You can’t overestimate the importance of bees in a witch’s garden, for our stinging friends help to pollinate. Just behind them in usefulness in this task are butterflies, and to attract both, plant a bit of Cleome in your herb garden. Additionally, many beekeepers love Cleome as it is an excellent source of nectar, resulting […]
Penstemon digitalis: A Foxglove native to North America
For those in the United States who like to keep their garden stocked with native plants, Beard’s Tongue, orPenstemon digitalis is a member of the Foxglove family which fits the bill. Native to eastern and southeastern United States as well as Canada, it’s right at home in a faerie garden, as well as a twinkling […]
Foxglove! Spring means faeries thimbles in the witch’s garden
You always have a soft spot for your first … this Foxglove at the top was my first witchy plant, which I picked up as a seedling three summers ago. Transplanted this year it’s still perhaps my favorite. Blooms about this time each year and later in the summer.
Witchy plants coming back in the spring from a hard winter
This was a surprise … Last spring I managed to get hold of three Belladonna plants. Two went directly into the ground, the third into a container. The two in the ground certainly outperformed the container one, but I didn’t have a lot of hope that those two would make it through the cold season. […]
Witchy Garden Experiments: Sewing seeds on the Winter Solstice to avoid cold stratification
One evening I had a friend over for drinks. The friend in question had run afoul of my good graces some time ago, and though I was certain he knew of my displeasure, he acknowledged it not. Now this man, let’s call him Orlando for the purposes of this story, is quite knowledgable about witchy […]
Ricinus communis: An ally to dictators and the KGB: Friend to mothers for ages, the bane to moles everywhere, the intriguing tale of the Castor Bean plant
Exiled from his native Bulgaria, Playwright and novelist Georgi Markov had just finished walking across the Thames on Waterloo Bridge. There he waited for the bus which would take him to his office at the BBC in London, a regular trip for him. He suddenly felt a sharp pain, as though he’d been stung by […]
