What is Happening in the Herb Garden and Kitchens This Week?

By Barbara F. Smith

Lavandula angustifolia a/k/a common lavender or English lavender is putting on a brilliant show in the BBG’s Herb Display Garden fragrance bed (see photo above). Its name comes from the Latin “lavare,” which means “to wash.” As British botanist, herbalist, and physician Nicholas Culpeper noted in 1653, “being an inhabitant in almost every garden, lavender is so well known, that it needs no description.”  

Originally a Mediterranean plant, lavender is now cultivated around the world. (The Pilgrims brought it to America.) English lavender is a woody-based subshrub that grows to about 2.5 feet. Numerous cultivars vary in height, vigor, fragrance, and flower color (ranging from white, through lavender to deep blue). The plants are characterized by narrow grey-green leaves, with flowers borne on tall, slender spikes. Lavender is cultivated extensively in France, Italy and England, particularly for perfumery. An acre of lavender in a favorable year may yield 15-20 pounds of essential oil, with the average yield closer to 12 pounds. Lavender plants used in farming are often replaced in five-year cycles, and the soil is rotated.

Lavender has long been used to perfume linens and to deter moths, insects, and mosquitoes. In former times, lavender was laid “between gloves and lace handkerchiefs and all the accoutrements of the gentle life.” It is an important ingredient in many cosmetic products and perfumes.

The scent of lavender is so familiar that it conjures up thoughts or memories of people and places for many, and has been so much a part of living that it has particular uses in conversational idioms. For example, the phrase “to be laid up in lavender” means to be handled with great care (as in storing cleaned linens with herbed sachets).mContrast that with “to be laid out in lavender,” meaning to scold severely, or to prepare a body for burial.

Medicinally, lavender is known for its soothing, relaxing, nerve-strengthening, and painkilling properties. Lavender essential oil has a restorative effect against faintness, headaches, giddiness, and colic; it may improve appetite. Applied externally, lavender oil may relieve toothache, neuralgia, sprains, and rheumatism. Mrs. M. Grieve, noted British herbalist, remarked, “It is said on good authority that the lions and tigers in our Zoological Gardens are powerfully affected by the scent of lavender water and will become docile under its influence.” 

As for its culinary virtues, lavender flowers have a peppery taste. The famous Herbes de Provence seasoning blend includes lavender. (Look for the Herb Associates’ blend in the Visitor Center Gift Shop.) Lavender flowers may be used in custards, cookies, and cakes, or placed in sugar to sweeten desserts.   

For crafters, dried lavender is popularly used in wreaths or dried flower arrangements.

“Truly, lavender is the quintessential herb:  it smells good, looks good, and does you good.”

(J. McVicar)

Lavender may be a hard act to follow, but Achillea millefolium, commonly known as yarrow, does a good job. This native North American perennial member of the Daisy or Asteraceae family is also known as bloodwort, arrowroot, or squirrel-tail, to list a few of its other names. Its Latin name, “Achillea,” may relate to Achilles (the greatest of Greek heroes of the Trojan War and central character in Homer’s Iliad), who was said to pack yarrow onto comrades’ wounds to stop bleeding.  

This distinctive plant’s flowers form striking, flat umbel-like clusters above stiff, angular, hairy stalks and feathery leaves (see photo above). Yarrow is pest and drought-resistant. It attracts many beneficial insects, including lace wings, ladybugs, hover flies, and tachinid flies. The flowers are a primary food source for blue copper butterflies. Yarrow’s long bloom period begins in June and lasts until the first frost.  

Native yarrow is usually white, although the most typical garden yarrow blossoms are yellow. In recent years, many more colors of yarrow flowers are available.

Historically, German Medieval abbess and scientist Hildegard von Bingen recommended yarrow for treating ulcers, wounds, and fever. Yarrow was included in materials taken to battle as recently as the American Civil War. Native American groups such as the Blackfoot, Illinois, Miami, Micmac, and Ute used yarrow to aid healing of injuries and sores: “at least 46 tribes used yarrow for 28 ailments that were aided by the herb” (Rodale). The Shakers used yarrow in treating various complaints ranging from hemorrhages to flatulence, as an astringent and as a diuretic. Current scientific research supports the efficacy of yarrow to help blood clot, to relieve fevers and reduce pain.

Yarrow blooms can be dried and added to potpourri mixes. They can be boiled to produce a yellow dye for wool; with copper as a mordant, the dye color is bronze; with iron as a mordant, the dye produced is dark green; with oxalic acid as a mordant, the dye produced is moss green. (A mordant is a substance used to fix dyes onto fabrics, thereby enhancing the color’s vibrancy and wash/light fastness.)

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE BBG KITCHEN?

The Herb Associates Kitchen Crew was at full strength and productivity this week! One group focused on preparing two varieties of salad dressing — “Fresh Herb ‘Red’ French Dressing” and “J. Wilson’s Tarragon French Dressing” — along with “Chive Blossom Vinegar.” Closer to the stove, another group prepared “Strawberry Rhubarb Jam,” and “Foard’s Garlic Scape Jam,” named for a long-time Herb Associate and Garden volunteer. Still others set various freshly harvested herbs to dry — apple mint, rose petals, thyme, bay leaves, and lemon balm. Jars of the Herb Associates’ popular mustard were labeled and taken to the Visitors’ Center Gift Shop, where you can find all the various Herb Associates products prepared for your enjoyment.   

Resources: “A Modern Herbal” by Mrs. M. Grieve (1931) Harcourt, Brace & Company; “100 Herbs to Grow” by Jekka McVicar (2024) Quadrille; Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs” edited by Claire Kowalchik and William H. Hylton (1987) St. Martin’s Press