MAIN CATALOG

ACANTHACEÆ

JUSTICIA
-PECTORALIS
A tender, aromatic, spreading ground cover to 2-3' tall from the upper Amazon. Normally grows along sandy stream banks in rich soil. As curia, it is an aromatic additive to a Venezuelan lickable tobacco preparation called chimó. In Central America and the Carribean Islands, it is dried and snuffed or smoked along with Cannabis sativa as an aphrodisiac.
-PECTORALIS v. stenophylla
A lower growing, yellowish-green leafed variety of the previous listing, this one with the flavor of vanilla and anise. An admixture to Amazonian epená snuffs by the Waiká Indians. This variety is much more difficult to grow than the previous. Very tender.
AMARANTHACEÆ

ALTERNANTERA
-LEHMANNII
PICURULLANA-QUINA: An easy to grow (though tender to frost) tropical Ayahuasca admixture of the Ingano Indians of Colombia. It is a small shrub to 2 or 3' tall with reddish/green leaves (red on the bottom and green on top) and red stems with ¼" white, star-ball like flowers.
ANACARDIACEÆ

RHUS
-DIVERSILOBA
POISON OAK: A very pretty shrub or vine with shiny dark green, leathery leaves turning bright red in the fall. Reputed to be a stimulant, but I haven't tried it. Foliage is very poisonous to the touch for many people. The smoke from burning poison oak can cause blindness or lung complications. I used to be very susceptible to poisoning from this plant until an old Indian woman who lived down the road from me told me how people in her tribe kept from being affected by it. She said that in the early spring they would chew the stems. (Usually I treat with caution any such information from people whose ancestors my ancestors had tried to annihilate, but we were long-time friends.)
Since I was sensitive to it (not to mention not being as macho at the thought as I would have liked) I devised my own method: In the early spring I would take small new-growth buds and put a few in peanut butter sandwiches. These I ate one a day for a week. Now, even though I live in Poison Oak Land, I get it rarely, and then only mildly. If you try any method such as the two previous, you're on your own; don't say you saw it here.
California Indians used the stems in their basketry; the black dye produced from the bruised stems was also used in tattooing. If their ritual of tattooing was anything like that of today's, they were probably whacked out of their skulls anyway. The sap was used to remove warts.
As an aside, "poison oak" is a term the local rednecks in this part of California use to describe "outsiders" who have recently (within the last 50 years) settled here. Hardy and easy to grow.

"Good planets are hard to find."
-Steve Forbert

APOCYNACEÆ
APOCYNUM
-CANNABINUM
HEMP DOGBANE: A hardy, easy to grow plant in most of N. America. Prefers most, sandy soil in full sun or part shade. The reference to Cannabis is only to the fibrous content of the stems. Medicinally, this is a strong heart stimulant that dilates renal arteries, a diuretic, emetic and laxative. Contains MAO inhibiting ß-carbolines. Poisonous: use with care.
CATHARANTHUS
-ROSEUS
MADAGASCAR PERIWINKLE: Easily grown, tender tropical ground cover with 1½" white to rosy flowers and dark green, glossy leaves. Containing more than 70 alkaloids, this plant is the subject of investigation in the treatment of cancer, leukemia, diabetes and Hodgkin's disease. Grow in part shade and moist, rich soil. Protect from freezing
TABERNÆMONTANA
-DIVARICATA
BUTTERFLY GARDENIA, TAGAR: Tropical shrub to 2-4' with glossy green leaves and evening scented white flowers. The bitter roots are used medicinally in Ayurvedic medicine and for their ibogoid alkaloids. In traditional Thai medicine, extracts of this plant are used as sedatives and analgesics. Grow as a house plant in part shade with rich, moist soil and warmth..
TABERNANTHE
-IBOGA
IBOGA: A tropical shrub with panicles of small white /pink flowers. From West African rain forests. The root bark is used as a magical plant and in initiatory rights of secret cults such as the Bwiti. Ibogaine, the chief alkaloid in this plant is a MAO inhibitor, has psychedelic properties, and in low doses is capable of producing aphrodisac effects. Large doses can be fatal. Illegal in the US. Not available at this time.
AQUIFOLIACEÆ

ILEX
-GUAYUSA
GUAYUSA: A strong stimulant with a high percentage of caffeine (up to 7%). From the rain forests of Ecuador. Also used as an ayahuasca additive and internal bodily cleanser (because of its emetic properties) by some shamans before ayahuasca use. Requires more warmth and humidity to grow than Ilex paraguariensis, a similarly employed species. Tropical.
-PARAGUARIENSIS
MATÉ, PARAGUAYAN TEA: Maté is one of the most popular stimulating beverages in South America. Contains caffeine (up to 2%) and theobromine and is somewhat stronger than coffee or tea. Maté is a tonic, nervine, diuretic and stimulant. A holly, this plant is often kept trimmed to shrub size and should be grown in a tub in all but the most southerly situations. It survives temperatures down to about 25° and grows quite well here in coastal Northern California. I have specimens over 10' tall at the nursery. Give young plants some shade. Must be kept moist and doesn't like extreme heat. Needs well-drained acid soil. It is evergreen and diœcious. -VOMITORIA
"They say it restores lost appetite, strengthens the stomach, giving them agility and courage in war, &c…"
-Catesby, Natural History…, 1754
YAUPON, CASSENA: A large evergreen shrub or small tree native to Southeastern US. A strong emetic, used ceremonially as the "black drink" by the Cherokee Indians. Also contains caffeine.
ARACEÆ

ACORUS
-CALAMUS
SWEET FLAG: From Central Asia, but now distributed throughout all Northern temperate zones, this hardy, water-loving plant is slightly sedative (in Ayurvedic and Thai medicine), a stimulant (in American Indian medicine and the US Pharmacopœia), is used to stimulate the gastric and salivary glands universally. In larger doses, it is considered an aphrodisiac. And at 10 times the dose used by the Cree Indians as a stimulant, it has been reported to be hallucinogenic. Popular in herbal baths and formerly used as a beer and liqueur flavoring. Contains asarones which may be carcinogenic.
-GRAMINEUS
SWEET FLAG: A low growing version (8-12") of the previous. Used by the Akha of Thailand for stomach ache. Used in Chinese medicine to treat gastritis and depression. Grow in moist soil (or in ponds) in full sun.
COLOCASIA
-ESCULENTA
TARO, ELEPHANTS EAR, DASHEEN: Easily cultivated tropical Asian herb grown for its edible tuber and young shoots which are eaten as a winter vegetable. Grow in rich, moist soil or in ponds in sun or part shade. Has large heart-shaped green leaves on long stalks.
ARALIACEÆ

ARALIA
-CALIFORNICA
SPIKENARD, CALIFORNIA GINSENG: Used by California Indians as a mild stimulant, adaptagen and sexual tonic. Grow in moist, rich soil and part shade. Large (up to 10' tall).
ELEUTHEROCOCCUS
-SENTICOSUS
SIBERIAN GINSENG, CI-WU-JIA: A very hardy, 3-10' shrub with stems covered with sharp prickles. Grows in sun or part shade in well-drained soil. Used for 1000s of years in Chinese medicine as an adaptagen. Probably the most scientifically investigated Chinese herb.
PANAX
-GINSENG
REN-SHEN, ASIAN GINSENG: Panax means "cure-all" and gingseng means "essence of the earth in the form of man." Widely considered to be a superior adaptagen and multi-purpose tonic and aphrodisiac. Grow as the following.
-QUINQUEFOLIUM
XI-YANG-SHEN, AMERICAN GINSENG: Native to the cool, humus-rich woods of Canada and N. US, ginseng is widely used as a tonic and adaptogen. Its uses are somewhat different than Asian ginseng, being considered more cooling and more appropriately used by the elderly and those living in the tropics. With the long, hot dry summers we have in CA, this has been a difficult plant to grow here. Might work best in the high northern coastal mountains. Prefers rich, moist, acid, hardwood forest soil and about 90% shade. Dislikes clay and sandy soils. Harvested after 5 or 6 years.

"For man… as for the flower, the supreme triumph is to be the most vividly, most perfectly alive."
-D. H. Lawrence, Apocalypse

BERBERIDACEÆ

CAULOPHYLLUM
-THALICTROIDES
BLUE COHOSH: Oxytoxic, emmagogue, antispasmodic, diuretic, demulcent. Used by some Indian women to facilitate childbirth. Once used to treat chronic rheumatism. Grows easily in heavily shaded woods or simulated forest conditions. Very hardy. Many valuable uses in the hands of a trained herbalist or midwife. Once called 'blue' or 'yellow' ginseng.
PODOPHYLLUM
-PELTATUM
MAYAPPLE: Considered poisonous if any part of the plant besides the ovoid, yellow fruit (which is edible, though laxative) is ingested. Purgative. Antimitotic: the root was used externally on venereal and other warts and on skin cancers by the Penobscot Indians. In more modern times, a derivative, Podophyllin, was used as a treatment of choice for the removal of warts and small skin cancers. Native to Eastern North America. Grow in moist, shaded, humus-rich soil. Has a large round, though deeply lobed, solitary leaf on a stem to 1' tall with one white flower followed by a 2" edible, egg-shaped fruit.
BORAGINACEÆ

SYMPHYTUM
-GRANDIFLORUM
YELLOW-FLOWERED COMFREY: A lower growing version of comfrey with dark green crinkled leaves and yellowish flowers.
-UPLANDICUM
COMFREY: A very useful, hardy, plant with extremely large leaves (to 2' long) and small purple flowers on 3' tall, gradually less leafy stems. Plant it where you want it to be forever; it's very difficult to get rid of, growing from any small root sliver. Contains vitamin B12, is very rich in protein and nutrients and is very mucilaginous. Once called 'knitbone' because the pounded roots, applied around a broken bone, would solidify and form a cast. Until recently it has long been considered a very healing herb. Medical authorities now recommend not using comfrey internally because of a liver toxicity.

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff,
Which weighs upon the heart? "
- Macbeth

CACTACEÆ

LOPHOPHORA
-WILLIAMSII
PEYOTE: A small blue-green button-cactus from Texas and N. Mexico used by the Hiuchol Indians-and others-for its hallucinogenic effects. Contains mescaline. Illegal in the US. Not available at this time.
"There is another herb… called peiotl… it is found in the north country. Those who eat or drink it see visions either frightful or laughable; this inebriation lasts two or three days and then ceases. It is a sort of delicacy of the Chichimecas, it sustains them and gives them courage to fight and not feel fear, nor hunger, nor thirst, and they say it protects them from any danger."
-Friar Bernardino de Sahagún, 1560
TRICHOCEREUS
-PACHANOI
SAN PEDRO CACTUS: A large, columnar, ribbed, nearly spineless cactus from Peru. Grow in full sun in well-drained soil in areas where temperatures do not fall below the mid 20ºs. Native shamans who use this cactus prefer to use only the skin and the green material immediately below (they discard the outer wax-like cuticle and the white, pithy interior). The remaining green mass (either fresh or dried) is then boiled down for many hours. Usually 1 gallon of water plus one lemon per one foot of cactus (one dose) is boiled down to ½ cup. It grows quickly. Sold for ornamental purposes only. Contains a useable quantity of mescaline.
-PERUVIANUS
PERUVIAN TORCH CACTUS: Similar in appearance and growth habit to T. pachanoi, but with much larger spines and is more tender. Contains 3 to 4 times the quantity of mescaline as the previous species.
CANNABACEÆ

CANNABIS
-SATIVA
HEMP, MARIJUANA: With a million uses; this is quite probably mankind's first cultivated plant. Now illegal in the US because it is worth much more on the black market than as a garden plant. Very easy to grow in almost any situation. Likes sun and moisture and rich soil but will tolerate varied conditions. Native to Central Asia. Cerebral sedative, analgesic, narcotic, antispasmodic. Used for glaucoma and for the relief of pain of the terminally ill. The stem fiber provides hemp for rope, cloth and paper products. Seed makes a fine oil.
Not available at this time.
HUMULUS
-LUPULUS
HOPS: Hops are hardy vines that can grow to 30' in length. They grow best in rich, moist soil in full sun. They are diœcious (separate male and female plants) and the vines die down to the ground each fall and resprout in the early spring. Aside from the well known properties of flavoring and preserving beer, hops are used to induce sleep, ease nervous disorders and improve the appetite. Medicinally, hops are: nervine, tonic, soporific, diuretic, anodyne, antibiotic and sedative. Hops also contain estrogen (don't tell your beer-guzzling, macho buddies). The information floating around that hops shoots can be grafted onto marijuana roots is bull. The following are all commercial varieties of female plants. Three general categories of hops plants are available:
Selected seedlings: Types derived from mass selection.
Hybrids: Types derived from intentional cross breeding.
Mutants: Triploids derived from more complex breeding processes.
You can expect 1-2 lb. of dried hops (the flowers are used) from the established vines. Also, the term "-acid" is used in the following descriptions as a term generally connoting bitterness. The higher the -acid number, the more bitter the hops.
The current price list will include newly available varieties not described here. The selection is expanding rapidly.
SELECTED SEEDLINGS
-CLUSTER (old early)
Early maturing, high yielding vigorous plants. The standard bittering hop in the US and much of the world since 1900 until recently. -acid 5-8 with a citrus aroma.
-CLUSTER (late)
Same as the preceding listing but a week or two later maturing.
-FUGGLE
Early maturing, relatively low yield English variety selected in 1875. Widely used until the 1980s when replaced by Willamette. -acid 4-6, aroma type.

"The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober."
-William Butler Yeats

-HALLERTAUER MITTELFRÜH
Traditional German Noble Aroma variety. Once the standard for lager beers, now largely replaced by Hersbrucker. -acid 4-6.
-HERSBRUCKER
Similar to Hallertauer; not quite as highly regarded, but easier to grow.
-PERLE
Seedling of Northern Brewer. Noble Aroma characteristics plus bittering. Early. -acid 8-11.
-SAAZ
A traditional fine aroma hop from Czechoslovakia. Premium aroma, -acid 5.
-TETTNANGER
Traditional German Noble Aroma hop for lagers. Early maturing, with relatively low yields, but one of the finest hops for aroma. -acid 3-5.
HYBRIDS
-BREWERS GOLD
Cross of a selected wild Manitoba female and an English male commercial hop in 1919 (sounds like a PBS miniseries). High yields and medium-to-late maturing. -acid 7-9. Bittering.
-BULLION
Similar in characteristics to Brewers Gold but maturing about 10 days earlier.
-CASCADE
Bred in Oregon from open pollinated Fuggle seed in 1956. Medium-to-late maturing with excellent yields. Major commercial variety for aroma. Spicy and pungent with a pleasant bitterness. -acid 4-7.
-CHINOOK
Bred in the US as a cross from Peham Golding in 1985. High yields with medium-to-late maturing. -acid 13-14. Bittering w/pine-like aroma.
-GALENA
US bred from open pollinated Brewers Gold in 1968. Good yields. Rivals Cluster as the most popular bittering hop. -acid 12-15.
-GOLDEN 'Sunbeam'
Ornamental hybrid aroma type with bright golden leaves. Vigorous growth in filtered light or part shade. 1995 release by the USDA.
-NUGGET
US crossbred from Brewers Gold in 1970. A bittering hop, heavily spiced and herbal. Heavy producer of large flowers. -acid 13-16.

"Klaatu nikto barada."

MUTANTS
-LIBERTY
A triploid Hallertauer cross developed at the Oregon State University Hop Research Station. German lager type. -acid 3.5 - 5.5.
-MOUNT HOOD
A tetraploid Hallertauer crossed with a selected diploid male = triploid. Used by commercial breweries as a Hallertauer equivalent with improved agronomic characteristics. Good aroma. -acid 4-6.
-WILLAMETTE
Tetraploid Fuggle crossbred in 1967. First successful commercial triploid. High yields. New substitute for Fuggle. -acid 5-7. Aroma type.

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."
- Frank Lloyd Wright

CAPRIFOLIACEÆ

LONICERA
-CAERULEA 'edulis'
EDIBLE HONEYSUCKLE: This is the only unscented honeysuckle listed in this catalog. It is deciduous, has bright green leaves to 2" long, ½" yellowish white flowers and dark blue edible fruit. It's very hardy, being native to Eurasia.
-ETRUSCA
WILD ITALIAN HONEYSUCKLE: Very fast growing vine with frangrant yellow and white flowers in clusters on the ends of the stems. Summer blooming.
-FRAGRANTISSIMA
A native US (Southern States) honeysuckle bush with small white, very fragrant flowers in early spring. Very hardy and easy to grow.
-HECKROTTII 'gold flame'
A hardy, semideciduous vining honeysuckle with blue green 2" leaves and large spikes of 2" red-purple outside, yellow inside, spicy fragrant (much stronger scent after sundown) flowers. Needs rich, acid soil. A very old hybrid probably between L. americana and L. sempervirons. Blooms May to September.
-HILDEBRANDIANA
GIANT BURMESE HONEYSUCKLE: This honeysuckle is spectacular, but it's not reliably hardy where temperatures drop below freezing often, although mature specimens have survived temperature dips to the low 20ºs. The evergreen leaves are leathery, dark green and up to 6" long. The flowers are sweetly fragrant, white to yellow to orange and up to 7" long in pairs along the stems. Has black 1" diameter fruit. Actually, this honeysuckle looks more like a tree than a vine. It thrives in rich soil in part shade or sun in coastal or Southern California and other near subtropical regions. From Southeast Asia.
-JAPONICA 'Halliana'
HALL'S HONEYSUCKLE, JIN-YIN-HUA: Called the "silver and gold flower" in China This hardy, easily grown evergreen vine or ground cover has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 1500 years. "Hall's" variety was developed in New York in 1862 by George Hall as a more vigorous variety of this species. Medicinally, a tea of the flowers is considered febrifuge, astringent, depurative, antidiarrhetic and diuretic. In practical terms, it is widely used in China to treat colds and the flu. As with most honeysuckles, it grows quite well in sun or part shade in relatively moist, acid soil, although it will survive almost anywhere. It flowers all summer with multitudes of very sweetly scented 1½" white, turning yellow (or silver turning gold) flowers in pairs along the stem. The black berries are somewhat poisonous, if you're leery of such.
-JAPONICA 'aurea-reticulata'
VARIEGATED HONEYSUCKLE: Similar to its parent L. japonica 'halliana' but of smaller growth habit and the leaves are veined with yellow, turning pink in the fall.
-JAPONICA 'purpurea'
PURPLE or JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE: A climbing evergreen vine with 2" dark green upper side and purple under side leaves and white and red-purple 1" scented flowers. Black berries.
-PERICLYMENUM 'Graham Thomas'
ENGLISH WOODBINE: A very fast growing, hardy vine with terminal whorls of 2" yellow, fragrant flowers. Deciduous. Has leathery, 2-3" oval green leaves and transparent red fruit.
-TELLMANNIANA
A shade loving honeysuckle with terminal whorls of fragrant 2-3" orange to yellow to red flowers. The leaves are 3" leathery and dark green. Blooms June to August, deciduous. Hybrid between L. sempervirens and L. tragophylla. Grows well in shaded situations.
SAMBUCUS
"The whole plant has a narcotic smell and it is not prudent to sleep under its shade."
-Good's Family Flora, 1854
-NIGRA
BLACK ELDER, RIXUS, IXUS, AKTE: A hardy shrub or small tree (growing to a maximum height of 15-30') employed in medicine and magic since the days of ancient Egypt. Diaphoretic, laxative, antispasmodic, diuretic, emollient. It has been used to make wine (berries and flowers), as a skin wash, in cosmetics, as a fine wood. All parts of the plant are said to have valuable uses. 8" white flower clusters in mid-spring. The fruit, though small, is edible. Prefers rich, moist soil. Used in witchcraft. Also used in non-witchcraft. A great plant.
In selling poisonous, drug or witchcraft plants, I have often been criticized by "moralistic" members of the religious right and left, and have developed a considerable intolerance for the ignorance and hypocrisy of these people and their doctrines of superficial abstinence, apocalyptic license, martyred suffering and banal prudishness.
Perhaps I should explain a little further: In my life I have seen no evidence of the existence of a sentient superior being that commands worship. I be>

Transfer interrupted!
s) equal in a right to life and death. Beyond this, life can be a bitch... or not.
We are all being propelled blindly through space on this huge chunk of rock called Earth. Sometimes when I go to the top of a mountain and lie down, with my back to the earth, I feel like I need to hang on not to be spun off into space.
Religion, to me, is a coward's approach to life: "If I make enough rules, then life will have meaning or at least easily recognizable guideposts and I won't have to think any longer or figure it out for myself." The tree of knowledge has been chopped down and burned to roast marshmallows.
It certainly wasn't put to fire for the light.
It truly amazes me that throughout history, man (or woman) has constantly worshipped his/her "true" god(s) or goddess' only to have it (or them) replaced by others as the previous are proven false. This has happened over and over. There's a lot of money to be made in religion.
-NIGRA 'purpurea'
PURPLE-LEAFED ELDER: Basically the same plant inspiring definitely the same sentiments as the previous listing. A bit smaller in growth habit with deep purplish/bronze, green leaves and stems and white flowers with rose-colored stamens giving a pink effect. Nice.
CELASTRACEÆ

CATHA
-EDULIS
QAT, JÂT, CHAT, KHAT, ARABIAN TEA: Of all the plants listed for sale in this catalog, this is probably the most controversial (in legal terms). Although it is listed in the latest edition of The Sunset Garden Book as an ornamental, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to offer it. There are people in power in this country who think that the effects of chewing Chat are-how do I say this diplomatically-undesirable.
According to a grant sponsored by the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control, the main subjective effects of Chat use are "euphoria, improved intellectual efficiency and alertness." The active principles are norpseudoephedrine and cathinone. It is non addictive, but excessive use can produce symptoms of amphetamine psychosis. A synthetic over-the-counter diet drug related to cathinone is phenylpropanolamine.
The "War on Chat" has already been entered by the US, most noticeably by the invasion of Somalia a few years ago, partially in an effort to gain control of the Chat trade. How the citizens of this country tolerate the illegalization of any plant I find mind-boggling. I can understand a society needing to have individual actions (murder, violence, theft, abuse, etc.) be illegal, but I can't understand the prohibition of the cultivation and personal use of any plant, be it chat, tobacco, opium, coca, pot, etc. Well, I mean I do understand the economic benefits of such a prohibition: a select few people become extremely wealthy off of illegal sales. But I don't understand the acquiescence of the populace. It appears that drug laws are enacted to create criminals, not to remedy social problems.
To further digress: I live in what is termed "the emerald triangle," three counties in Northern California that grow a large quantity of marijuana. In the summer it's a war zone. The military and police are constantly overhead in helicopters, the Highway Patrol routinely stop anyone in profile, and police wander the hills trespassing and searching without warrant wherever they want. Civil rights are non-existent, all because some people are growing a plant which produces fewer deleterious effects than beer. Everyone knows of this abuse of power, but, I'm afraid, we also acquiese. Oh,well.
Back to Chat. While the Muslim religion (predominant in the geographical area where Chat is used) bans alcohol and other drugs "harmful" to the body, it doesn't ban Chat. The illegalization efforts that have been made in the past in this area have all been by the occupying colonial powers (the English and Italians).
To the Muslims, Chat is known as "the flower of paradise." It grows easily to a large shrub in much of California and the South. Mature specimens I have observed have survived temperatures down to about 15º. It is widely adaptable to different conditions and soils but seems to grow best in rich, moist, well-drained sandy soil in full sun (coastal) or light shade (inland). In its natural habitat, Yemen and Ethiopia, it grows to tree size on hillsides at about 6000' elevation.
Normally, the leaves are not harvested until the plant is 4-5 years old, after the plant matures and flowers. It is customary to drink coffee or sodas while chewing the young, tender leaves and stems. Sometimes bubble gun is chewed simultaneously (especially by Yemeni college students). The taste is somewhat astringent, especially if older, lower quality leaves are used. The effects (lasting from 2-3 hours) range from a mild increase in energy to a full-blown speed-like high, depending, of course on quality and amount consumed.
Chat is never grown from seed in its native habitat because, as with most commercially grown drug plants, much effort has been made to develop higher quality strains. Generally, the more red on the stems and veins of the leaves, the stronger the Chat is considered. Our plants are cutting grown from a known active strain.

"Why, of course, people don't want war… Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; niether in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor, for that matter, in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." -Hermann Goering

CHENOPODIACEÆ

CHENOPODIUM
-AMBROSIODES
EPAZOTÉ, AMERICAN WORMSEED, MEXICAN TEA: A very strongly flavored and scented annual or perennial (in mild areas), native to Mexico but naturalized throughout N. America, Europe, and Asia. It grows in part shade or full sun to 3-4' and spreads a bit too easily by seed for tidy gardeners. Human and animal antihelminthic (for round and hook worms). Culinary (tastes best if leaves are gathered from plants grown in the shade). Epazoté means "skunk stench" in Aztec.
COMPOSITÆ

ACHILLEA
-DECOLORENS
GARDEN MACE: A hardy, low growing edible yarrow with 8-12" stalks of small cream/white flowers. Not ornamental or invasive, but tasty.
-MILLIFOLIUM
TRUE YARROW, MILFOIL: Delicate, gray-green, feathery leaves and clusters of small white flowers on long stems. Quickly spreading by roots and seeds. Stimulant, tonic, diaphoretic, vulnerary and aromatic. Used for colds if taken at the onset of fever. Used in witchcraft for divination and spells, being called "the Devil's plaything." Also used for venereal and menstrual problems. Navajo Indians drink a tea of the plant or chew the stems before intercourse for its aphrodisiac properties. Stronger substitute for hops in beer brewing. Plant with caution; yarrow is a very hardy plant and spreads very rapidly.
-MILLIFOLIUM 'pink cerise'
PINK YARROW: Same as the previous listing but with showy pink to rose flowers.
-TOMENTOSA
WOOLLY YARROW: A hardy, low growing, slowly spreading downy mat with 8-12" stalks topped by bright yellow flowers. Nice ground-cover for dry areas.
ANTHEMIS
-NOBILIS
ROMAN CHAMOMILE: A hardy, very pleasantly aromatic, slowly spreading ground cover with white and yellow flowers used as a tea (bitter) with strong sedative properties. Often used for nervous stomachs. An old friend of mine once said, "This is good enough to be illegal." It's good, but not that good. Also called Chamaemelum nobile. Sun or part shade.
ARTEMISIA
-ABROTANUM
SOUTHERNWOOD, OLD MAN, LAD'S LOVE, MAIDEN'S RUIN: A southern wormwood, from the South of Europe. A woody shrub with feathery gray-green leaves and inconspicuous yellow-white flowers. Highly scented. Used as a stimulant tonic and an emmenagogue or as a moth repellent (in French: garde-robe). A culinary herb in Italy. Once considered to be an aphrodisiac; 19th century poets used this plant as a clandestine symbol of homosexuality. Grows to 3-4' and likes full sun.
-ABROTANUM cv.
TANGERINE SOUTHERNWOOD: Similar to the previous listing but with a sweeter, much more pleasant scent and a larger, less dense growth habit (to 4-6' tall).
-ABROTANUM cv.
CAMPHOR SOUTHERNWOOD: Very much like southernwood but with a strong camphor odor and slightly grayer leaves.
-ABSINTHUM
"There fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp….And the name of the star is called Wormwood."
-Rev. 8:10, 11
WORMWOOD, ABSINTHE: One of my favorite herbs. Very bitter, contains thujone. Once used as a stimulant for cerebral exhaustion, as a stomachic, antiseptic, antihelminthic. Marketed commercially in Absorbine Jr™, a liniment for sprains; it's also the main ingredient in Absinthe, the internationally outlawed alcoholic distillation that "inspired" many of the Impressionist Era and late 19th Century artists and writers (Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Poe, Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Rimbaud, Picasso, &c).
Written records of the use of wormwood date back to the Assyrians of 600 BC. An old Judea-Christian legend has it that Wormwood first sprang up in the trail of the serpent as s/he left Eden. The genus, Artemisia, is named for Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild nature. Large doses of this plant are poisonous: an early symptom of this poisoning is purple-tinted vision. The hardy, 3-6' plant is easily grown in almost any situation, preferring full sun.

"I'll die young, but it's like kissing god."
-Lenny Bruce (on his addiction)

-AFRA
AFRICAN WORMWOOD: A half-tender, gray, lacy-leafed 3-4' shrub strongly scented. Said to repel dogs. Used in traditional African medicine for fevers, bronchial problems and malaria.
-ARBORESCENS
Delicate gray feathery foliage with stalks of small cream colored flowers on a 3-5' tree-like form. Very impressive as an ornamental, but tender to about 25º. Full sun. Native to the Mediteranean where it is used as a stomachic.
-ARBORESCENS x ABSINTHUM
'POWIS CASTLE' ARTEMISIA: A cross between wormwood and A. arborescens with the aroma and taste of the former and a growth habit similar to (but grows only to 2' tall and is somewhat prostrate) the latter. Easy to care for and a beautiful accent plant.
-CALIFORNICA
CALIFORNIA SAGEBRUSH: A large (to 4-5' tall) dense shrub with small, needle-like light gray-green leaves very highly and pleasantly scented. Resembles much more a southernwood than a sagebrush. Grows very quickly to its full height and to an equal width.
-DOUGLASII
CALIFORNIA MUGWORT: A hardy, highly scented, rapidly spreading, single-stemmed plant with silvery gray, slightly lobed leaves. Popularly used in pillows to stimulate dreams. Take the caution to isolate it to keep it from spreading; it can quickly become a weed -not that weeds are bad, of course: calling a plant a weed is a lot like calling a person a nigger. It says much more about the speaker than the subject.
-DRACUNCULUS
FRENCH TARRAGON: Delicate acidic-anise flavored popular culinary herb that cannot be grown from seed: it is reproduced from root divisions taken in the fall or early spring. Also, its flavor is lost upon drying; buying dried tarragon is a waste of money. At best it's roughage, at the worst it has been artificially flavored by the packer. Grows well in pots in a sandy soil mixture in part shade or sun. Dormant in the winter and is somewhat tender.
-FRIGIDA
MOUNTAIN BALL SAGE: A very ornamental, hardy, native (Central US) artemisia growing in low mounds of silvery, finely cut foliage. A tea from the leaves was used by the Blackfoot for coughs. The whole plant was used by the Arapaho Indians in magic ceremonies.
-INDICA
INDIAN MUGWORT: A quite handsome though troublesome (ain't that the way), hardy mugwort originally from Japan. Large green and white mottled leaves in the spring turning soon to dark green, with downy undersides the rest of the year. Grows 1-2' tall and spreads very rapidly.
-LACTIFLORA
GHOST PLANT: A tall plant (3-6') with large spikes of small cream colored flowers. Large green, deeply lobed leaves with a slight mugwort scent. Very suitable for fresh or dried flower arrangements: beautiful when in flower. Grow in full sun. From China.
-LUDOVICIANA 'silver king'
Many 3-5' long stems of silvery white, finely cut leaves on a hardy, sun-loving plant. Good for wreaths and dried flower arrangements. Spreads somewhat by underground runners. This and other varieties of Artemisia ludoviciana were used in smudging and for intestinal problems by American Indians.
-LUDOVICIANA 'silver queen-Cox'
A variety from Cox Arboretum in Dayton, Ohio. Has ¾" wide gray, entire leaves 3-4" long on slowly creeping singular stems. No scent. Hardy.
-LUDOVICIANA 'Valerie Finnis'
This silvery leafed artemisia reminds of me of a person I used to know: somewhat shy and retiring, with not a lot of visible energy, but very beautiful and intense in one-to-one relationships where love was involved.
-MARITIMA
LEVANT WORMSEED, SANTONICA: The flowers of this plant are one of the oldest and commonest antihelmintics in Western medicine. Hardy perennial shrub to 1' tall.
-PONTICA
ROMAN WORMWOOD, VERMOUTH: The most delicate looking (though hardy) of the wormwoods. Grows in a small (1' tall), slowly spreading mound and has feathery gray-green leaves. Once used to "strengthen" the stomach. Ingredient of Vermouth.
-PYCNOCEPHALA
SANDHILL SAGE: From the beaches of California, this 2' tall artemisia has all white, soft leaves on sprawling stems, with "pointed heads" of small yellow flowers. Has a taste resembling dry celery (I taste all plants that come through the nursery, especially the ornamentals. People are too often willing to dismiss the possibility that something has other attributes than that on the surface. Very beautiful.
-REDOWSKII
SWEET SAGE, RUSSIAN TARRAGON: A much maligned plant because some herb and seed companies (either out of ignorance or deceit) have tried to pass it off as French tarragon. It tastes nothing like French tarragon, though superficially the plants resemble each other. If you think of it as the Plains Indians* did-sweet sage-it acquires an identity and value of its own. Its sweet leaves and seeds were used as seasonings and ceremonially by many tribes. When dried, it has a pleasing, persistent fragrance. Grows to 3-4' and is hardy and somewhat rangy. Formerly called A. dracunculoides.
While I'm on a rant: Whenever the term Russian is used in reference to an herb or vegetable, you can be 99% certain that the plant has nothing to do with geographical Russia. This is a rascist, elitist term applied by people, of those tendencies, to plants considered of lower quality, by people obviously unqualified to perform such qualitative judgements. It is popular in this country to think of Russians as inferior people.

*I use the term "Indian" in this catalog to refer to the people living in North and South America before the 15th century European invasion. A close friend of mine (an Assinaboine Indian) says she's tired of being called a person of color or native or aboriginal or any other condescending euphemism. She says Indian is easier to use since it's an established term (perhaps the people in India should change their name), and that, after all, it doesn't matter what you're called, it's how you're called.
-SCHMIDTIANA 'silver mound'
A hardy, ornamental, low growing (to 1' tall), slightly spreading plant from Japan. Very pretty with feathery, small, silver leaves.
-STELLERIANA
OLD LADY, DUSTY MILLER: A hardy, ornamental Artemisia with heavy, deeply lobed, white, somewhat downy leaves. Low growing, spreading.
-STELLERIANA 'silver brocade'
Similar to the preceding listing, but a bit more civilized (lower growing, not as many flower stalks... you know, not so wild and sexual).
-TRIDENTATA
GREAT BASIN SAGEBRUSH: Sagebrush is a very aromatic shrub with 2" flat, three lobed gray leaves. This is the state flower of Nevada-the perfect plant for those homesick for the high Western desert. The smell of wet sagebrush after a desert rain is unforgettable: when you're speeding down I-80 in the middle of the night and one of those fleeting desert thunderstorms hits, the sagebrush takes over all your senses and doesn't give them back until you reach the next truck stop.
Nevada is my second favorite state. It is at the same time the Nation's most and least abused land. It is under constant attack from the military (nuclear explosions, poison gas depots, bombing ranges) and Corporate America (strip mining, poisonous and nuclear waste dumps, Las Vegas) and yet, when you are standing out in its desert, you know that this land could easily destroy all indigenous human life in a matter of days, if the conditions were right. Not that I think human life is any less valuable than any other life form, I don't. But sometimes it's necessary for me to remember that I'm just a part of this earth and have relatively little control over the totality of the existence of life.
Sagebrush was used as a treatment for colds and sore eyes. The seeds were eaten raw or as pinole. According to Nevada Indians, "sinners" must bathe in sagebrush to cleanse their "sins."
-VERSICOLOR
CHAIN-LINK ARTEMISIA: An unassuming Artemisia with narrow, wiry, grayish-white leaves (like many-fingered claws) with a maroon tinge to the tips. Grows to 1-2' in full sun.
-VULGARIS
MUGWORT: Once called the "Mother of Herbs" (mater herbarum). For centuries it has been used as a tonic nervine, to season fatty meats, to make beer, repel demons and venoms, &c. This variety is very hardy and grows to 8' tall in any soil and doesn't spread much by runners like other mugworts. It has dark green, deeply lobed leaves with light undersides and purplish stems.
CALEA
-ZACATECHICHI
THLE-PELAKANO, "DREAM HERB": Easily grown subtropical shrub (probably hardy to the high 20ºs) with clusters of small white flowers. Used medicinally for stomach problems. Called "the leaf of God" (Thle-pelakano) and used as a tea (of the dried leaves) for divination and to clarify the senses by the Chontal people of Chiapas, Mexico. After drinking the tea, the dried leaves are smoked while resting in a darkened room. Has been reported to increase dreaming and/or the recollection of dreams.

"Dreams are necessary to life." -Anaïs Nin

CHRYSANTHEMUM
-BALSAMITA
COSTMARY, ALECOST, BIBLE LEAF: A once popular Victorian plant, probably because of its mild, sweet, pleasantly minty aroma and in spite of it being a rather invasive, untidy spreader. It is an easy to grow, hardy perennial and in late summer sends up flower stalks 3-4' tall. Used in Victorian times to flavor beer and as a bookmark for Bibles.
-PARTHENIUM
FEVERFEW: A hardy, strongly scented plant to 2-3' tall, with many small daisy-like flowers that are used for migraine headaches, fevers, "hysteria," colds, and "to enable women to have children." It's an old antidote for using too much opium. Tonic, aperient. Cuts grease when added in small quantities to food. Reported by biologists at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, to be a source of melatonin.
-ROSEUM
PERSIAN PYRETHRUM: The flowers of this plant are the source of the insecticide pyrethrum, an effective "organic" bug killer. A hardy perennial to 1-2' tall, it grows best in moist, well drained soil. Pink to scarlet flowers. Also called Pyrethrum roseum.
COSMOS
-ASTROSANGUINEUS
CHOCOLATE COSMOS: Small shrub (1-2' tall), growing from small tubers and hardy to about 20°. Beautiful 2" dark brown/red, chocolate scented flowers. It's a sign of the times (or the sign of some former time) that this flower is today called "Chocolate Cosmos" instead of by its translated Latin name, "Blood Star." As with many plants from the tropics cultivated in cooler regions, it will bloom more if grown in poorer, sandy soil instead of its rich native soil.
ECHINACEA
-ANGUSTIFOLIUM
'BLACK SAMPSON' CONEFLOWER: 2" violet flowers on 2' long stems with long thin leaves. Native to Central and Southwestern US. The dried root is said to be a strong immune system stimulant. Used by the Sioux Indians as such. Grow this in calcium-rich, well-drained soil in full sun.
-PURPUREA
PURPLE CONEFLOWER: Large red-purple flowers with large, wide deep green leaves on 3' tall stems. Strong immune system stimulant and used by Plains and Eastern Indians as such.
-PURPUREA 'white swan'
A shorter (to 2' tall) white-flowered version of the previous listing.
EUPATORIUM
-PERFOLIATUM
BONESET: Diaphoretic, tonic, stimulant; used by Indians and early immigrants as the first-choice herb for colds and the flu, or any disease involving fever. It is an easily recognizable plant with the 3-4' stems appearing to perforate pairs of large, opposite leaves. The common name, boneset, refers not to the "setting of bones," but to the plant's ability to cure what was once called a "bone-breaking" fever. It grows in full sun or part shade and goes dormant in winter.
-PURPUREUM
JOE PYE WEED: A tall, hardy native of Eastern US, found wild in moist meadows (once called "Queen of the Meadow"). Large clusters of creamy white to light purple flowers atop a hollow round stem with whorls of vanilla scented leaves. Used as a tonic, diuretic, stimulant, antirheumatic and to remove kidney and gall stones. Dormant in winter.
HELICHRYSUM
-ANGUSTIFOLIUM
CURRY PLANT: A hardy, dense, sun loving shrub with narrow silver leaves with a strong aroma of curry. In the summer it is covered with small yellow button flowers. Very easy to grow, deer proof, and makes a wonderful hedge if pruned regularly. Does not taste like curry: it's quite bitter.
HIERACIUM
-PILOSELLA
HAWKWEED, HÅRET HØGEURT: A hardy, low-growing, hairy-leafed plant with yellow, dandelion-like flowers. Independent reports are that several joints of these leaves smoked are "consciousness expanding." Also used for gastrointestinal problems by N. American Indians.
INULA
-HELENIUM
ELECAMPANE: 4-6' tall stems with 3-4" yellow sun-following flowers and very large (to 1' wide by 3' long) leaves and a large taproot. Looks almost tropical, but is very easy to grow anywhere in the US. It's an antiseptic, bactericide, antitusive, expectorant, tonic. Used in cough remedies (for bronchitis), as a wash for skin problems, as a sweet condiment, and in flavoring wines and liqueurs (ingredient in Benedictine and Absinthe).
SANTOLINA
-CHAMAECYPARISSUS
GRAY SANTOLINA, LAVENDER COTTON: A hardy, very whitish, gray-leafed plant to 2' tall with ½" deep yellow button flowers in the summer. Perfect for low hedges; may be trimmed to almost any shape. Insect repellent, deer proof, drought resistant, vermifuge, antispasmodic. Very fragrant. Sun.
-VIRENS
GREEN SANTOLINA: Similar to gray santolina, but with deep green, somewhat less dense leaves and chartreuse flowers.
SOLIDAGO
-ODORA
SWEET GOLDENROD: Large plumes of very bright golden flowers (in the late fall) on 3-4' tall stems of anise scented and tasting 2-3" narrow leaves. Tonic, astringent, laxative. Hardy native of the South East US.
SPILANTHES
-ACMELLA
TOOTHACHE PLANT: A creeping, vigorous tropical plant with blood-red tipped, yellow cone flowers. Parts of the plant contain isobutylamides that have the property of numbing the mouth when chewed. Used in Ecuador for relieving tooth aches. Medicinal uses also.
STEVIA
-REBUNDIANA
STEVIA: A very tender tropical perennial whose leaves are 250 times sweeter than sugar and without sugar's calories. From Brazil and Paraguay, it is used traditionally for hypoglycemia and as a digestive aid. The powdered leaves are used culinarily. Very difficult to grow.
TAGETES
-LUCIDA
PERICÓN, YAHUTLI, MEXICAN TARRAGON: An anise flavored, tender, evergreen shrub (in mild climates) used culinarily and in smoking mixtures. Likes warm, well drained soil and full sun. Has small yellow flowers and 2" long narrow green leaves. Good tea. It is used in an inebriating smoking mixture called ye-tumutsáli with Nicotiana rustica by the Huichol Indians of Mexico. A good strain not grown from seeds.

"Ce que public te reproche, cultive-le, c'est toi." -Jean Cocteau

TANACETUM
-VULGARE
TANSY: A quite large (4-5' tall), hardy, somewhat sprawling, fern-like leafed plant with small, bright yellow button flowers. Very aromatic: used as an antihelminthic, insecticide, emmenagogue and abortificant. Spreads rapidly (if grown in moist soil-stays in a clump if grown in dry soil). Sun or part shade.
-VULGARE 'crispum'
CURLED TANSY: An ornamental, "civilized" version of common tansy, to 2' tall and looking much like a bed of ferns. Not much scent.
TUSSILAGO
-FARFARA
COLTSFOOT: A hardy, easily grown perennial with dandelion-like yellow flowers on bare stems in early spring before any leaves emerge. Low growing and spreads readily by underground stems and seeds. Native to Europe, W. Asia, Africa and naturalized in the US. Expectorant, demulcent, anti-inflammatory. Used for coughs commercially and in "anti-smoking" herbal tobacco. Likes moisture.
CONVOLVULACEÆ

TURBINA
-CORYMBOSA
OLOLIUHQUI, COAXIHUITL, XTABENTÚN: A perennial, tender (keep from freezing), rapidly growing vine with many small (1-2" long) white trumpet flowers and dark green heart-shaped leaves. A strained cold water infusion of 60-100 ground seeds was used by Oaxacan shamans. Be aware, though, that in 1620 the Catholic Church declared the use of Ololiuhqui to be heresy and ordered all known plants destroyed (God knows where I found this one…). Likes warmth, moisture and rich soil. Grows quickly in the right situation. Medicinally, the seeds were used as ecbolics and uterine hemostatics because of their high content of ergot-like alkaloids.
XTABENTÚN is the Mayan name for T. corymbosa and the name of a commercially available liqueur in Mexico distilled from fermented honey made by bees from the flowers of this plant. Previously classified as Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea sidafolia.

"A little poison now and then: that makes for agreeable dreams. And much poison in the end, for an agreeable death." -Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

CRUCIFERÆ

ARMORACIA
-RUSTICANA
HORSERADISH: Very large (to 2' long) leaves with a vigorous, spreading growth habit: growing from any slight piece of root. Culinary, stimulant, rubefacient, aperient, diuretic. Strong enough to make any hot-pepper lover cry. Popular in Eastern Europe (where it is native) for renewing strength after sexual exhaustion.

"I write for the madmen… and the angels." -Henry Miller, Nexus

CYPERACEAE

CYPERUS
-ESCULENTUS, var. sativa
CHUFA, ZULU NUTS, EARTH ALMOND: From N. Africa, but easily grown in the US, these sedge-like plants produce small, edible tubers that are sweet and nutty. These tubers have been found in Egyptian tombs over 3000 years ago. Grow in wet or boggy soil. Harvest the nuts in late fall.
-PAPYRUS
PAPYRUS, PAPER PLANT: A large sedge (to 5-6' tall) once grown along the Nile in Egypt as a source of fibers for paper making. The stems were also chewed for their sweet juice. Grow in water. Semi-tropical.
ELEOCHARIS
-DULCIS
WATER CHESTNUT, LING: A rush-like plant from China. A semi-hardy aquatic plant, the bulb-like root is used as a food, fresh or cooked in Asian cuisine. This is the traditional Chinese water chestnut. Easy to grow in ponds or very wet soil. Very productive.
ERICACEÆ

ARCTOSTAPHYLOS
-UVA-URSI
KINNIKINICK: A low growing, hardy, evergreen shrub used in herbal smoking mixtures. Grows best in part shade in acid, well-drained soil. Diuretic and astringent.
GAULTHERIA
-PROCUMBENS
WINTERGREEN: Low growing, hardy evergreen shrub whose leaves and bright red berries have a very strong (wintergreen) flavor. Astringent, stimulant, aromatic, tonic. Since the oil is quickly absorbed by the skin, it is used for rheumatism. Slow growing in part shade and moist, acid soil.
GERANIACEÆ

PELARGONIUM
SCENTED GERANIUMS
Scented geraniums are a varied group of perennial herbs or shrubs coming from South Africa, mostly during the Victorian era. They all have curiously scented leaves of various forms and most have small (under 1") pink or white flowers. They are hardy to the mid-to-high 20ºs. Weather, time of day, time of year and growing conditions all influence the sometimes elusive perfumes of these plants. The following varieties are offered:
-APPLE
P. odoratissimum: Light green, 1-3" round leaves and small white flowers. Apple fragrance.
-APRICOT
Large leaves and large, dark rosy flowers.
-ATTAR OF ROSE
A hybrid with compact growth used in the perfume fields of France.
-CLORINDA
Large scented leaves and large pinkish flowers.
-GINGER
P. torento: Large lavender flowers and 1" rounded leaves. Scent of fresh-cut ginger.
-LEMON
P. crispum: Tiny crinkled leaves and pure lemon scent. The "finger bowl" geranium.
-LEMON BALM
P. mellissinum: Lemon balm scent and a vigorous growth habit.
-LIME
P. x-nervosum: Strong lime fragrance and large (1-2") white, pink and red flowers.
-MABEL GRAY
A hybrid with a strong lemon verbena scent and lavender flowers. A bit difficult to grow.
-NUTMEG
P. fragrans: Strong spice scent, small light gray leaves and small white flowers. Nice.
-NUTMEG 'variegated'
Same as previous with white variegated leaves.
-ORANGE
P. citriodorum: Strong citrus aroma with white, pink and maroon flowers.
-PEACH
Small round crinkled leaves variegated creamy yellow and green. Elusive, fine peach scent.
-PEPPERMINT
P. tomentosum: Large velvety leaves and small white flowers. Large plant for part shade. Very strong peppermint scent.
-PINEAPPLE
Medium size leaves with a pineapple scent.
-ROSE
P. graveolens: A very old, traditional variety with a heavy rose scent.
-SKELETON ROSE 'Dr. Livingston'
Deeply cut green leaves and a lemon-rose scent. Looks like a slug got to it. Vigorous.
-SORREL
P. acetosum: Unscented leaves with a pleasant sorrel-like taste. Edible.
-STRAWBERRY
A very old hybrid once called "Countess of Scarborough." A small plant with small green, delicately scented leaves and pink flowers.
-SWEET MIRIAM
Rose scented hybrid. Large pink flowers from winter to summer.
New varieties of scented geraniums are constantly added to the price/availability list.
GINKGOACEÆ

GINGKO
-BILOBA
GINGKO, BAI-GUO: The last surviving genus of a plant family from the Mesozoic era (240 million years ago), it is a large, slow growing deciduous and dioecious tree. Hardy and easy to grow, being very resistant to pests, fire and even air polution. It is said that an old gingko tree near ground-zero in Hiroshima in 1945 sprouted new leaves a few months after the atomic bomb blast. The seeds are used traditionally for lung problems and the leaves are used for circulatory problems and as a memory improver. Grow in full sun. In America, male trees are preferred because they are "less messy." In China female trees are preferred because they are more useful. Seeds are poisonous in larger quantities.
GNETACEÆ

EPHEDRA
-SINENSIS
MA-HUANG: From China, this is the pharmacologically active ephedra, containing useful quantities of ephedrine. Used as a stimulant and an anti-asthmatic. Grow in full sun in well drained soil. Speed (amphetamine) is synthesized from ephedrine and currently there are efforts in the US to make this plant illegal.
-VIRIDIS
MORMON TEA: This is the high desert variety of ephedra from Nevada. Contains tannin and a small amount of ephedrine. This ephedra is slow growing but can become a small tree. It is a very primitive plant without apparent leaves. It's hardy and prefers dry, alkaline soil but grows fine in the hard clay gardens here at Theatrum Botanicum. Adaptable. Reports that this species are too low in ephedrine to be useful are probably due to the plant being harvested incorrectly: the alkaloid content of all ephedra plants peaks in the fall just before the first frosts.
GRAMINEÆ

ARUNDO
-DONAX
-GIANT REED: A very tall (to 20') perennial grass hardy in much of the US. Native to the Mediterranean region. A spectacular, easily grown grass with some interesting substances in its roots. Pan's flute.
-VARIEGATED GIANT REED: A very ornamental version of the previous with longitudinal stripes of white and/or yellow.
COIX
-LACHRYMA-JOBI
JOB'S TEARS: A 3-5' tall ornamental tropical clump grass grown for its bead-like seeds which are made into magical rosaries and are edible and used for making bread and beer. Grow in rich, moist, well drained soil in sun or part shade.
CYMBOPOGAN
-CITRATUS
TRUE LEMON GRASS: A 2-5' tall tropical clump grass with a lemon flavor. Give it very rich, well drained soil in full sun for best production. Will survive to about 25°. Great as a tea and used in Southeast Asian cooking. Known only in cultivation; cannot be grown from seed.
-NARDUS
CITRONELLA GRASS: Similar to C. citratus but with a less complex (lighter) lemon flavor. Produces flowers and can be grown from seed. Possibly the progenitor of C. citratus. Protect from freezing.
HIEROCHLOE
-ODORATA
SWEET GRASS: A short, spreading native Midwestern US grass with the scent of coumarin (vanilla). The dry woven grass blades are burned by some Indians and Indianophiles in purification rights. Very easy to grow in almost any situation.
PHALARIS
-AQUATICA
-AQ1: A potent strain of Phalaris discovered in Italy. Grow this variety in part shade or full sun with a good deal of moisture. Likes clay.
-AUSTRALIS: This and the following variety were rejected by the Australian government Agricultural Dept. because of too high a content of alkaloids.
-UNETA: See previous listing.
-ARUNDINACEA
REED CANARY GRASS: Rapidly spreading (by runners), hardy clump grass of ornamental and ethnobotanical interest. Native to Europe, Asia and N. America. Grow in full sun with moisture for full production. In Phalaris, the highest alkaloid content is in the new growth.
-TURKEY RED STRAIN: Selected for stable alkaloid content when dried.
-VARIEGATED cv. 'picta': An old-time ornamental variety of the previous. White or cream and green pinstripe leaves. 2-3' tall. Likes part shade. There is something humorous to me about selling ornamental versions of such useful plants.
-YUGOSLAVIAN: Selected for maximum alkaloid content when cut fresh.
PHRAGMITES
-AUSTRALIS
REED: A clump grass particularly high in some useful chemicals in the rhizones.
SACCHARUM
-OFFICINARUM
SUGAR-CANE: Large tropical perennial grass (to 12' tall) widely grown for the production of sugar. Almost bamboo-like in appearance with 2" wide, 3' long leaves. Requires 18 months to produce sugar canes but may be easily grown as a specimen plant anywhere without solid freezes. This plant represents the first instance in the history of humanity where one ethnic group (Christian European colonialists) capitalized, so to speak, on large scale slavery for its cultivation.

"It is dangerous to enlighten, a crime to love, mankind." -Marquis De Sade

HAMAMELIDACEÆ

HAMAMELIS
-VIRGINIANA
WITCH HAZEL: Astringent, haemostatic, and the forked branches of this large, hardy shrub were used as divining rods.
"Among the Maya we found a great number of books, written with their characters, and because they contained nothing but superstitions and falsehoods about the Devil, we burned them all…"
-Bishop Diego de Landa, 1561
"This plant, about which was formerly draped, by those versed in the occult arts, a veil of deep mystery, and whose forked branches were used as a divining rod while searching for water and ores, grows profusely in the damp woods of Canada and the US, flowering in October and ripening its fruit the following summer. The many varied uses of a watery infusion of Witch Hazel bark were fully known to the aborigines, whose knowledge of medicinal flora has been strangely correct as since proven."
-Charles Millspaugh, American Medicinal Plants, 1892
HYDROPHYLLACEAE

ERIODYCTION
-CALIFORNICA
YERBA SANTA: An aromatic evergreen shrub with many small white to purple flowers in top clusters. A tea of the leaves was considered by CA Indians as a specific for asthma, colds, and chronic infection of the bronchial tubes. Listed in the US Pharmacopœia for these applications. It is hardy to the teens and is native to dry sandy sunny hillsides in Oregon and California.
HYPERIACEÆ

HYPERICUM
-PERFORATUM
ST. JOHN'S WORT: An aromatic herb with many magical properties attributed to it (drive away evil spirits, purify the air). Grow in regular garden soil; likes calcium. Vulnerary, sedative, anti inflammatory, antidepressant, antiviral, antibiotic. A very valuable medicinal herb. Can sometimes cause photo sensitization of the skin. A low growing, very hardy native of Europe and West Asia.
IRIDACEÆ

BELAMCANDA
-CHINENSIS
SHE-GAN, BLACKBERRY LILY: In Chinese medicine the root is used to reduce swelling and pain in the throat, coughs, bronchitis, asthma, and related throat disease. Easy to grow almost anywhere. Has an ornamental orange flower with purplish spots. Slightly poisonous: do not use if pregnant.
CROCUS
-SATIVUS
SAFFRON: A wonderful small herb that has been used and valued for over 1000 years. Medicinally, it is stomachic, antispasmodic and sedative. Once considered to be an aphrodisiac, probably because of these medicinal properties. Saffron, the spice, is the orange stigmas of the purple flowers (it takes about 60,000 to make a pound of spice) that appear for a short period in the fall. The taste is unique, though often herb companies will try to pass off the safflower as saffron because it has a similar color. Semi-hardy, growing best in sandy soil in full sun.
IRIS
-VERSICOLOR
BLUE FLAG: A common, hardy plant with large blue or purple flowers. Often used for eruptive skin diseases caused by spleen and liver problems. Stimulates the flow of saliva and gastric juices. Grows naturally in marshes but adapts well to garden soil.
LABIATÆ

CEDRONELLA
-CANARIENSIS
"BALM OF GILEAD," CANARY BALM: Not the real Balm of Gilead, but of a similar scent, which is very citrus-balmy. Hardy to the low 20ºs. Nice looking and pleasantly scented shrub to 2-3' tall.
COLEUS
-AMBOINICUS
SPANISH THYME, CUBAN OREGANO, INDIA BORAGE: A highly fragrant, strong flavored plant used for seasoning. The taste is unique. It definitely doesn't look or taste like an oregano or thyme or borage (or the common coleus, either), having succulent, slightly hairy, light green leaves up to 1½" across. An easy potted plant but don't freeze. Also called Plectranthus amboinicus. East Indies.
-AMBOINICUS, variegated
Similar to the previous listing but with larger leaves with their outer margins white.

"Raise less corn and more hell."-Mary Ellen Lease

GLECHOMA
-HEDERACEA
GROUND IVY: A hardy, fast growing, aromatic creeper used for centuries as a stimulant tonic (for digestive disorders), diuretic and vulnerary. Also used in beer and ale brewing (before and instead of hops). Soothes coughs. Makes a fine indoor hanging plant. In my more Bohemian days, I lived in Berkeley in a warehouse which also housed 100s of old pianos, 1000s of rotting Chinese bitter melons, a ballet school and a roofing company. I was publishing a weekly newspaper at the time and had to live in my "office." Anyhow, one of these plants thrived (though I didn't) with what little light filtered down through a single high skylight. A hardy little sucker.
-HEDERACEA, variegated
Same as the previous listing but more ornamental with white variegations on the leaves.
HEDEOMA
-VIMINEA
JAMAICAN PENNYROYAL: A tender small shrub with small light green leaves and very small white flowers in winter. Grows well in pots and has a pronounced pennyroyal scent and taste. Also sometimes called Satureja viminea.
HYSSOPUS
-OFFICINALIS
HYSSOP: A hardy small aromatic woody shrub with narrow dark green leaves and either white, pink or dark blue flowers. Tonic, expectorant, stomachic carminative. Used in treating bronchitis and colds, improving the appetite, and in the liqueur Chartreuse.
IBOZA
-RIPARIA
IBOZA: An African medicinal plant with small white flowers in the winter and aromatic, fuzzy, scalloped green leaves. A tender indoor or greenhouse specimen to 4' tall with a strange smell. Also called Tetradenia riparia.

"Exagerate the essential... leave the obvious vague." -Van Gogh

LAVANDULA
The smell of lavender reminds me of my great aunt's bathroom when I visited her as a child. It's said that smell impresses the memory more than any of the other senses. Another somewhat related smell that impresses me is that of gin, which still causes, through no fault of its own, my stomach to wretch -it was the first alcohol I was sick from-but that doesn't really relate to lavender except that some lavenders smell a bit like turpentine which smells a bit like gin.
If this last paragraph seems a little rambling, consider that it was three o'clock in the morning as I wrote it (you thought people who ran small nurseries kept bankers' hours?) and the catalog was almost finished; I'd been saving this section for last because I'd often had a problem with differentiation in this genus. It seems that in every nursery that I visit in my never ending search for new interesting varieties, I see French lavender labeled as Spanish lavender (or vice-versa) or Lavandula vera labeled as Lavandula spica, and so on...
Had I loved lavender the way I love horses or women or dogs (the relationship is lateral-time and circumstance, not hierarchy, dictate the preference), this wouldn't be a problem; I'd have enough experience to just know. The nurseries that do know often seem to be wrong. Actually, does any of this really matter to anyone besides taxonomists? Did you ever invite one to a party? A taxonomist, that is… Sure, names are important: I was once threatened with jail by the local DA because I couldn't come up with a name for my son who was born at home. Never invite DAs to parties, either-but that's another story.
Anyhow, I guess my great aunt was a bit wacko (bless her soul) and quite a difficult person to get along with. In the end, in fact, she would only talk to cats; humans ceased to have any value to her. I never did find out why she liked lavender so much-she rarely talked to me, and then never about lavender, only cats.
All lavenders love the sun and a light soil with much calcium. They require little water once established and are definitely deer-proof.
-ANGUSTIFOLIA
ENGLISH LAVENDER: Also called Lavandula vera and L. officinalis. Narrow gray-green leaves and spikes of small lavender flowers on a 2' plant. Fine scent-this variety is what most people think of as lavender. I'm not selling it this year. What you will buy under this name from other nurseries is a seedling that could very well be called by one of the following L. angustifolia varietal names... or you could name it yourself. The horticulturists who made the following selections chose well. All are hardy. The following are seven varieties of what is commonly called "English lavender":
-Nana Alba: DWARF WHITE: A very pretty small plant (about 1' tall) with short spikes of pure white, sweetly scented flowers.
-'Jean Davis': PINK-FLOWERED: A small (1-2' tall) nicely rounded plant with mild, sweetly scented light pink flowers.
-'Martha Roderick': A compact plant hardy to about 0° & covered with bright lavender flowers.
-'Munstead': DWARF ENGLISH: Bright lavender flowers on what was originally called a "dwarf" lavender, but since the introduction of much smaller lavenders, more properly called a "medium sized" lavender. Growth to about 18-24" and 2-3' across.
-'Pastor's Pride': A medium sized plant with bright dark lavender, sweetly scented flowers with the distinction of blooming in two flushes during the year.
-'Rosea': A medium sized plant with light pink flowers. A bit more fragrant and with a slightly larger growth habit than 'Jean Davis'.
-'Sawyers': A perfume lavender with thick, felted leaves that appear white. Large wands of deep purple flowers.
-'Sleeping Beauty': Long spikes of dark lavender flowers above narrow gray leaves. Also called "Carolyn Dille." Maybe Carolyn is out of favor with the powers-that-be or maybe she liked this "Sleeping Beauty" image more.
-DENTATA
-Green French Lavender: A quite strongly scented plant (upright to 2-3' tall) with light green, dentate leaves and deep purple flowers that bloom throughout the year where climates are mild. This and the following gray French lavender are perhaps the most tender listed here.
-Gray French Lavender: Similar to the previous listing, but with gray leaves and a more sprawling growth habit (to about 1' tall).
-DELPHINENSIS
An heirloom lavender from the turn of the last century (1900). At that time it was one of the main varieties used in perfume production. Has many lavender, fine scented flowers above relatively compact gray leaves. Grows about 2' tall.
-HETEROPHYLLA
SWEET LAVENDER: Possibly a cross between L. angustifolia and L dentata. Very sweet scent.
-x INTERMEDIA (hybrids)
The following lavenders are hybrids of a more recent design, in most cases created for commercial perfume production:
-'Abriali': Long, narrow gray leaves with long spikes of deep lavender flowers. Highly scented.
-'Dutch': Deep purple flowers on an early blooming, 2-3' tall shrub with narrow gray-green leaves. Grows rapidly. -'Fred Boulin': Light gray leaves with long spikes of dark purple, fine scented flowers. To 2' tall. Extended blooming season (into winter).
-'Fulgate': Compact gray narrow leaves with very fragrant dark lavender flowers.
-'Goodwin Creek': Large dark purple flowers above very large, almost velvety, softly dentate gray leaves. A cross of L. heterophylla and L. dentata.
-'Grappenhall': Very long gray leaves with long spikes of large, fragrant, light lavender flowers. A tall plant to 3'.-'Grosso': Abundant long spikes of deep violet flowers above a low growing mound of 1" long narrow gray leaves. A commercial strain from the Vaucluse District of France. Named for some guy, Grosso: not a good choice for a name. No offense...
-'Lisa Marie': Lavender flowers with narrow, almost woolly (x-L. lanata) 1½" gray leaves on a compact bush to 1'. Developed by Ken Montgomery, a past Director of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, and named after either his or Elvis' daughter.
-'Provence': (L. angustifolia x L. latifolia) Large gray leaves and tall spikes of very large flower heads of very nicely scented light lavender flowers. Developed for commercial lavender oil production in France.
-LANATA
WOOLLY LAVENDER: Large light gray (almost white) velvety leaves with spikes of dark purple, strongly scented flowers. A very nice contrast on a plant to about 2' tall.
-LATIFOLIA
A low growing (to 1') mound of wide gray leaves with many long stems of strongly scented lavender flowers. Fall blooming.
-LUSITANICA
WILD PORTUGUESE LAVENDER: Very short, narrow gray green leaves and tight flower cones with 2 narrow purple flags on top and almost black flowers. Grows to 2-3' tall and is strongly scented.

"When a flower grows wild, it can always survive." -Dolly Parton

-PEDUNCULATA
WILD SPANISH LAVENDER: Probably the precursor of most of the Spanish lavender varieties available. This one grows wild on the hillsides of the Gredos Mountains in Spain. Very similar to commercial Spanish lavenders, but with shorter terminal flower spikes.
-PINNATA
FERN LAVENDER. A unique lavender with lacy leaves and spikes of deep purple flowers (usually splitting into three parts at the top of the spike). Very tender and with little scent.
-SPICA
-Spike Lavender: A very large, coarse, woody shrub (3-4' tall x 4' diameter) with wide grayish leaves and a great many long spikes of very aromatic lavender flowers. Blooms almost year round at the nursery.
-White Spike Lavender: Large spikes of pure white, strongly scented flowers above a rather large plant of gray green leaves. Long blooming.
-STOECHES
SPANISH LAVENDER: The following listings are all similar in that they have a coarser scent than most other lavenders, they have a top "cone" flower head with "flags" on top of the cone, and they have narrow leaves and an upright, bushy growth. This is the species believed to have been used by the Romans in their baths and medicine. All Spanish lavenders are highly scented, but with, some say, not as sweet a scent as other lavenders. They prefer intense sun. Also see L. lusitanica and L. pedunculata:
-Dwarf Spanish: A very cute small plant (1-2' tall) with short gray leaves and many, many small purple flowers.
-'Quasti': A medium sized (2-3' tall) Spanish lavender with large purple flowers.
-Spanish: A large (3-4' tall) bushy plant with narrow gray leaves and large purple flowers (this variety with four large purple flags on top instead of the normal two). Early spring and late fall flowers.
-White Spanish: A medium sized Spanish lavender with gray leaves and small white flowers.
-VIRIDIS
YELLOW LAVENDER: From the Canary Islands, this is a large plant 2-3' tall and sprawling with yellow green leaves and yellow flowers. It has a strong, oily scent and looks very similar to Spanish lavender.
LEONOTIS
-LEONURUS
LION'S TAIL, WILD DAGGA: A large bush (to 6' tall) with whorls of 2½" orange flowers in the late fall. Needs much sun and a long growing season to flower. African tribes smoke leaves and flowering tops as a euphoriant (dagga means marijuana). Hardy to the mid 20ºs, but needs a frost-free fall to bloom and a long, hot fall to produce active resinous tops.

"...Nor can anyone who has even heard of science believe in the absolute validity of taboos, or in the sanctions which are supposed to follow the breaking of them." - Aldous Huxley

LEONURUS
"There is no better herb to drive melancholy vapours from the heart, to strengthen it and make the mind cheerful, blithe and merry."
-Culpepper.
-CARDIACA
MOTHERWORT: It's also very bitter with a pungent smell. A tall, hardy perennial (dormant in winter), it easily grows almost anywhere. Likes sun. Sedative, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, cardiotonic. Used by "mothers" since the Greek Empire in amenorrhœa and dysmenorrhœa. Not to be used without supervision during pregnancy. A valuable medicinal herb.
-SIBIRICUS
MARIJUANILLA, YI-MU-CAO: Easy to grow hardy annual or biennial with 2-3' tall spikes of white to pinkish-purple woolly flowers. The leaves and flowers smoked as a "psychic" herb in Central America and are used in traditional Chinese medicine in a manner similar to L. cardiaca, with the same precautions. The seeds are used medicinally to regulate the menses and to promote circulation.
MARRUBIUM
-VULGARE
HOREHOUND: A bitter plant of the mint family used in treating bronchitis and coughs. Contains vitamin C. It's expectorant, emmenagogue, a weak sedative and an appetite stimulant. A hardy, rather handsome, woolly, whitishgreen shrub with 1" flower whorls along its 1-2' long, scraggly stems.

"Too much freedom is a dangerous thing."
-Pope John Paul II

MELISSA
-OFFICINALIS
LEMON BALM: Having been cultivated for over 2000 years, this refreshingly lemon scented and tasting herb was so popular in Europe that it was called Thé de France. The Arabs introduced it medicinally, specifically for treating anxiety and depression. It's carminative, antispasmodic and diaphoretic. Used in the liqueurs Benedictine and Chartreuse. Must be used fresh. I sell three varieties: 1. Regular old lemon balm. 2. Golden-leafed lemon balm. 3. Golden variegated lemon balm. They're hardy in sun or part shade and all spread rapidly. Eat them fast.
MENTHA
The mint family is large and growing. Its popularity is well deserved: mints are stimulant, carminative, antispasmodic, antiseptic, aromatic and anti-inflammatory... And many taste good. They are widely used in teas and flavorings. All are easy to grow and like part shade or sun (if given generous amounts of water). The Latin nomenclature is vague on many of these species and varieties; any living thing that has been cultivated and inbred for 1000s of years is often difficult to categorize. (This last sentence reminds me of some of my neighbors here in Navarro.)
I have a great personal fondness for mints, having been raised on mint tea by my Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother back in Lancaster, PA.
Most mints are spreading, hardy perennials. I once thought it would be 'neat' to plant a raised bed of just mints-this was a bad idea, but I wouldn't try to tell you how to live your lives. If you wish to preserve any individual varieties, however, do not let your mints go to seed: some will crossbreed and not remain true to type.
-APPLEMINT
M. SUAVEOLENS: Large, hairy light green leaves and a mild apple scent. The largest mint I sell. Popular culinary variety.
-CAPE MINT
M. LONGIFOLIA v. 'capensis': Narrow, gray green leaves and a strong, unusual scent. Originally from South Africa.
-CORSICAN MINT
M. REQUIENII: This mint is smaller than most (minuscule) and more tender than most. Strong Crème dementhe aroma. Spreads rapidly as a very low (under 1"), shade loving ground cover.
-CHEWING GUM MINT
A "double bubble" tasting variety of spearmint. The leaves are shaded with purple.
-CHINESE MEDICINAL MINT
BO-HE: When you read "mint" in Chinese medical texts, this is it. Used in TCM to dispel wind and heat. From the Berkeley Botanical Garden which, by the way, is a great place to spend a few days if you like plants.
-DOUBLE MINT
A blend of spearmint and peppermint flavors. You've probably seen the TV chewing gum commercials-if not, you didn't miss anything. Don't let bad advertising spoil good mints.
-'EAU DE COLOGNE' MINT
A peppermint (with a hint of rose) hybrid from the perfume fields of France.
-EGYPTIAN MINT
M. NILACA: A large, hairy plant with light green leaves and a mild spearmint taste. Similar in appearance, but not taste, to Applemint.
-EMERALD 'n' GOLD MINT
M. GENTILIS cv.: A spearmint of good flavor with green and gold variegated leaves. Also called "American applemint" or "ginger mint."
-ENGLISH MINT
Smooth, dark green leaves with a firm, mint, nutty nose. (Sorry... living here on the outskirts of California's nouveau wine country, the jargon is apparently contagious.) There's a wine-tasting room around every corner - six on one 1 mile stretch of Hwy. 128, the only real road through the valley. This once bucolic, peaceful, pot-growing community has evolved into a drunken-tourist wonderland. Hell, there were enough drunken locals to deal with before the tasting rooms opened.
-GRAPEFRUIT MINT
Strong, low growing plant with dark green, tinged with purple, hairy leaves and a mild grapefruit scent and flavor. Won't spread much.
-LAVENDER MINT
A spicy aroma (claiming lavender is quite probably stretching it). Smooth oval leaves tinged with purple. Needs full sun.
-LIME MINT
Dark green, odd shaped, sort-of lime flavored (without the tang) leaves.
-ORANGE MINT
Dark green leaves with a purple tinge and a fine spicy citrus scent and taste. Extremely fragrant.
-PENNYROYAL 'English'
M. PULEGIUM: Creeping aromatic used to repel fleas and cause abortions. Use with care if pregnant: as an abortificant, it's very harsh. Spreads easily by runners and seed.
-PENNYROYAL 'Harts'
M. CERVINA: Upright stems with very narrow leaves and a pennyroyal scent. Not at all a minty looking plant. Grow in part shade.
-PEPPERMINT 'candy cane'
A peppermint variety with a strong, sweet "candy-cane" scent and taste.
-PEPPERMINT 'chocolate'
Peppermint flavor with strong chocolate overtones. Quite charming. Needs to be grown in full sun to fully develop the chocolate scent.
-PEPPERMINT 'Japanese'
M. ARVENSIS cv. 'piperescens': Strong peppermint taste with large, somewhat hairy leaves. Grown commercially as a source of menthol.
-PEPPERMINT 'Mitchum'
M. PIPERITA: The 'Mitcham' black peppermint variety grown commercially because of its high yields, hardiness and fine flavor. Not invasive.
-PINEAPPLE MINT
M. SUAVEOLENS cv. 'variegata': A low growing apple mint variety with small green and white variegated leaves. Grows well in full sun.
-SILVER MINT
Silver light green leaves with a mild spearmint flavor. Likes full sun.
-SPEARMINT 'curly'
A spearmint with crinkled dark green leaves.
-SPEARMINT 'Kentucky colonel'
M. SPICATA cv.: A large leafed, good tasting spearmint. Very fine. The one for mint juleps.
-SPEARMINT 'mint-the-best'
M. SPICATA cv.: A fine, narrow leafed spearmint. Maybe not the best, but pretty damn good.
MONARDA
-DIDYMA
BEE BALM, OSWEGO TEA: Back in the days of the first American revolution, this was the plant that replaced the imported tea that was dumped at the Boston Tea Party. It has large, red flowers (very ornamental) and has been used to relieve nausea and flatulence. It is carminative, stimulant, rubefacient. Likes a moist, light soil. This is also the flavoring in the commercial "Earl Gray" tea. Hardy and grows to 3' tall in full sun.
-PUNCTATA
HORSEMINT, SPOTTED BEE BALM: Used mainly externally as a liniment for rheumatism, swellings, sprains. US Indians used a tea from the seed heads for colds and as an appetizer. Nice whorls of light yellow flowers spotted with purple on stalks 2-3' tall. Grow in full sun with moisture.

"Each day, like the flower,
Blooms and Then
It never comes again." -Kate Wolf

NEPETA
-CATARIA
CATNIP: A mild stimulant, carminative antispasmodic, anti-diarrheoic, weak emmenagogue for humans and, for cats, a wild aphrodisiac, stimulant and inebriant (I often can't quite tell the difference between these three effects). Several old herbals warm that if smoked, catnip may have the "undesirable" side effect of being a mild hallucinogen. If you value your garden, don't plant this near other plants you don't want your, or your neighbors' cats to roll in (which, inevitably, it or they will). Grows to a large, hardy herb in full sun.
-MUSSINI
PERSIAN CATNIP, CATMINT: A much smaller (to 1' tall) version of catnip that my three black cats, "Bud," could care less about. This plant is quite ornamental, though, with many small blue flowers from spring to fall. It smells like opium.
-MUSSINI 'snow flake'
WHITE PERSIAN CATNIP: Same as the previous but with white flowers.
-PHYLLOCLAMYS
A very ornamental low growing catnip with small silvery leaves and white spotted flowers. It also smells like opium. Don't freeze. Turkey.
ORIGANUM
-DICTAMNUS
DITTANY OF CRETE: A downy plant with spikes of delicate hop-like pink flowers and small gray-green (½") leaves on 1' long arching stems. Very beautiful. Grows well in a pot or very well drained soil in full sun. Tender to the mid 20ºs.
-HERACLEOTICUM
GREEK OREGANO: A fine, medium strong flavored oregano with large, bright green leaves and small white flowers on stems to 2' tall. Prolific. In this coastal California climate, it grows 2-3 times larger than the other herein listed varieties, and does so even over the winter when many oreganos are dormant. If you're the type of person who buys dried oregano in the supermarket (my definition of the word "sin") this is probably, along with irradiation, pesticides, &c, what you're getting.
-LAEVIGATUM 'Hopleys'
From England where, for reasons probably only the English could define, a great deal of development of the genus origanum is currently being pursued. This handsome, hardy oregano has blue green leaves and deep pink flowers with purple bracts on 2' long stems. Very showy, though mild tasting. Makes nice cut flowers.
-MARJORANA
SWEET MARJORAM: A very tender plant with a very sweet oregano flavor and aroma, almost perfume like. Must be wintered inside or grown as an annual. Likes full sun. From Portugal.

"All states are temporary." -Ann Shulgin

-MARU
SYRIAN OREGANO, BIBLICAL HYSSOP: A very fine, the finest, in my opinion, flavored oregano (use caution here in accepting the word of a person you don't know... I also love strong garlic and hot, hot peppers). This oregano has slightly hairy, light green leaves and small white flowers on 3' long stems. Needs very intense sun; originally from Syria. Becomes lanky in coastal California mildness. Believed to be the "hyssop" mentioned in the Christian Bible, since hyssop was unknown in the area at the time.
-MICROPHYLLUM
CRETAN OREGANO: Very small leafed, fine tasting oregano from Crete. Small bright pink flowers on 1' long wiry stems. Give it well drained soil and sun. Delicately beautiful, tender.
-ONITES
POT MARJORAM: Not flavored like marjoram or oregano, but well flavored... Looks a bit like common oregano. Spreads by root runners. This is the marjoram/oregano of Feudal European peasants. Members or wanna-be members of the upper classes are forbidden to purchase this plant. No offense…
-ROTUNDIFOLIUM
HARDY DITTANY: Round blue-gray, green leaves with extremely beautiful hops-like 1-2" long and ½" diameter flowers (pink on cream bracts) on 6-8" long stems (makes great cut dried flowers). Spreads by under ground runners. Grow in full sun with a bit of moisture.
-ROTUNDIFOLIUM 'Kent beauty'
KENT BEAUTY: Derived from the previous listing, with flowers two times larger, and the leaves gray-green and marked with silver veins. Beyond beautiful. A little less hardy than the species, but easily grown in well-drained soil or in hanging planters. Not at all flavorful, but worth the trouble.
-TURKISTANICA
TURKISH OREGANO: A mild oregano from Turkey with tall stems of pink-cream flowers, smooth gray-blue-green leaves. Almost identical to the following listing, with slightly darker leaves and flowers. Mild flavor. Hardy.
-TYTTHANTUM
KHIRGIZSTAN OREGANO: Similar to the previous listing. Originally from the former Soviet Republic of Khirgizstan.
-VIRIDE
SICILIAN or ITALIAN or SEEDLESS or SWEET OREGANO: Looks a bit like marjoram and has a little of marjoram's sweetness to it, but is of a stronger flavor. Has white flowers and relatively small light green leaves, growing to a height of about 2'. Hardy.
-VULGARE
COMMON OREGANO: Not bad, not as prolific as Greek Oregano, not as hard to pronounce as Khirgizstan Oregano; what can I say? This is probably what you used before you read about the others. Medicinally, it is expectorant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, tonic, stomachic and anti inflammatory (and you thought oregano was simply a seasoning). It aids digestion and is supposed to ease nervous headaches. It tastes pretty good in spaghetti. Unfortunately, I'm not selling the real common oregano. Every plant I've purchased that was labeled O. vulgare has been one of the previous other species or following named varieties. Either this classification thing has gotten out of control, or common oregano has become an endangered species.
-VULGARE 'aureum'
GOLDEN OREGANO: Hugs the ground and spreads into a thick mat. Has golden-green leaves, very showy, but with very little oregano flavor: good for people who want to grow a very prolific, showy oregano and don't like the flavor. Oregano's on its way out, anyhow.
-VULGARE 'compacta nana'
COMPACT OREGANO: A strong flavored, dark, densely leafed, low, creeping oregano with showy pink flowers. Good ground cover and does well in pots. Appears to be a compact version of "Dark Oregano."
-VULGARE cv.
CREEPING OREGANO: Showy with rising stems (to 1' tall) of dark pink flowers over low growing dark green somewhat hairy leaves. Spreads rapidly. Strong flavor.
-VULGARE cv.
"DARK-LEAFED" OREGANO: Dark green, dense leaves and whitish-pink flowers, with an excellent flavor. More bush-like than spreading.
-VULGARE 'nana'
DWARF OREGANO: Leaves about ½ the size of the standard. Pink/lavender flowers on long stems above gray-green leaves. Good flavor.
-VULGARE 'white anniversary'
VARIEGATED OREGANO: This is a white variegated leaf oregano with a mild flavor and a low growth habit. Grows best in light shade.
PEROVSKIA
-ATRIPLICIFOLIA
RUSSIAN SAGE: Not a sage. Ornamental, though, with nice blue flowers and scented, almost lacy foliage. Needs strong sun or becomes lanky. Native to Western Asia, where it was reportedly smoked as an euphoriant. Hardy but dormant in winter.
POGOSTEMON
-CABLIN
CABLIN "PATCHOULI": A rapidly growing, large (to 4-5' tall), purple tinted, dark green leafed plant with short spikes of very small yellow flowers. Hardy to the mid 20ºs. Very pleasant strong scent (though not that of patchouli), and a very nice and easy plant for the shade garden in California or the South. Likes rich, moist soil and part shade or sun.
-HEYNEANUS
PATCHOULI: A very tender, 2-3' tall, tropical shrub that needs warm, moist, rich soil in sun or part shade and absolutely no frost. Very strong patchouli scent. Either you love it or you don't. Originally popular in India, patchouli was the scent used by ethnic American hippies, ca. 1960s, in their attempts to cover the marijuana smoke scent on their persons. It is also used in scenting India Ink. Also sold as P. patchouli.

"I lift my glass to the awful truth
which you can't reveal to the ears of youth:
except to say it isn't worth a dime." -Leonard Cohen

PROSTANTHERA
-ROTUNDIFOLIA
AUSTRALIAN MINT BUSH. Strong eucalyptus-mint scent and taste. Dark bluish green ¼" round leaves and many small lavender bell flowers on an easy to grow woody shrub to 8' tall. Hardy in most of CA. Nice pot plant for late winter bloom.
PRUNELLA
-VULGARIS
SELF HEAL, HEAL ALL, XIAKUCAO: A slowly spreading hardy ground cover with spikes of purple flowers May to October. Vulnerary, antiseptic, astringent, carminative. Used as a gargle in the treatment of sore throats and inflammation of the mouth. Used, historically, to heal all types of wounds. The flower spikes are used in Chinese medicine treat canceres, tuberculosis, high blood pressure and liver problems. Easily Grown in part shade.
ROSMARINUS
-OFFICINALIS
"Against weyknese of the brayne and coldness thereof, sethe rosemaria in wyne and lete the pacyent receye the smlke at his nose and keep his heed warme."
-Crete Herbal
ROSEMARY: Hardy in coastal California with some varieties hardy to zone 5; rosemary will generally survive if the roots are kept from freezing. Stimulant, stomachic, tonic, &c. A pleasant, strong herb associated with memory, happiness and repelling witches (from personal experience, this historical property doesn't seem to work). Drinking rosemary water was said to do away with all bodily evil; excessive doses are lethal, though, should you feel your body has more than its allotted share. In ancient Greece, the birthplace of Democracy, rosemary was used to adorn virgins before sacrifice. Rosemary honey, from Provence, is used as an invigorating agent and to increase male potency. Good in spaghetti. If you are looking for "real" rosemary, or the "real" Rosmarinus officinalis, read the section on Lavandula angustifolia. Then buy seeds and take your chances. "Real" is a relative concept. The following are all cultivated varieties of this plant.
Each has its own charm:
-Albaflorus: An upright variety with white flowers.
-Angustifolia: Pine scented, narrow light green leaves. The only non edible rosemary listed here. Pretty, though, with dark blue flowers.
-'ARP': Somewhat grayer leaves than other varieties and is perhaps the hardiest (to zone 5). Bushy upright growth to about 5' with light blue flowers.
-Beneden Blue: Large sky blue flowers and narrow light green leaves on a semi-upright plant. Prolific bloomer in winter. Originally found near Bonifacio, Corsica. Royal Horticulture Society Award of Merit in 1933.
-Blue Boy: The smallest leafed and lowest growth of any rosemary listed here. Grows fine in hanging planters or in a sunny window.
-Blue Lady: A semiprostrate rosemary 1-2' tall. Looks like a Medusa head, a bit on the wild side. Light lavender-blue flowers.
-Golden Rain: Also called "Joyce DeBaggio." The leaves in the spring have a bright golden aura (variegation, actually). A short, very bushy plant with few dark blue flowers. Nice. Grows to about 3' tall.
-Gorizia: A very large leafed (2-3 times larger than the standard), mild tasting variety with pinkish blue flowers. Upright, almost columnar growth. Gorizia is mild and good enough to eat raw. Originally collected near Gorizia, Italy.
-Huntington Carpet: A flowing growth habit, to 2' tall, with many blue flowers. From the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Santa Barbara, California.
-Majorca: A Victorian English variety with pink flowers and a candelabra-like semi-upright growth. Elegant and airy. To 3' tall.
-Spice Island: The cultivar once used by the Spice Island™ seasoning company for production of their dried rosemary. Wider, more numerous (closer on the stem) leaves than the standard, on a very woody, upright plant with rosemary-blue flowers. I am often asked, "What's the best rosemary (or oregano, or sage, etc.)?" Well, of course "best" is, at best, subjective, but what-the-hell, if you have to ask, take this one; it's probably what you grew up with.
-Tuscan Blue: A fast growing, upright, bushy variety with deep blue flowers. To 6' tall and as wide. One of the largest varieties in overall growth.

"Give me silence, water, hope
Give me struggle, iron, vulcanoes" -Pablo Neruda

SALVIA
"Just when the flowers of sage begin to open there is in their cups a fragrant resin, highly flavoured, balmy, delicate and to the taste one of the most delicious cordials that can be thought, warm and aromatic... sage properly prepared will retard the rapid progress of decay that treads the heels so fast in the later years of life, will relieve the faintness, strengthen that weakness and prevent that sad depression of spirits... will prevent the hands from trembling and the eyes from dimness and make the lamp of life, so long as nature lets it burn, burn brightly."
-John Hell, Virtues of British Herbs, 1776
-APIANA
WHITE or INCENSE SAGE: Hardy to about 20°. A spectacular plant for mild climates; native to the S. California coastal mountains. 4-5" white leathery, highly fragrant leaves with long purplish stems (to 8') and small white flowers in summer. Grows to 6' tall and in diameter (not counting flower stalks). Likes soil well drained. Used by Indians and others as smudge sticks.
-ARGENTEA
SILVER or ELEPHANT EAR SAGE: A very showy sage with enormous (12-18") hairy, silver colored leaves and 3-4' long spikes of 1" white flowers in summer. Looks like a large, fuzzy, silver cabbage in the spring. Easy to grow in full sun with a snort of water.
-CLEVELANDII
BLUE SAGE: Very sweetly scented light gray-green leaves with whorls of blue flowers. Needs full sun or it becomes lanky. Flower spikes are good dried. California native to 3-4'.
-DISCOLOR
BLACK FLOWERED SAGE: Very deep purple, almost black flowers above highly scented bright green leaves with white undersides. Very pretty and quite tender, hardy only to the high 20ºs. The whole plant is sticky. 2-3' tall. Peru.
-DIVINORUM
DIVINE SAGE, PIPILTZINTZINTLI: Used by the Mazatec Indians for telepathy and clairvoyant insights. Square, winged stems and large (to 8" long) fragile, dark green, almost iridescent leaves on a plant to 8' tall. Has hairy white ¾" flowers within purple bracts and calyxes. Rarely flowers (in winter when it does). Grow in a very large pot with a loose, moist, very rich soil, and winter indoors. Tender to about 25° although will be damaged by any amount of frost. Likes cool, 60-80° summer temperatures: mist in hot weather or keep in a high-humidity (above 60%) environment. Has a light scent and a bitter taste. Sunburns easily (grow in heavy shade) and is the favorite food of many greenhouse pests. Native shamans use it by making a tea of 50-60 dried leaves (not well absorbed through the intestinal tract) or by keeping 6-18 chewed fresh leaves in the mouth (being absorbed through the mucus membranes of the mouth, somewhat difficult because of the bitterness). Gangs in Mexico City have been smoking the dried leaves, a much more effective method of ingestion. This is the original Wasson and Hofmann clone.
-DIVINORUM 'palatable clone'
A less bitter version of the previous. Don't expect a candy-like flavor: most entheogens (not in pills) that I've encountered are rather nasty tasting. This variety of divine sage is the one to use if you take it by mouth. Use the standard clone for smoking.

"The universe is wider than our views of it." - Thoreau, Walden

-DORSIANA
FRUIT SCENTED SAGE: A tender (to high 20ºs) sage with 3-5" light green, slightly hairy, very pleasantly fruit scented leaves. Spikes of 2" rose-pink flowers in winter on 3-5' stems in mid-winter. This is one of the plants in the nursery that I have to smell every time I walk by it; I love it. Grow in very rich, well drained soil with quite a bit of moisture. Honduras.
-ELEGANS
PINEAPPLE SAGE: Dark green leaves on long (4-6') stems topped by brilliantly red 1½" flowers in winter and early spring. The whole plant is pineapple scented. Likes rich soil and spreads slightly by runners. Hardy to about 24° and will die to the ground and regrow in the spring from lower temperatures if the roots are protected from freezing.
-ELEGANS 'Freda Dixon'
A lower growing (2-3' tall) pineapple sage, much like the previous listing, except the flowers are a salmon color instead of a bright red.
-ELEGANS cv.
HONEYDEW MELON SAGE: Similar to pineapple sage but 1-2' tall with honeydew melon scented leaves that are a bit shorter and stouter. Flowers over a much longer period than the two previous entries.
-FRUTICOSA
GREEK SAGE: Fuzzy, sweet scented 2" gray leaves (some three lobed) on a hardy 3-4' bush. Pale lilac flowers in spring and summer. Used as a seasoning for sausage in Greece.
-GESNERIFLORA
"GRAPEFRUIT" SAGE: A lightly grapefruit scented sage with sticky 2-4" light green leaves and spikes of bright red 2" flowers in winter and spring. Survives most of our winters (seems hardy to the low-mid 20ºs, at least). Has the sweetest and most abundant nectar of all sages, and is probably the largest sage (7' tall, minimum) to be found in this catalog.
-GUARANTICA
Mildly scented (sometimes called anise-scented sage -but you have to really use your imagination for that one), with 2-3" dark green leaves and spikes of 1" indigo flowers on 2-4' stems. Spreads a little by runners and has been reliably hardy to the low 20ºs.
-GUARANTICA 'Argentine skies'
A cultivar of the previous listing with bright light blue flowers. Almost glowing. Nice. Has unusual small, possibly edible tubers growing on the roots (I have tried them; they taste OK, but I've seen no reference to them in any literature).
-GUARANTICA 'purple majesty'
A cultivar with deep purple 1½" flowers and a little larger (3-4') growth.
-LEUCANTHA
MEXICAN BUSH SAGE: Velvety 1" purple and white flowers on a highly scented 2-3' tall shrub with gray 3-5" long narrow leaves. Flowers late summer. Hardy to the mid 20ºs. Full sun, dry soil.
-LEUCOPHYLLA
"PURPLE" SAGE: White leaves and 2-4' stems with whorls of light purple ½-1" flowers. Highly scented. Grows well at the nursery in almost any soil in full sun. California native.
-LYRATA
LYRE SAGE, CANCER WEED: A small hardy native American sage with large, smooth, dark green, red veined leaves and 1-2' tall spikes of blue flowers. Grow in a moist, shady soil. A salve of the root was used to cure sores by the Catawba Indians. Cherokee Indians used it as a stimulant. Called "cancer weed" because it was once used to cure cancer.
-MADRENSIS
YELLOW FLOWERED SAGE: Large dark green pebbled leaves and a square, winged stem on a 4-5' tall plant with spikes of yellow flowers in winter. Tender to high 20ºs. Rare. Full sun.
-MELLIFERA
CALIFORNIA BLACK SAGE: Dark green narrow 3" leaves and light bluish-lavender flowers in whorls on large bushes to 4' tall. Highly scented leaves used for teas and seasoning.
-MILTIORRHIZAE
RED SAGE, DANSHEN: A medicinal sage from China whose red roots are used ito promote blood circulation and to "calm the mind by nourishing the heart." Also used for menstruation problems. Easy to grow in moist, but well-drained sandy soil in full sun.
-MOORCROFTIANA
HIMALAYAN SAGE: A hardy, medicinal "clary type" sage from the Himalayas. Slightly hairy, large, light gray-green basal leaves with spikes of 1" white flowers on 2' stems. Full sun
-OFFICINALIS (cultivars):
GARDEN SAGE: Tonic, memory improver, body wash for itchy skin, &c. An ancient Arab proverb says, "How can a man die who has sage in his garden?" Obviously, there are ways, but still these are very useful plants to have around. Grow all in full sun in any garden soil. The following eight listings are cultivars of garden sage and have similar properties except as noted. All are hardy and edible:
-White Flowered: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'Alba': A white flowered variety of garden sage. Almost identical to the standard, if perhaps a bit more delicate. 2-3' tall.
-Giant German: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'Berggarten': A large-leafed (2-3 times larger than the standard), fine-flavored culinary sage originally from the Royal Gardens in Hanover, Germany. This is the largest leafed and most productive common sage I've seen. Very few flowers or flower stems. 1-2' tall.
-Dwarf Sage: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'Compacta': A dwarf variety of garden sage with smaller leaves and a more compact growth habit. Nice flowers. An excellent garden sage for smaller kitchen gardens: in cooking, a little sage goes a long way.
-Golden Sage: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'Icterina': Yellow and green variegated leaves on a shorter version (1' tall) of garden sage. Rarely flowers. Perhaps a bit more tender than the standard.
-Pink Flowered: SALVIA OFFICINALIS x.: Similar to the standard but with pink flowers. Appears to be a cross between Salvia officinalis and Salvia fruticosa.
-Purple Sage: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'purpurea': A stronger (culinarily, medicinally) variety. The leaves have a purple cast. Lower growing (1-2') than the standard and not as floriferous.
-Tricolor Sage: SALVIA OFFICINALIS 'tricolor': Purple/red, white and gray-green leaves. A sage for those who like a tad more flash. Flowers irregularly and sometimes reverts to purple sage. Somewhat tender and shorter compared to the standard.
-SCLAREA
"Some brewers of ale and beere doe put it into their drinke to make it more heady, fit to please drunkards, who thereby, according to their several dispositions, become either dea