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

By Barbara F. Smith

Currently blooming in the BBG Herb Display Garden medicinal bed is Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilicata), a herb native to the eastern half of the United States and eastern Canada. The search to discover how this plant was named is interesting. Often, names reference ancient mythology. In this instance, a particular person was honored. A French Franciscan monk and naturalist named Charles Plumier, who botanized extensively in central and south America, immortalized French botanist and physician Matthias de Lobel by naming the genus Lobelia in his honor, and Linnaeus (who formalized the standardization of naming organisms) retained that name in 1753. With more than 450 species, the genus Lobelia has been characterized as having “profound medicinal value.”

Our focus is on one specific species — L. siphilicata (see photo above). This showy perennial stands 2-5 feet tall, producing lavender blue, and occasionally white, tubular flowers crowded together on the upper stems. The flowers are in “the axils of leafy bracts” and form an elongated cluster on a leafy stem. Each flower is split into two lips – upper with two segments, lower with three. The architecture of the flower particularly allows bumblebees to be active pollinators.

Lobelia is a most desirable plant for woodland gardens, particularly for its bright blue, late summer flowers, blooming July through October. Its native habitat includes open wet woods, stream banks, marshes and meadows. Lobelia prefers sun, requires moisture and is considered deer resistant.

Its unusual species name — siphilicata — was bestowed by respected colonial Pennsylvania scientist John Bartram, who was named the botanist for the American colonies to King George III. In 1743, Bartram was commissioned by the British crown to visit the Indian tribes of the Six Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) and his resulting essay became an appendix to “Medicina Britannica,” published in the 1751. Bartram’s work today is viewed as an “important early insight into the region’s ecology and the activities of the Native American population during the colonial period.” Therein, he named Great Blue Lobelia as a cure for syphilis, although that was later debunked. (Some suggest lobelia might have been more effective in combination with other herbs.)

Lobelia was known to the Penobscot Indians and widely used in New England long before Samuel Thomson, a self-taught, American herbalist who advocated herbal remedies, claimed its discovery in the early 1800s. Lobelia was also used by Cherokee Indians to treat coughs and headaches, rheumatism and stomach ailments. Its roots are “cathartic (a purgative), diaphoretic (inducing sweating) and emetic (causing vomiting)” and when brewed as a tea, was said to fight bewitchment.

The second herb discussed today is blooming in the Herb Display Gardens with distinctive clusters of starry-white flowers — Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum). Native to China and eastern Asia, this herb is grown widely for ornamental and culinary purposes. A bulbous perennial herb, with characteristic onion/garlic odor, this plant would be a great addition to your garden. Unlike most other varieties of alliums, these are late summer bloomers, growing up to two feet tall in clumps, with strap-like blue green foliage that contrast nicely with leafy herbs. Garlic chives are prolific self-sowers, so you might consider growing them in a container to limit their spread. As a companion plant to vegetables, they act to deter pests and attract pollinators. Their leaves may be harvested in the second year after planting, with three harvests per season. After the third or fourth year, the plants will deteriorate and should be replaced.

The leaves of garlic chives are flatter and wider compared to “typical” chives, and they may be used in recipes calling for chives, onions or garlic, although their flavor is most like delicate garlic. Garlic chives are a great addition to soups, stir-fries, salads, dips and spreads, and egg dishes. It’s best not to add them to cooking until the last minute, lest they get mushy. The buds and blossoms are also edible.

Garlic chives are rich in sulfur compounds, with antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties that support health. Ancient Chinese medical texts from 500 BCE refer to garlic chives’ ability to improve digestion, improve immunity and treat respiratory problems.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE BBG HERB KITCHENS?

In the warm kitchen, the Herb Associates were cooking up a new batch of Harvest Marmalade — a true feast for the senses, with a beautiful blend of orange tomatoes, yellow lemons and other sweet and savory ingredients. A particular request was made for Rose Geranium Jelly, so a basket full of the fragrant leaves was harvested and prepared (see photos).

In the cool kitchen, the Herb Associates set some shiso leaves to infuse vinegar, in advance of a salad dressing creation next week. Peach Rosemary Shrub was blended, and the delicious aromas Basil Garlic Vinaigrette filled the room! A batch of Rosemary Lemon Finishing Salt was prepared and set to dry for bottling soon.

Reflections on an Early Founder

While lunching with a friend recently, a name from the Herb Associates’ past came up — Gertrude Bowers Burdsall, who, along with Emily Rose and Amy Bess-Miller, was a driving force in the organization of the Herb Associates in 1957. The following story is adapted from an article/alumni profile in 2003 about Gertrude Burdsall that appeared in the Swarthmore College Bulletin, written by Elizabeth Redden. Burdsall was 96 when the article appeared, and she lived to be 99. She was a member of the Lenox, Great Barrington and Egremont Garden Clubs, and the Herb Society of America.

Burdsall became the representative of her Swarthmore College Class of 1928 and provided a regular column of great interest including information about her gardens and her family. She and her husband lived and gardened on Baldwin Hill Farm in Great Barrington; in the early days, she focused on flowers. “I worked very hard at it, and it was a very pretty garden, but then I discovered herbs.” Her life would never be the same.

As Burdsall recalled, she became intrigued when the owners of what is now called the Berkshire Botanical Garden began creating a hillside herb garden (mid-to late 1930s). "It was a very unusual type of garden for the area, and I was just fascinated from the start." She began reading books about herbs and talking to local herb experts, all the while becoming engrossed by the diversity, complexity, and varied uses of herbs. "Flowers are lovely to grow, but when they’re gone, they’re gone," she explained. "Herbs just have so much more to offer than flowers in a flower garden. There’s just no comparison with the interest in growing them, as I see it."

Scores of years after the founding of the Herb Associates, the longest-serving volunteer group at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, we current members give thanks for the inspiration and dedication embodied by Gertrude Burdsall. We share her interest in the “diversity, complexity and uses of herbs,” and work to carry on the legacy she helped to create.

Particular References this week: A Modern Herbal, by Mrs. M. Grieve, Dover Publications, (1931); The New American Herbal, by Stephen Orr, Clarkson Potter, Publishers (2014); Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, ed. by C. Kowalchik and W. Hylton, Rodale Press (1987);”Lobelias and Pollinators,” Chris Helzer article, Hubbard Fellowship Blog, (Sep. 2013); “Beyond Alkaloids: Novel Bioactive Natural Products from Lobelia Species” Front Pharmaceutical (2021) NIH Publication; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Guide; naturalmedicinalherbs.net; UIowa.edu; Native Plant Trust.org; Virginia Native Plant Society; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; Xerxes Society; “At Home with Her Herbs” Alumni Profile by Elizabeth Redden, Swarthmore College Bulletin (March 2003)

The Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Herb Associates began in 1957 and has been making and selling products for the benefit of BBG ever since. At BBG, the Herb Associates oversee a display garden and production garden, both located near the Center House. Members/volunteers meet every Tuesday morning during the late spring through mid-autumn each year, coinciding when the gardens themselves are open to the public. Members plant, weed and tend the gardens, as well as harvest and process the variety of herbs.