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Beautify the Landscape

The Brillant Edible Flower, Borage

The Edible Herb Flower Borage

BORAGE

The Borage, with its gallant blue flower, is cultivated in our gardens as a pot herb, and is associated in our minds with bees and claret cup. It grows wild in abundance on open plains where the soil is favourable, and it has a long-established reputation for cheering the spirits. Botanically, it is the Borago officinalis, this title being a corruption of cor-ago, i.e., cor, the heart, ago, I stimulate—quia cordis affectibus medetur, because it cures weak conditions of the heart. An old Latin adage says: Borago ego gaudia semper ago—"I, Borage, bring always courage"; or the name may be derived from the Celtic, Borrach, "a noble person."

This plant was the Bugloss of the older botanists, and it corresponds to our Common Bugloss, so called from the shape and bristly surface of its leaves, which resemble bous-glossa, the tongue of an ox. Chemically, the plant Borage contains potassium and calcium combined with mineral acids. The fresh juice affords thirty per cent., and the dried herb three per cent. of nitrate of potash. The stems and leaves supply much saline mucilage, which, when boiled and cooled, likewise deposits nitre and common salt. These crystals, when ignited, will burn with a succession of small sparkling explosions, to the great delight of the schoolboy. And it is to such saline qualities the wholesome, invigorating effects and the specially refreshing properties of the Borage are supposed to be mainly due. For which reason, the plant, "when taken in sallets," as says an old herbalist, "doth exhilarate, and make the mind glad," almost in the same way as a bracing sojourn by the seaside during an autumn holiday. The flowers possess cordial virtues which are very revivifying, and have been much commended against melancholic depression of the nervous system. Burton, in his [61] Anatomy of Melancholy (1676), wrote with reference to the frontispiece of that book:—

    "Borage and Hellebore fill two scenes,
    Sovereign plants to purge the veins
    Of melancholy, and cheer the heart
    Of those black fumes which make it smart;
    The best medicine that God e'er made
    For this malady, if well assaid."

"The sprigs of Borage," wrote John Evelyn, "are of known virtue to revive the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student."

According to Dioscorides and Pliny, the Borage was that famous nepenthe of Homer which Polydamas sent to Helen for a token "of such rare virtue that when taken steep'd in wine, if wife and children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest friends should die before thy face, thou could'st not grieve, or shed a tear for them." "The bowl of Helen had no other ingredient, as most criticks do conjecture, than this of borage." And it was declared of the herb by another ancient author: Vinum potatum quo sit macerata buglossa moerorum cerebri dicunt auferre periti:—

"To enliven the sad with the joy of a joke,
Give them wine with some borage put in it to soak."

The Romans named the Borage Euphrosynon, because when put into a cup of wine it made the drinkers of the same merry and glad.

Parkinson says, "The seed of Borage helpeth nurses to have more store of milk, for which purpose its leaves are most conducing." Its saline constituents promote activity of the kidneys, and for this reason the plant is used in France to carry off catarrhs which are feverish. The fresh herb has a cucumber-like odour, and when compounded with lemon and sugar, added to wine and [62] water, it makes a delicious "cool tankard," as a summer drink. "A syrup concocted of the floures," said Gerard, "quieteth the lunatick person, and the leaves eaten raw do engender good blood." Of all nectar-loving insects, bees alone know how to pronounce the "open sesame" of admission to the honey pots of the Borage.

From the Heritage Herbs Collection by M.G. Kains, American Agriculturist, 1912.

The Blessed Herb - Bennet Herb Plant

The Blessed Herb - Bennet - Depicts In Flower The Wounds Of Christ

Flowers of Bennet Herb, The Blessed Herb, Depict Christ's Wounds

BENNET HERB (Avens).

This, the Herba Benedicta, or Blessed Herb, or Avens (Geum Urbanum) is a very common plant of the Rose tribe, in our woods, hedges, and shady places. It has an erect hairy stem, red at the base, with terminal bright yellow drooping flowers. The ordinary name Avens—or Avance, Anancia, Enancia—signifies an antidote, because it was formerly thought to ward off the Devil, and evil spirits, and venomous beasts. Where the root is in a house Satan can do nothing, and flies from it: "therefore" (says Ortus Sanitatis) "it is blessed before all other herbs; and if a man carries the root about him no venomous beast can harm him." The herb is sometimes called Way Bennet, and Wild Rye. Its graceful trefoiled loaf, and the fine golden petals of its flowers, symbolising the five wounds of Christ, were sculptured by the monks of the thirteenth century on their Church architecture. The botanical title of this [48] plant, Geum, is got fromGeuo, "to yield an agreeable fragrance," in allusion to the roots. Hence also has been derived another appellation of the Avens—Radix Caryophyllata, or "clove root," because when freshly dug out of the ground the roots smell like cloves. They yield tannin freely, with mucilage, resin, and muriate of lime, together with a heavy volatile oil. The roots are astringent and antiseptic, having been given in infusion for ague, and as an excellent cordial sudorific in chills, or for fresh catarrh. To make this a pint of boiling water should be poured on half an ounce of the dried root, or rather more of the fresh root, sliced. Half a wineglassful will be the dose, or ten grains of the powdered root. An extract is further made. When the petals of the flower fall off, a small round prickly ball is to be seen.

From the Heritage Herbs Collection by M.G. Kains, American Agriculturist, 1912.

How To Use Scented Geraniums Video

How To Grow & Use Scented Geranium Herb Plants - Video

Here are some tips for growing and using scented Geraniums. They can be used in cakes to add beauty and aroma.
The leaves of these plants have a beautiful smell.
You can place a leave at th ebottom of a sugar bowl to add a nice aroma.
So it's the leaves that are most useful. The flowers are edible though.
The edible leaves and flowers are also used as a flavouring in desserts, cakes, jellies and teas.

Pineapple Sage Is Beautiful Landscaping Plant With Edible Flowers

Pineapple Sage Provides Extra Bonus - Hummingbird Plant

This is a very interesting herb to have in your garden, not only for the culinary reasons, but also as a showpiece flowering plant for the fall. Pineapple sage leaves can be used to add to salads, or as an add in to tea for the hint of pineapple flavor and the very noticeable fragrance of fresh pineapples but that is not it's strength for the herbanite. As you see in the photo also loved by hummingbirds and butterflies.

In zone 7 it is known for the absolute brilliant red flowers it produces in the fall for sure, and also during the summer season sporadically. Once it starts the flowers there is no doubt what is and where is Pineapple sage. The plant stands out due to the flowers and can become a centerpiece for your visual delight. The flowers are also more noticeable than the other surrounding plants simply because the height of it's flowering season is when other plants, especially most known solely for the beauty of the flowers, is preparing to go dormant for the winter. That is the time Pineapple sage is reaching it's glory days.

Many people are not aware that the flower is actually ad edible, or shall we say, a digestible!! Chefs and other at home innovative cooks like to top a white icing cake with the brilliant red flowers of pineapple sage bringing the flowers into the edible flower menu. Another innovative approach is to prepare a fruit type punch, or even a mojito, and sprinkle a few sage flowers into the glass or punch bowl to create a visually appealing drink. Some even place a few slightly crushed leaves into. or around the serving piece for the fragrance of pineapple to enhance the aromatic properties of a "born at home herbal delight" drink freshly prepared and visually appealing.

In zone 7 pineapple sage is a "tender perennial" which means best to do prior to hard winter is cut back to about 1-2"s from ground, mulch over with good top set of old leaves and insure a 60-70% chance of new growth the following spring. Pineapple sage loves a direct hot sun for the best growing environment.

Bronze Fennel For Landscaping With Motion and Color

Bronze fennel is a wonderful herb plant that adds color and motion to your garden and landscaping. It's willy, wispy habit gently wafts in the breeze..