Category Archives: Uncategorized

More flowers and spring growth

When I venture into the garden on spring mornings, I’m generally looking at the big picture. What work requires immediate attention? Maybe it’s weeding or deadheading or cutting down cover crops, planting out starts or filling in holes dug by … Continue reading

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Nettles

  It’s late nettle season around here. Even in the city, nettles abound in the green spaces. In the Medicinal Herb Garden, there are two types of nettle. In section E, from the eastern USA and Canada, is Laportea canadensis … Continue reading

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Flowering now

It’s still early in the flowering season but it’s worth a virtual tour. We’ll start on the west edge of the garden, in and around Cascara Circle. This American plum will produce delightful fruit, about the size of apricots. As … Continue reading

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Bow to the pollinators

The great variety of plants in the Medicinal Herb Garden attracts a wide range of pollinators, mostly insects but also two species of hummingbirds. Throughout the year there are Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna). How such a small bird survives our … Continue reading

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Research, big and small

In 18 years at the Medicinal Herb Garden, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with medical practitioners and medical researchers from China, Taiwan, Japan and India. The one thing they have in common is surprise when they learn that the … Continue reading

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Around the garden

As the days lengthen and the soil warms, change becomes noticeable in the Medicinal Herb Garden. Let’s take a virtual walk through and see for ourselves. In the bog at Cascara Circle on the western edge of the garden, the … Continue reading

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Starting seeds and drinking tea

Starting plants from seeds is an exercise in patience and faith. You never know for sure what is going to happen. I trade seeds with hundreds of gardens around the world. It’s always exciting when packages of seeds arrive. I … Continue reading

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Early spring

Welcome to the UW Medicinal Herb Garden in Seattle, Washington.  It’s early spring and there’s much to do, like removing last year’s growth from herbaceous perennials. But the wispy, faded vines of this wild yam are the centerpiece of section … Continue reading

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