HERB - herb of the week

[RAISYA@aol.com]

Sweet bay shows up on Charlemagne's early 9th century list of plants, and
again later as a strewing herb on Tusser's 16th century lists.  A pretty
common modern use of bay leaves is to put a few leaves in a mesh bag in flour
and whole grains to keep out insects.  It's used as an ingredient in
potpourris. The sweet bay laurel is a small evergreen tree, hardy to about
15F, sensitive to cold winds.  It can grow to about 23' when planted in the
ground, it can also be grown in a large pot and brought indoors in the winter.
It needs rich soil, full sun and regular water, particularly in a pot.  New
plants can be produced by taking cuttings or layering in late summer.

Borage is a very pretty annual, easy to grow from seed.  It needs a sunny spot
and good drainage.  It's hardy to cold temperatures, but thrives even in deep
south summers.  The flowers can be candied.  Picking the flowers is a bit
unique, instead of cutting the stem, you pinch the black center (stamen tips)
and slip the bloom off the stem.  It sounds odd, but it makes sense once you
try it.  I've found that children think this is a really great "magic" trick
<G>.  Borage is a good bee plant and is considered a good companion to
strawberries.  Borage has a high mineral content, and supposedly, you can burn
the dry plant to produce small sparks and sounds like tiny fireworks (I
haven't tested that yet <G>).  Borage was associated with courage and
happiness, you can find the star-like blue-purple flowers in the borders of
manuscripts.

I'm afraid I don't know much about agrimony except that it's a perennial.

Raisya
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