Seed catalogues, paper or on-line, are written to encourage customers to make purchases and try new products.
Take care to read what is being sold as some of the items are suspect. In fact, a few are even on Alberta’s noxious weed list.
Nettle, stinging urtica dioica, can be grown for its young shoots which are a wonderful source of iron. Older leaves can be eaten but be sure to cook them long enough to ensure that the stinging effect is removed.
Planting stinging nettles in herb beds is said to increase the potency of the other herbs. While this sounds wonderful one should keep in mind that stinging nettle spreads by sending out roots in all directions. It is also painful to work in the vicinity of stinging nettles.
Dandelion, taraxacum officinale, has roots that can be dried and used for coffee. As these are common plants that can be found in lawns and gardens, planning them from seed appears to be redundant.
Black henbane, hyoscyamus niger, can be used as a sedative. If taken in large quantities it can cause convulsions. The Alberta government lists it as poisonous to humans and livestock.
Tansy, tanacetum vulgare, can be used in cosmetics and to repel insects. The yellow flowers dry well and can be used for to dye fabric yellow of green. The plant is poisonous and spreads by roots or seed.
The roots of burdock, arctium lappa, can be used to purify blood and to help reduce tumors. Burdock is a biannual and is much easier to remove the first year plant before the tap root becomes established. The plants reproduce by seed.
Shepherd’s purse, capsella bursa-pastoris, is made into an infusion and used to slow or stop bleeding. Look no further than a weedy area to find this plant. It has small triangular seed pods similar to Stink weed.
Sweet rocket or dames rocket, Hesperis matronalis, came to Canada with the first settlers and escaped cultivation. The plant is a perennial that spreads by seed. Young leaves can be added to salads. The flowers are highly scented and considered an aphrodisiac.
White Mustard, Brassica hirta, is a common garden weed in most areas of Alberta. The stem and foliage of this plant becomes prickly as the plant matures. White mustard has yellow flowers and looks similar to canola.
Young leaves can be placed in salads or the seeds can be used to season food.
Mullein, verbascum thapus, is a biannual. The first year a small plant appears with large velvety leaves. In the second year a large spike with yellow flowers forms producing a large quantity of seeds.
The leaves can be used for coughs, and bronchitis. All parts of the plants can be used for yellow, bronze and grey dyes
Lambs quarters, chenopidium album, is a common garden weed. Young plants can be boiled and eaten as one would eat spinach. It is best to pull this weed as soon as it appears. If it is allowed to set seed the problem will intensify.
Yellow clematis, clematis tangutica, is another ornamental that has escaped cultivation. It is a vine that will twine itself over fences, around trees and shrubs reaching a height of four metres. Yellow flowers are followed by fluffy seed heads that are spread by the wind. The yellow clematis is a problem in hot dry areas.
Do a little research when ordering new varieties of seeds. If the plant is suspect, look up the Latin name and see if it is a weed. Proceed with caution if the seeds can not be shipped to specific provinces or states.
Linda Tomlinson is a horticulturalist that lives near Rocky Mountain House. She can be reached at www.igardencanada.com or your_garden@hotmail.com