Nurturing the Wild Heart

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!  My parents flag flying in their yard under the loblolly pines I grew up with. As I was mowing the lawn, I noticed all the colors that the garden is bursting with today! I wanted to share all these beauties with you! If you have some amazing plant pretties in your garden please share them in the comments!!  Beautiful Huge Zinnia I think this is a Snow in Summer but I am not 100%. It came in a packet of wildflower seeds. Delicious Spiderwort Flowers Butterfly Bush Flowers with their heavenly, honey scent. Smaller Zinnia in our wagon garden. Small baby Marigold Flower. The Elder is in bloom big time! It is HUGE! Our purple Crepe Myrtle. Blazing Star is glorious! Yummy and Beautiful Nasturtium. Virginia Dayflowers that happily grow where ever you don't mow. Our pink Crepe Myrtle. I absolutely love how the Crepe Myrtles always bloom this year! It is like fireworks in our backyard! ...

St. John's Wort (Hypericum spp.) Anyone who knows me knows my biggest plant ally is St. John's Wort! I still remember the first time I really met this plant. I was on a plant walk with my class at Appalachia School for Holistic Herbalism. There in the middle of the trail was this plant saying, "Look at me all sunny and shiny!" Our teacher, Mateo, taught us how when you crush the flowers and leaves it will stain your hands red. The unopened flower buds have a ton of red juice in them! Using the doctrine of signatures, when a plant looks like what it is good for, that staining shows us it may be used to treat bleeding and the blood. The pin hole dots on the leaves and flowers also signify the treatment of wounds. It is well known for this powerful healing of cuts, scraps, bites, and bruises.  This leaf really looks like a bruise. Here you can see the tiny pin holes in the leaves. Lots of people use it for treatment of depression and SAD but I ...