I don't think I posted in detail about my gardening project this year, mostly because I'd be outdoors doing the gardening or indoors researching the garden and its herbs rather than blogging about it. However I'll start to make ammendment to that now.
The physic garden was planned using The Medieval Flower Book by Celia Fisher as my inspirational source. I utilized flowers that were already growing in the garden, as well as a number of purchased plants. Initially, I planted them according to what would be most successful in my Ontario climate small plot with the least amount of attention by myself. In other words, mostly perennials (which grow back every year). I also needed to choose a selection of plants from which I would be able to find some medieval directions for medicinal use.
Over the winter, I'll continue my research to understand how they would have been grouped in a garden in medieval time according to the humoral theoryof disease. (An aside: I'm not going to make academic comment as to whether this originated with the ancient Greeks or the ancient Muslims - I've heard arguements for both sides). In some cases, such as the lavender and rosemary, I used modern suggestions of companion planting to increase my success without worrying about whether or not those companion planting rules were employed in Period. For the project, I chose 14th century because it was more reliably documentable for the plants being grown and their uses. And I utilized the French culture as a location for the garden because I'd be able to integrate my irises and my main persona is 12thC Norman-Scots (French influence in Scotland).... also, the English garden didn't truly exist in Period with the mobility of the Nobles between countries.
My project flower bed (and the adjacent area) already had the following medieval medicinal plants growing in it:
peonies
mint
daffodils
mini violets
forget me nots (?)
adjacent to it grew shrubs of raspberries and red currants
elsewhere on my property:
deliphinium (which got moved into the project bed in the spring and has fared much better with the improved sun exposure)
dogwood rose
orange lillies
blue irises (which didn't flower this year - I transplanted them last year from a neighbour's garden where they had more sun exposure. So I'll move them to a sunnier location and hope for the best)
field poppy
grape vines from my back neighbour's yard
strawberries from my side neighbour's yard
and the following medieval medicinal weeds grew wherever they want:
a species of belladonna (yep, that same deadly nightshade of my previous blog)
bindweed (yes, this "devil weed" was used as a poultice on wounds!)
chickweed
vetch
dandelions
I purchased and planted:
two more species of lavender
rosemary (which I'd attempted to grow in my garden before without much success)
dill
cilantro (leaf)/corriander (seed)
wild garlic (for use and pest control)
laurel bay leaf
white lillies
columbine - which sadly died within the first two weeks of planting
physalis (chinese lantern)
lupin
and for pest control I planted digitalis foxglove which was not used medicinally until after SCA period because it was known to be highly lethal (it is the source for digoxin, the anti-arrythmic heart drug). Medieval folks recognized that animals do not eat it. I planted it near the lupins to prevent our wild local bunnies from eating my lupin beans (I was told bunnies love lupins).
sage
cinquefoil
lady's mantle
dianthus (pinks)
artemsia - but turns out I planted the wrong species. I planted Silver mound artemsia instead of vulgaris (tarragon?).
margiolds (for use and pest control)
I imported yellow irises from my sister's garden, and I hope to steal some columbine from her as well.
Later, I was inspired to put other plants in the other beds around my house, and start a small herb plot, unrelated to the project.
Although it wasn't originally part of my plan, landscaping also found its way into my garden. I'll be creating raspberry trellises in the spring for the raspberries that I relocated/landscaped and the main stems that we originally planted six years ago when we moved here. I tried to create a waddle and daub fence but without the correct size and kind of wood to make it, it was pretty pathetic looking!
I still have an outstanding wish list of plants, including:
acanthus
mandrake (yes, it is a real plant, not just a JK Rowling creation)
nigella stavia
artemisa vulgaris (the proper species this time)
betony
borago officinalis (lungwort)
although I don't know if I'll actually have the space to integrate them into the project flower bed!
And there is still a lot of work left to do for the existing garden (not including the other flower beds that are finally getting formal attention from us!). Earlier in the week, I expanded the width of my project bed and squared it off a bit better than it pre-existed. Today I moved two peonies into the "new" raspberry and current corner that I created in the spring. I have a plant to remove from the bed which I believe is a hydrangea but it didn't flower so I'm not sure. Nested in right beside it are the daisies that need to be thinned out to make room for other plants. I also have to agressively cull the dill that is spawning in the flower bed. I made the mistake of allowing it to go to seed so I could learn the life span of the plant (as I've done with all the newly purchased plants). Dill flowers make A LOT of little seeds which drop on the ground and start to sprout before the end of the same season. I'll be relocating it to my small herb plot on the side of my house try and keep it under control in the project garden. However, some of those wee dill sprouts made their way into my side neighbour's garden (which they are ok with) and I'll likely end up trying to prevent their dill from going to seed and causing the same problems in my project bed next year! Finally there'll be some shuffling of plants to enhance the project's bed success and/or appearance.
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