SAGE & PLANTS IN THE ARTEMISIA FAMILY

Sage and Artemisias

Garden sage or common sage Salvia officinalis is the plant we grow in our gardens too cook with. To put in turkey stuffing, and to be used medicinally as an astringent. Driving through Osoyoos this weekend, I was finally able to replenish my supplies of sage. Sage likes to grow in dry desert types areas, so it does not grow around the lower mainland. You have to go the interior to find it. It is a nice silver blue color and quite tall. Big Sagebrush Artemesia tridentata is my favorite to use for saging my house & the reiki room. I harvest several branches, and wrap into smudge sticks while they are still fresh, before they dry. If you wait until the sage is dry it will just crumble. Take several sticks & wrap thread around them to hold them together. Let them dry for a few weeks & then you light the end & use the smoke to sage your house & your energy field. This plant grows in with sage, it is a little larger, but looks very similar to sage . It is Antelope Bush Purshia tridentata Doesn't smell as good as the sage for sure. You can see the silvery blue Big Sagebrush in the background. Compare the leaves: GARDEN SAGE LEAVES  BIG SAGEBRUSH LEAVES  ANTELOPE BUSH LEAVES The other Artemesia I use is Wormwood or Artemisia absinthium . This will grow on the coast in gardens. It has traditionally been used to rid the body of parasites, I don't use it internally, I have gentler & safer methods of getting rid of parasites. I do use this herb in salves though, we use it in the 8 month herbalist course for making salves.