Dead Heading Flowers and Medicinal Herbs

No Reason to Post this Picture Besides the Fact That I Love Zinnias!

Below are two photos of Calendula officinalis, also known as Pot Marigold. I grow calendula for several reasons. I think they are pretty; bees love them and having bees in the garden is a very good thing as they help pollinate plants such as cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes; Calendula flowers have orange and yellow petals that are edible and can be put in things such as salads; and they are wonderful medicinally. Calendula is a soothing herb and can be steeped in oil or made into a tincture. Calendula oil is so gentle yet so effective. It's beneficial for any type of skin irritations and the oil can be directly spread on the irritated area. It's easy to make calendula oil. Just harvest flowers after morning dew has dried but before heat of the day. Put the petals into a clean jar. Fill with olive oil. Let steep. I steep out of sunlight for a good two weeks or so. Sometimes I strain the flower petals out; sometimes I don't. If this were oil being made to consume/eat I would be much more careful on the making of it. I wouldn't leave plant material in it for so long. (For more information on making herbal oils to cook with use my search bar to access an older and very detailed post from last year - http://mainegarden2009.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-flowers-and-herbal-oils.html.) Either way the oil is stored in a labeled jar in a dark place such as a medicine cabinet.

The two pictures below show a dead yellow calendula flower before it's picked off (dead headed) and the spot where it was after it's picked off. This picking off of dead flowers is called "dead heading". It's important because it stops the plant from using energy to produce seeds and instead redirects that energy into making more flowers. Throughout the summer I walk through my garden and dead head any flowers that have gone by that I find as I like to keep the flowers coming back. I especially dead head annuals such as calendula, marigolds, zinnias, etc.





Below is a picture of my medicinal herb bed. I planted these perennial plants in this bed this year. They were in my perennial flower bed but they were spreading like crazy and taking up too much room. So I decided to move them to a spot that I prepared last year and grew pumpkins in. It was empty this year and a perfect place to move these plants to.

In the background is an established bed of apple mint. I use this mint in my ice teas.

The large plant with the large leaves and small orange/yellow flowers in the foreground is Elecampane, Inula helenium. I love this plant. While the plant itself may not be very attractive the tincture I make from it acts as an expectorant and helps with bronchial issues. I dig the roots of the youngest plants in the fall when the plant has died back and the energy has gone back down into the roots. I gently clean, chop, and soak the roots in 100 proof cheap vodka. The medicinal properties of the root are soluble in alcohol. This is obviously not to be used with recovering alcoholics.

The small feathery plant in the front left is Back Cohash,Actaea racemosa. This was a very large and established bed in my perennial garden. When I moved it this spring it didn't seem to like that. It has taken a while and some nurturing to begin growing again. I doubt that this year it will get to be the large flowering plant that I have had growing in the past. Due to that I will refrain from harvesting it in any way. I prepare the root of this plant the same way I do elecampane, in alcohol. It is used for menopausal symptoms. I know women who swear by this stuff. I have had mixed results but then again I have not been faithful in taking it. But I like having it just in case and I love the flowers. Now extracting it from my perennial flower garden has been a chore to say the least. Every tiny root left behind is trying to grow into a new plant. Weekly I'm pulling little plants out of the other garden.

On the far right is Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca. (Do you notice how scientific names of plants have two words and that the first word begins with a capital letter and the second name begins with a lower case letter?:) Being a member of the mint family, Motherwort is very invasive, it spreads like crazy. I cut the seed tops off after the plant flowers and this seems to help quite a bit in that regard. The leaves, stems,and flowers are cut at time of flowering and they are steeped in alcohol and used for menstrual cramps. I use to find that it worked well for my daughter and me.

NOTE OF CAUTION and SAFETY: I feel that I must end this post by saying that medicinal plants need to be treated with the greatest of respect. When using a new plant for medicine I research it thoroughly and I MUST find at least three reputable resources that agree on its safety and usage. With that said, I recommend you thoroughly research before using medicinal plants. I also strongly recommend that you be absolutely sure of the identity of any plant before assuming it's the medicinal plant you are looking for. If you use prescribed medicines it may be best that you consult your doctor before using. Hopefully your dr. is open to the benefits of medicinal plants. To be honest I find that my dr. eagerly asks me about the stuff I use. I am lucky to have an open minded dr. This goes with homeopathic remedies as well.

So...on that note if you want to dabble in the magical world of herbs for medicine, the external use of Calendula is a great, safe one to begin with. And when you take from a plant be sure to give something back. Native cultures practice giving back to the plant itself. I'm beginning to think that if you give back to something, anything, than that works too. So if you use a plant; pass on your thanks by showing an act of kindness to someone you meet or by doing something kind for the environment such as not eating meat that day or walking somewhere rather than driving, or turning the lights out when you leave the room and water off when not in direct use.

Happy gardening! Gardening makes the world clean and fresh,
Mary