Midsummer in my herbal fiefdom

Although I eventually expect to be doing some writing here IN THE STILLROOM,
( to add directions and recipes and the like;)
I have such a backlog of images that I will begin with these, a little tour of my herbal feifdom in smalltown Pennsylvania.

 Although in the past I have grown and managed extensive gardens, I am now confined to a shady side/ back yard, and what I can sneak into the sunny "Butterfly Garden" that I've purloined from the Administration building next door. These constraints have led me to rely on the essentials, and here I include lavender, echinacea, lemon balm, and Queen Anne's lace, thriving in the sun.  These do not seem to mind domestication, and, in the case of the lavender, require a little fussing over and appropriate species selection to grow successfully here (limey good drainage& no mulch)...

In other cases, like St John's wort, the plants must be coaxed gently into the garden, and may appear and disappear in different spots over the years, coming and going as they will.

The lavander and this bit of chamomile wait to be laid out on screens in the stillroom

 -- these are fashioned out of window screens and rope,and hang from the rafters over the wood stove.

(When I figure out how to turn images sideways, I'll show you)

Because the lavander essential oil is present in the sepals, it can be harvested to some effect after the height of the blooming season, though it is always lovely to catch the intense purple of the flowers,esp if the harvest will be seen. I do not bother to bundle the lavander, but lay it out in straight rows, then pile it into brown paper bags for storage. Remember, label everything with contents and date.  These are Grappenhall 1sts : 2011.



I left about a third of the blossoms for the bees...



Blossoms of St John's Wort in Olive oil begin to turn red after a day or two in the sun.

Known recently more for its internal use as an anti-depressant (the tincture is good for SSAD and is the essence of sunniness) this red infused oil was anciently used externally for serious burns and deep nerve damage.This one volunteered in my side lawn --and was only noticed because we were So Late in our mowing!) -- fully two years after I'd had one in a nearby garden bed. So...I build this bed around it, and have used its blooming to time my foray into the hedgerows in search of some wild specimens.

 I try to only harvest the blooms, as the seed capsules (unlike lavender) do not hold the hypericins and pseudu-hypericins that produce some of St John's wort actions.