ST. JOHN'S WORT SEED HEADS

St. John's Wort in in seed now, and since it is sunny & warm out still, it is a great time to harvest some.

I usually strain out the flowering heads from the tinctures I have made, and then add the seed heads, to double tincture it. So you are using the same alcohol.

I also infuse several quarts of oil with St. John's wort flowers & seeds heads to use in skin products. That's basically all I use as moisturizer.

And put some up in apple cider vinegar too for use as a mouth wash, it is very  healing to the gums & strengthens them. You can also use this vinegar on skin problems.

The stinky plant from our herb class: Rhinanthus minor

Rhinanthus minor

Yellow Rattle

 I think this is the stinky plant that was brought to our herb class for identification.

I don't see any medicinal uses, although the smell is enough to keep me away from it!

This plant might be poisonous to livestock. You can get a yellow dye from

the leaves.

You can see the small leaves in this picture.

I can't find any references to the bad smell, but I am pretty sure this is the plant.

ST. JOHN'S WORT VS. WOOD GROUNDSEL

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWER

Another plant causing some confusion is St. John's Wort & Wood Groundsel (aka Tansy Ragwort).


The St. John's Wort is pretty much past its blooming stage, its leaves are small & pointed.


The Wood Groundsel has larger blooms, it is a bigger plant, and its leaves are different.

Please be absolutely sure of what you are picking, especially if you are making a tincture & taking it internally. If you are taking my class it is probably best to just pick the plants during class.

WOOD GROUNDSEL: LOOK AT THE LEAVES

WOOD GROUNDSEL AKA TANSY RAGWORT

ST. JOHN'S WORT: LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LEAVES

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWERS

TANSY OR RAGWEED OR WOOD GROUNDSEL

TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION BETWEEN COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS, THE ONE EVERYONE HERE CALLS TANSY RAGWEED IS NEITHER TANSY NOR RAGWEED, IT IS WOOD GROUNDSEL.
I realized everybody is calling Wood Groundsel ---- Tansy Ragwort. Either way, here's the info in some confusing plants.

RAGWEED

WOOD GROUNDSEL
AKA TANSY RAGWEED

TANSY
Latin Name: Tanacetum vulgare

TANSY

Tansy was traditionally used to kill parasites among other things,
but there safer natural methods to kill parasites.


Notice that actual Tansy just has little button flowers with no petals.
Wood Groundsel has curly leaves & petals on the flowers.

Shift in seasons

Golden Crowned Sparrow having a bath.

There has been a slight shift in the season. A lot of the plants are going to seed now. Keep an eye on the

St. John's Wort for the seeds to be ready, you can use some of the tops to make St. John's Wort oil. And we will need some for our herb class when the seeds are read. The Motherwort is almost in seed as well, but for now the bees are all over its sharp little blooms. It will reseed readily & spread throughout the garden. Indian plum trees are turning yellow, they start growing in early Feb., so it is kind of like fall for them, and they seem to mark a shift in weather as it begins to turn from summer to fall.

Herbs & tree frogs.

Yarrow blooms, ready to harvest.

Another little tree frog hiding on the stones to the pond.

Yellow dock seeds almost ready to harvest,
and the marshmallow is in bloom.

Another tree frog in a squash leaf, seems to be their favorite spot.

TREE FROG

A PACIFIC TREE FROG IN A SQUASH LEAF