Swamp milkweed is not as edible and medicinal as its common relation. So we’re all the more talking about how much of an all-star this plant is for pollinator gardens and native landscaping. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) can be found in the margins of swamps, marshes and other low wet areas. It’s not as prolific … [Read more…]
New Jersey teas close relation to prairie redroot. Both have red roots and thus redroot as a folk name. They also have the same uses and host the same caterpillars. This edible and medicinal plant will certainly end up in our pollinator series for the Wood Folk Diaries! (Here is the link to that diary!) … [Read more…]
Around the world the most popular cinquefoils are tormentil and silverweed, neither of which are in Haliburton, Ontario. You can find at least seven species of Potentilla in our area of Central Ontario, with varying levels of edibility and medicinal quality. In my herbal library the popular cinquefoils (Potentilla spp.) are the Pacific silverweeds (P. … [Read more…]
Pickerelweed is another edible aquatic plant in Ontario. Many will notice its lush purple blooms covering the shorelines in our area in the summertime. The bees notice too! Pickerel-weed (Pontederia cordata) is a common sight around Haliburton in shallow water, usually in large dense colonies. When flowering it’s a sea of floating purple. Edible Uses … [Read more…]
Who hasn’t heard of coneflowers AKA echinacea (Echinacea spp.)? It’s one of the biggest fads in herbal medicine in recent decades. But are the claims about echinacea legit or overblown hype? Friend or fad? I’ll admit I’ve taken echinacea at the first sign of sniffles before. It’s one of if not the most popular plant … [Read more…]
Wild chive usually refers to the very same chives you’d get from a seed packet for your garden or from a grocery store. The big surprise – there’s a variety native to Ontario! Wild chive (Allium schoenoprasum) is typically a rare escapee from cultivation around here, more specifically it tends to be the European version … [Read more…]