#lamiaceae in family

[philodendronforming]

Coleus plant

[philoldendronindoor]

Coleus plant

[philodendronleaves]

Coleus plant

[philodendronplant]

Coleus plant

[glitchlight]

Lamiagirl drinking a mint tea: this just feels natural to me for some reason!

[cosmogenous]

lavender, catnip, and eucalyptus are all mints

[matineemonsters]

Put peppermint oil on my hair last night to get out elastics and was woken at 5:30 to my cat shoving her tiny face into my hair and drooling with desperate might (peppermint is a relative of catnip)

[whatnext10]

Forked Bluecurls are a Beautiful and Showy Native Flower

Forked Bluecurls are a Beautiful and Showy Native Flower shows readers several images of this colorful fall wildflower. It goes on to give basic information about the plant and flowers such as range, uses, and habitats.

Curling Stamen Fall in Florida always provides us with a wealth of pretty, new wildflowers, and this fall was no exception. Not long ago I wandered out into the woods on my property to photograph some Florida paintbrush and while I was out there I also found another really gorgeous small bluish-purple flower. It was one I hadn’t noticed before, and I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was intrigued…

[lmaxell-plants]

Monarda Didyma - Scarlet Bee Balm

Native

Mint Family (Lamiaceae)

Notes: Got these bare roots this year but this one decided to throw up blooms kind of out of season but whatevs. Also getting that multi-tiered habit from the blooms that's common for the spotted bee balm. Excited to see how well these do and to eventually use the leaves. Slightly more pink than I was expecting which makes me curious if it's a straight species or some kind of cultivar. Didyma's so hard to acquire though and this one is doing well so I can't be mad.

[sunset-unbound]

what stage of depression is staring at wikipedia articles and not really reading them

[phildendron]

Coleus plant

[ligayagardener]

A bit of Latin to help you grow

Spring is the right time to take cuttings from many of your favourite herbs and clone them into new plants. When I say ‘clones’ the new plants will be genetically identical to their parent plants but you won’t have to go through all the science and expense that folks do in the lab. You won’t even need to wear w white coat (though they do look cool). As with many things, the plants do the work…

[elodieunderglass]

Immigrating in adulthood means that I get the exciting experience of being surprised by life around me. I didn’t grow up with them, you see.

Yesterday the surprise came in the form of a moth the size of a thumbnail. I was hanging up laundry when I saw it - the first impression was a small fly, with a dense quickness and buzz. I could identify “moth” by its gestures, but I was enchanted by the brilliance of the graphic design - the sweet velvety purple-brown color set against the bright gold - and the gratified, lavish attention it was paying to my variegated oregano. It was tremendously excited by some mysterious property of that oregano. I mean, I get it too, but I hardly ever do an interpretive dance on it. It reminded me of a cat romping on a fresh catnip plant.

After research, I was happy to meet the MINT MOTH or SMALL PURPLE AND GOLD, which just goes to show that moth-namers - more than any other natural historians - understand the assignment. They give you two choices, both good, both descriptive, and conveying the essential character. Trustworthy folk, your moth people. My moth-fancying friend, who goes out of her way to meet new moths, has a Facebook album called Much Ado About Mothing and goes to local mothing meetings, sometimes posting the minutes, which only reinforces my take here; these people are trustworthy, diligent hands to place problems in.

I like the Linnean name too: Pyrausta aurata, the ‘aurata’ meaning gold-adorned, gilded; and Pyrausta possibly being a reference to a Greek mythological insect, which is exciting because you don’t get many mythological insects. but you’d better research that for yourself, as I didn’t see a single source I liked very much.

And best of all I liked the description of its habits. The Mint Moth loves mint and marjoram, and is a delightfully common visitor in gardens that grow these. In the wild, it follows watermint and wild marjoram. These plants form forage for its polite caterpillars, who barely affect the host plants at all. And if you have a garden in the uk with mint and marjoram, a very tiny creature the size of a thumbnail may come and roll around in it.

Now, I have mint and marjoram - but it really wanted that oregano, which was interesting to think about - something worth exploring and understanding better, even though it isn’t the food source of its caterpillars. Oregano is a member of the Lamiaceae family, which mint and marjoram belong to, so it clearly has something that mint moths like; and even though the marjoram is right next to it, it was clearly worthy of deep mothy investigation. Who knows what’s in the mind of a moth! I hope if any caterpillars emerge from this little dance, they’re happy with eating oregano…

Hurray for little visitors who bring surprises.

[greenwitchcrafts]

Rosemary

Rosmarinus officinalis

Known as: compass weed, dew of the sea, elf leaf, guardrobe, incsensier, labonotis, Mary's cloak, polar plant, sea dew, stella maria & star of the sea.

Related plants: A member of the mint family Lamiaceae that includea basil, mint, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender & perilla. As well as other herbs such as catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga, and oriental motherwort. 

Parts used: Leaves, roots, sprigs & essential oils from the flowers.

Habitat and cultivation: This evergreen  shrub is native to the Mediterranean Portugal, and northwestern Spain.

Plant type: Perennial

Region: Zone 6 with occasional winter protection & zones 7-10

Harvest: Anytime but avoid taking more than 1/3 of the plant when you do.

Planting tips: Rosemary has a low germination rate and slow to sprout, try using cuttings or buy from a nursery if you have problems. Keep in full sun with a well drainer container & let the soil dry out completely before watering again.

Medicinal information: Over the years rosemary was used to relieve muscle pain, repelling insects, improve memory, boost the immune system & promote hair growth.

Cautions: While safe, ingesting excessive amounts of rosemary can be dangerous and lead to vomiting, coma & pulmonary edema.

ROSEMARY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR EVERY HERB

Magickal properties

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Sun

Element: Fire

Deities: Faeries, Elves, sea spirits & Virgin Mary

Magickal uses:

•Place in dream pillows to prevent nightmares

• Burn as an incense to purify & remove negativity

• Hang above your doorways to drive away unwanted visitors

• Add to a ritual bath for cleansing & removing hexes

• Use as a substitute for frankincense

• Plant in your garden to attract fae

• Carry a sprig to protect against the evil eye

• Keep under your bed to ensure fidelity & a happy relationship

• Wash your hands with a rosmary infusion before healing magick to increase potency

• Wear in a satchet or amulet to improve memory recall & improved health

• In Italian folk magic, it is cooked with to alleviate sadness  grief

• Rosemary may be used as incense at rituals of death and dying. It may be cast upon the coffin when it is slowly lowered into the burial place. With this we will all remember with love and fondness the one who is passing into another life, and thus we will also remember that we inhabit mortal bodies as we walk through the earth

[humunanunga]

'Tism won again! 🎉

Re:that post about invasive mints and the addition about outcompeting them with related plants, you can look up native lamiaceae species if you're still worried about replacing one invasive species with another! If you live in the USA, uswildflowers.com lets you search by state, and if you wanna narrow your search results even more, look up [plant family] native to your ecoregion!

There are different-level ecoregional maps for each state too--

--and some species only occur in the wild within unique subregions. For example, there's a Brazos mint, or rattlesnake flower, that only grows in sandy soil within the post oak belt in Texas, and the post oak savannahs only show up within the east central Texas plains on a level IV-inclusive map.

And I dunno about anyone else, but there's something special about meeting some of your more exclusive neighbors.

[turtlesandfrogs]

A basic starter project if you want to start growing your own food but have no money & no experience, assuming you like perilla/shiso, basil, mint, sage, or other herbs that have a square stem*.

1. Get a stem or five**, and pluck all the leaves off, except for the smallest. I worked with perilla/shiso this time, and started them in water, but often you can start them straight into soil. Here's one that's started to root in water:

2. Prepare your container. Someone I know had an excess of water jugs, so I cut it in half, poked a few holes in what was the top half, and then put it upside down inside of the bottom half. Ta-da, pot with drainage & saucer:

Be careful, obviously, because hurting yourself makes this go from a free project to a possibly rather expensive one. Soil can gotten for free, see the green onion version for more info on that.

3. Carefully make holes and plant your cuttings. I put a bag over the top to help increase humidity, because basil and perilla both seem a little fussy.

4. Put in the brightest light you have, and keep the soil evenly moist until you see new growth. These I'm starting inside but with the intention to plant outside in the summer. Obligatory check what's invasive in your area because someone told me perilla was invasive where they live. It's very much not here, it dies with the frost and I haven't gotten it to self-sow.

Tips:

Basil and perilla like it warm (above 50f/10c) and are best started indoors. Rosemary, sage, mint, etc, I've found easy to start outdoors. Keep shaded, moist, and cool until well established.

*for a fun project, look up how many culinary herbs are in the mint family! Lamiaceae will haunt your dreams!

** the first time I tried this, it was a stem of basil from take out, and I was so excited that it worked.