement toward maturity within the first year and older plants die off after three to four years once they’ve set seed.
Angelica archangelica is considered “European Angelica”. Its American counterpart is A. atropurpurea and its Chinese counterpart, known as Read More
aka Elf Dock (Danish), Elfwort, Scabwort, Olandswartzel (PA Dutch), Wild Sunflower, Horseheal, Horse Elder, Nurseheal, Velvetdok, Yellow Starwort, Marchalan (Welsh), Ailleann, or Creamh (Gaelic), Alant, Allicampane, Enula Campana, Aune
About This Plant
Elecampane (rhymes with champagne) is a large, four to five feet tall, sunflower-like perennial from the Asteraceae family that is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7. It likes damp pastures and shady ground and grows in a wide range of climate types. It does best, however, in zones with mild summers and cold winters. It does not grow well in very hot and humid areas. Its tall stalks, pale green, downy foliage and bright yellow flowers with large seed Read More