Clary Sage in Flower
Natural Beauty in the Herb Garden
Despite my recent misfortunes on the vegetable growing front the herb garden rarely fails me. Their resilience to weather and pests can be remarkable and during times of horticultural dire straits offer comfort and solace to the miserable gardener.
I grew clary sage last year for the specific purpose of photographing the flowering head for a project I was working on. Naturally it failed to flower in time which left me with the large, hairy and quite unattractive leaf to photograph. This year however it has grown upwards and upwards to about a metre in height and the plants are full of graceful flowers. It makes for a striking centre piece in the middle of the herb garden and more than makes up for the less than average taste.
There are different varieties, some are grown for flower, others for culinary and cosmetic use. Mine is supposed to be for eating but I am not convinced, it stands between some beautiful purple sage and a very healthy looking common sage both of which are far better suited to the kitchen.
If you want to grow clary sage for yourself then have a go, it requires little in the way of attention, just don’t do what I did and plant eight of them!
Miles,
Many believe the essential oil from this plant when used in massage, gives a sense of well being or in some cases euphoria. Those in the know say it should be avoided if the individual has had any alcohol for this reason. As with all essential oils, read the blurb first.
However, in a new experiment perhaps we could invent a handcream with Clary Sage, for hard working head chefs….. to instil a sense of joie de vivre during particularly trying services
Cid
June 24, 2008 @ 8:07 am
Cid,
.
Are you offering to make use of Miles’s
eight plants? I bet he would love a good dose of euphoria and joie de vivre
Elsie
June 24, 2008 @ 8:19 am
Cid,
I’ll stick with the alcohol to be on the safe side
Miles
June 24, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
Elsie,
What we need is a distillery and a lot more than eight plants or the euphoria will turn to a nonchalant smirk if we’re lucky
Cid
June 24, 2008 @ 6:43 pm