Homegrown Herbs Can Be Health-Promoting Challenge 5/21/01

Herbs With Potential for Kansas Garden Trials

Annuals

Calendula officinalis (pot marigold, not the common marigold) – 12- to 15-inch plant that with deadheading will produce bright yellow and orange flowers (single or double) from summer to early fall. Blooms close at night, reopen in morning and attract beneficial insects.

Needs: full sun, well-drained (not overly moist) soil; prefers loam.

Harvest: by hand – flowers when fully open, but not going to seed; leaves, 3 weeks later.

Benefits: excellent for skin, gastrointestinal tract problems.

Uses: food (e.g., petals have nutty flavor in salad), infusion, tincture, compress, poultice, ointment, cream, foot/bath soak, infused oil, liniment, cosmetics, insect repellent.

Chamaemelum nobile (camomile) – includes several types, ranging from a 3- to 6-inch-high groundcover to a 24-inch plant. It produces ferny, scented leaves and small yellow blooms. It can be an annual or perennial in Kansas, depending on the zone.

Needs: 12 to 24 inches between plants in full sun or light shade; grows from seed or divisions.

Harvest: by hand – flowers when fully open, but not going to seed.

Benefits: has calming effect on stomach and mood; good for arthritis and as an anti-inflammatory.

Uses: tea.

Other possibilities – borage (for its seeds, flowers), flax (seeds), milk thistle (seeds).

‘Quick’ Perennials

Ascelepias tuberosa (pleurisy root, butterfly milkweed) – reaches 24 inches tall, producing bright orange flowers in midsummer and becoming a mounding clump with age. Slow to get established and slow to come up again in spring. In the wild, the plant has entered the U.S. Plant Savers’ at-risk list. In Kansas, it’s often sold as an ornamental bedding plant.

Needs: 12 inches between plants, full sun, well-drained soil, low to moderate moisture. Seeds must be stratified for at least a month before planting and still may have only a 40 to 50 percent germination rate. Can grow from root cuttings.

Harvest: with garden fork or needle-nose spade – roots, after plant has gone to seed.

Benefits: recommended for respiratory conditions and "winter illness."

Uses: tincture, elixir, syrup, tea.

Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, snake root) – quickest and easiest to grow of the four echinacea varieties native to Kansas, producing long-lasting, dusky pink, drooping, daisy-like flowers in midsummer. In garden settings, plants tend to grow 3 to 4 feet tall.

Needs: 12 inches between plants in full to partial sun with dry to moist (not wet) conditions. Grows from seed or bedding plants.

Harvest: with needle-nose spade or garden fork – roots, after at least two years’ of growth, but preferably between the third and fifth year.

Benefits: immune system booster.

Uses: tincture, tea. (Early Native Americans and European settlers just chewed the root.)

Other possibilities – red clover (flowers), mints (leaves), burdock (root), feverfew (leaves).

'Slow’ Perennials, Shrubs

Astragalus membranaceus (milk vetch) – sprawling legume that produces ferny leaves and pale yellow clover-like blossoms from midsummer until frost on 3- to 4-feet-high plants; zone 6 or warmer.

Needs: 15 inches between plants, full sun to partial shade, well-worked sandy soil, dry to moist conditions. Seed must be stratified at least three weeks before sowing; it must be scarified and then soaked in warm water for an hour before planting. Plants can be started indoors before the last frost date, but transplant shock is a risk.. (DO NOT TRANSPLANT KANSAS’ NATIVE RELATIVE – ITS SAFETY HAS NOT BEEN TESTED.)

Harvest: With needle-nose spade or garden fork – roots, after at least two years’ of growth, but preferably between the third and fifth year.

Benefits: energy and immune system booster, used much as ginseng root.

Uses: medicinal food, tea, tonic, decoction, tincture, syrup/elixir, lozenge, honey, powder.

Sambucus canadensis (elderberry) – deciduous shrub typically 8 to 10 feet tall (some varieties up to 30 feet) with one of horticulture’s oldest recorded histories; its many-faceted use still makes it Europe’s "medicine chest of country people."

Needs: Full sun to partial shade. Best in loamy soil with good water.

Harvest: by hand – flowers in full bloom, berries when ripe.

Benefits: especially prized as an immune system booster and cold/flu treatment; large doses relieve constipation; historically also used to treat asthma, colic, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, upper respiratory problems, rheumatism, insomnia, migraine, excess weight and sunburn. Can be a clothing dye. (EXERCISE CAUTION IF YOU HAVE KNOWN BERRY ALLERGIES OR ARE DIABETIC.)

Uses: teas, tinctures, syrup, wine, jelly, juice, concentrate.

Other possibilities – licorice (root), witch hazel (bark and leaves), roses (hips).

1. Start small. Try no more than one to two from each of the three categories of herbs: (1) annuals, (2) "quick" to harvest perennials, and (3) "slow" perennials or shrubs. Expand only after you’ve learned what you can about these start-up choices. [See box at right for Janke’s plant recommendations.]

2. Consult every resource you can. Talk to trained herbalists. Discuss with your doctor and pharmacist about which herbs are possibilities and which you personally should avoid. Read among the many herb books, catalogs and magazines available now. Drop by a Kansas county Extension office – each of which is getting copies as soon as the soy ink dries on herb-by-herb fact sheets that Janke is developing with senior student assistant Jeanie DeArmond.

3. Grow the widely used herbs. Some herbs have a centuries-long history of safe use. Others don’t. Some have the support of extended scientific research. Others don’t. Some have no known adverse effects. Others have dosage limits or the potential for adverse reactions with certain drugs or health conditions.

"There are lots of really safe choices. It just makes sense to decide among those," Janke said. "That way your final selections can come down to particular health qualities you’re interested in or to the garden space you have available."

Herbs can be good candidates for growing in patio pots, DeArmond added. Some are attractive enough to mix with flowers and shrubs in an ornamental border.

"As a group, herbals tend to need good sunshine," she said. "Otherwise, they’re perfectly happy with the same preparation and care you give the soil and plants in your vegetable or flower garden."

Janke added that those same needs can add to the challenges of growing herbs commercially. As a crop, herbs can require more hand labor and irrigation than Kansas’ more typical field plantings of wheat, feed corn and grain sorghum.

"In addition, herb prices tend to fluctuate more than most farmers are accustomed to. Of course, that can include periods when prices really skyrocket. But, it also can include times when processors suddenly decide to start buying one variety of echinacea [purple coneflower], rather than another. Or, consumers can switch from one type of headache-helping herb to another. That’s not an everyday risk for someone growing cattle feed or bread wheat," Janke said.

"It can make gardening a very personal experience," she said. "You’re more connected with what you grow. You may enjoy looking at, but then also eat, certain flowers. Until the ground’s frozen solid, you can go out and harvest many medicinal plants exactly when they’re needed."

She urged gardeners to get specialized advice if they plan to preserve, as well as grow herb crops.

"And remember, anyone can have an allergic reaction to a new food product, including the ‘safe’ herbs like camomile. So, if you notice anything such as breathing difficulty, unexplained pain or a rash, stop taking the herbal immediately and check with your doctor to find out if the supplement you’re taking could be the cause," Janke said.

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.