Dianthus – Herb of the Month – A Plant of Beauty and Meaning

By Maryann Readal

Dianthus is The Herb Society’s Herb of the Month for April. The timing is perfect as the weather is beginning to be spring-like, and these plants are now available in our garden shops. The Greek botanist, Theophrastus (371-287 BCE), is credited with giving these flowers their name. He combined the Greek word for dios, “divine,” with anthos, “flower” and came up with dianthus.Dianthus have been cultivated and bred for over 2,000 years, and many different colors and flower types have been developed along the way. With successive breeding, however, many of the cultivars have lost their native clove-like scent.

The old-fashioned plant that our grandmothers called pinks, Dianthus plumarius, can be a perennial or an annual. It is a compact, evergreen, clove-scented, low-growing species of Dianthus. Like other Dianthus, it prefers an alkaline soil and plenty of sun. The perennial variety blooms later…

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New Moon in Aries | Entering the Planting Moon | Lunar Report

This New Moon in Aries on the 1st of April is a pretty powerful one! It begins a new season and a new astrological year. The Aries energy offers us a burst of exciting energy to help us jumpstart our goals and take quick, brave and decisive action on our goals.

New moons offer us a chance to begin again and start a new chapter. With Aries being the first sign of the zodiac, this new moon can inspires us to take big and bold action. It’s important to listen to your instincts and intuition right now, and be sure to follow through with the actions you begin.

This cycle holds many opportunities for us to move into our goals and plant the seeds of our intentions. The Planting moon takes place during this cycle which will offer opportunity to see some of the beginning manifestations of our goals.

Read full article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ New Moon in Aries ~ Entering the Planting Moon ~ Lunar Report

Druidry for the 21st Century: Setting and Co-Creating Intentions with Nature

The Druid's Garden

Nature has so much magic, it benefits us always to work with her!

Intentions are powerful things. They allow us to shape our force of will and set a path forward. They help us figure out what our own goals are. And I think because of that, we often see them as very personal. This is something that we do for our own purposes. In many western occult traditions, and even in druidry, intentions are often framed as highly internal things: things we set, things we want to manifest, things that help us shape our vision. You’ll see this very frequently in any ritual work–set your intentions for a ritual, a creation, a space, a new piece of land, and so forth. I think a lot of this is influenced by western occultism, which unfortunately puts the practitioner in a place of power and at the center of a working…

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National Herb Garden Announces Internship Opening for 2022-2023!

The Herb Society of America Blog

Whole View NHG 2006 Are you interested in learning more about the herbal uses of plants from around the world? Are you ready to challenge your horticultural skills in a public garden setting? Are you enthusiastic about sharing that knowledge with people? Then, consider joining our team!

The National Herb Garden, located on the grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC, is looking to hire an intern to assist with all gardening tasks, including plant propagation, record keeping, and educational programming. This internship runs from April/May 2022 through spring of 2023. It is full-time, but part-time may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Schedule includes one weekend day August through October; the rest of the year, it is Monday through Friday. The position is open to U.S. citizens and is paid by stipend through The Herb Society of America. Housing is not provided. If you, or someone you know, is…

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HSA Webinar: Tea Gardening with Camellia sinensis

The Herb Society of America Blog

by Christine Parks

White flower and 2 green leaves in a white tea cup with a blue border, on a dark blue tablecloth Many gardeners are surprised to learn that Camellia sinensis is the most popular camellia in the world. And most tea drinkers in the U.S. have no idea that tea is made from the leaves of a camellia. Like them, I enjoyed tea for decades without giving a second thought to its origin. All I knew was that Golden-tips came from Assam, Genmaicha from Japan, and Red Rose Tea from the grocery store. I got my daily dose of caffeine from coffee and drank as much herbal tea (tisanes) as traditional caffeinated teas. Flash forward 25 years, I’ve given up on coffee and become intimately involved with tea – a relationship grown, both literally and figuratively, through gardening.

Much has been written about herbal tea gardening. I have several of these books, along with various texts on herbal medicines, and an older favorite from my grandmother’s bookshelf, The…

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Engage Life

Know Your Tarragon – The Herb of the Month

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Maryann Readal

French tarragon in a pot It pays to pay attention to plant labels. Especially in the case of tarragon–especially if you are planning to use tarragon in your cooking. If you are growing tarragon for culinary purposes, be sure the label on the plant or seed that you buy says “French tarragon” or Artemisia dracunculus ‘Sativa’, to be sure. If the label says only “tarragon,” you may be purchasing Russian tarragon, which is not the tarragon you want for your roast chicken or béarnaise sauce.

Tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus, is The Herb Society of America’s Herb of the Month for March. Read on for more information about the plants we call tarragon.

French tarragon — Artemisia dracunculus ‘Sativa’

The botanical name for tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus, comes from the Latin word meaning “little dragon” or “snake.” It is thought that the plant was given this name because its roots…

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New moon in Pisces Lunar Report | Entering the Seed Moon Cycle

New moons mark the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one, and this new moon in Pisces is ushering in the Seed Moon Cycle! During this cycle we will also be experiencing a shift in seasons.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are shifting into the warmer months of Spring. The ground is thawing and we are now able to prepare our literal and metaphorical seeds for the new season ahead.

This new moon in Pisces will turn up your intuition and awareness. You might find your dreams are more vivid, or that your gut instincts are correct. Use your heightened intuition to ask yourself what kind of seeds you should plant for the cycle ahead.

Read full article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ New Moon in Pisces Moonthly Report | Entering the Seed Moon Cycle

Gather Ye Redbuds While Ye May – A Colorful Harbinger of Spring…and Edible, Too!

The Herb Society of America Blog

by Karen Cottingham

Eastern_Redbud_by Dan Keck via wikimedia Here in Texas, there’s a saying: “We have two seasons – summer and winter.” That’s not quite true; but if you’re not paying attention, spring can slip right past. And the last thing I want is to miss a single day of our glorious, but ephemeral, spring.

The nights here are still cold – sometimes approaching freezing – but the robins have arrived, so I know springtime is near. It’s time to listen for a hushed prelude to seasonal change, time to look for intimations of life beginning to stir. Every few days, this calls for a visit to the two redbud trees in my Houston neighborhood to check the trunks and bare branches for any evidence of tiny pink flowers. Nothing to see for weeks on end; then suddenly, here they are – scattered crimson buds emerging straight from the furrowed bark, swelling with life, and…

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