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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Snowberry Snowberry, or Symphoricarpos, is the name for 15 or so shrubs that boast gorgeous white berries. The plant is part of the honeysuckle family, and is also known as waxberry or the beautifully evocative name, ghostberry. The inspiration to write about this plant came from my 13-year-old, who sent me this cute WhatsApp message on his way home (pictured). It’s lovely to be the “go-to” person for plant info, and nice to be able to give some fast advice on a potentially toxic plant! The interesting thing about snowberries is that, while they can be toxic, they’re also used medicinally in some…
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Book Review – The Magic of Seeds: The Nature-Lover’s Guide to Growing Garden Flowers and Herbs from Seeds by Clare Gogerty
Book Review The Magic of Seeds: The Nature-Lover’s Guide to Growing Garden Flowers and Herbs from Seeds by Clare Gogerty Publisher: David & Charles 144 Pages Release Date: March 23, 2023 This book was an absolute joy to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in herbs. The illustrations and colors are lovely. Information is concise. A balance between informative, practical, magical, historical and folklore. This is a great reference for those wishing to expand culinary, magical and gardening knowledge. One of my favorite illustrations shows you what to sow during what part of the year. Many of us mistakenly think of Spring…
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Notes from The Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Petunias Petunias: Both a beautiful garden flower and a star of the RNA-focused scientific community. Way back in the 1990s, scientists tried to create deep purple petunias by inserting the gene associated with this colour. Instead, the flowers just came out white! Further studies into this led to big discoveries concerning RNA interference and gene silencing, for which scientists Andrew Fire and Craig Mello received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. But it all started with the petunias. Petunia is not a single species, but a genus of flowers that contains around 35 distinct species. They’re all in the Solanaceae family, which also includes…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Anemones Whenever you hear the word “anemone” you’ll either imagine a gorgeous yet shy sea creature or a beautiful flower found both in the wild and in gardens all over the world. Of course, here in the Apothecary, we’re excited about the flowers! There are well over a hundred species of anemone, including Anemone blanda and Anemone nemorosa, both often referred to as wood anemones or the more evocative name, windflowers. Anemones are in the same family as buttercups (Ranunculaceae) and grow from bulbs or rhizomes, usually coming back year after year. In Europe, anemones are keepers of living history, in a way, as large…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Asparagus June is the final month for harvesting asparagus in many places, which makes it an ideal plant to look at for our Summer Solstice edition of Notes from the Apothecary. This unusual vegetable crops up in plenty of mythology and folklore throughout the ages, and is used by many modern witches and pagans for love, lust, and luck magic, among other things. Asparagus, or Asparagus officinalis, is a perennial which means it grows back year after year. It’s a flowering plant, and, if left to mature, may produce small white or yellow flowers and orange berries. It’s one of those plants that looks wildly different…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Columbine The columbine, or Aquilegia, is a striking flower, with hooked spurs that resemble either eagle’s talons or the heads of doves gathered together. It’s in the same family as buttercups (Ranunculaceae), which while isn’t obvious in the shape of the flowers, becomes more apparent when you look at the hairy stems and the lobed leaf shapes. There are up to 70 species of columbines that we know about, with colours ranging from bright blue to deep red. Also known as Granny’s Bonnet, these fantastic flowers carry a wealth of folklore and magical associations. The Kitchen Garden Columbine are one of those plants that…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Blackberry The humble bramble or blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is a common sight in British and Irish hedgerows and wild places. Blackberries are also found all over the United States, and may also be called caneberries. Blackberries grow on thick, fast-growing branches covered in thorns, making picking the fruit perilous – use gloves! Each berry is a collection of tiny balls called a drupe, and the taste ranges from sweet to mouth-shrivelling and sour if you pick the tiny, hard ones. In the woods near my house, once you venture away from the paths, the spiky branches trail riotously between tree trunks, making it impossible to create…
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Book Review – Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer
Book Review Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer Publisher: Simon & Schuster 240 Pages Publication Date: May 10, 2022 “The spirit of a place.” In “Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies,” Rebecca Beyer gives readers ways to come to know the spirit of a place, forming deep, intimate relationships with its plants, animals, minerals and history. There will be a unique magic of that place, too. A witch and a forager, Beyer specializes in folkloric plant history, as well as magical, edible, and medicinal uses. The detailed information about botanicals, and…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Heather Heather or ling, Calluna vulgaris, is a short, evergreen, bushy shrub with stalks of tiny purple, pink or white flowers, prolific on moorland or heathland. It’s native to Europe but has been introduced to many countries across the world. It often indicates areas of deforestation, where trees have not been allowed to grow back, so the heather and other shorter plants take over. I asked my three-year-old which plant I should explore for this month, and she said, “A pink one!”. After some pondering, I showed her some pictures of pink, purple, and white heather stretching across the moors, and she was delighted. So,…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Clover Clover is also called trefoil, literally “three-leaves”, and grows in most places around the world. Although many clover plants look similar, there are around 300 species of Trifolium and they’re in the same plant family as peas. Both the round, joyful flowers and the iconic triplet of small, round leaves have a ton of folklore around them – and some surprising modern research, too. The Kitchen Garden Red and white clover are the most common where I live, and often pop up in lawns without any encouragement from gardeners. As well as being a fantastic food source for bees and other insects,…