Urban Herbology

One of my great passions is to explore the benefits and use of local wild plants that grow here in the Teton range. We are blessed with bounty of arnica, cottonwood, violet and other useful plants that eneable to me wildharvest and create herbal preparations to sustain my family. However, some of our well loved plants do not grow wild here. I live in town in an apartment. I have planted a couple hollyhocks outside our lobby, that come back year after year with large purple blooms the bees just love! A garden would be nice, but with all the dogs that live around here, and not having a yard of my own, I have chosen to grow some of my favorite plants in pots to use and enjoy until that day comes when I can have a garden of my own.

I had intended to post this quite some time ago, but as most of you know, an opportunity came to me to purchase a local consignment store, and since that time, life has been a total whirlwind and more. Now that I am getting a better handle on balancing life with my heavy responsibilities, I can now post this. YAY. The plants you see in this post were taken in the fall when they began to die back. Today you would see them fairly dead looking, save for a few that are understanding the longer days and growing a few new leaves.
The purpose of this piece is to encourage many of you that are in the same situation, to take a shot at growing a few of the plants you love, or would like to work with better.
Motherwort is one plant that I love for heart palpitations and its calming action on the nerves. This was a birthday gift to me last year. It has grown well in my south facing window.

Lavender is another gift I recieved as a birthday gift. This plant does not like alot of water, nor does it like to be cut back. The new growth will start on the dead branches this year.

Marshmallow is another favorite plant of mine, both leaf and root. It has soothing mucilage that assists many ails, from dry throat to a sore bladder.

Basil can be grown in a pot to be used throughout the year. I have to admit, I kill every basil and rosemary plant I try to grow (wah) But many people are successful at both. I will learn what I am doing wrong I am sure, and wont give up trying:) This is my basil plant this year when it was alive

Chickweed is thriving. This photo was taken last week. Chickweed does not like to grow here much, so I was fortunate enough to dry some from my favorite spot before it was destroyed, and placed the dried mass onto the potted soil and today I have a lovely pot of chickweed we have already been harvesting in February.

Comfrey and Tarragon and 2 other plants I did not capture for some odd reason. They are died back now, but will rebound in spring. Comfrey is not particularly happy in a pot, but this was all I could do from that little root I had from Arkansas.

As you can see, most of these plants grow well on my south facing windowsill

For more plant love, you can place fresh or dried plants around your house.

This is a mugwort bundle a friend gave me to remind me of protection

A smudge as a gift from another friend who has the gift of clearing us before a gathering with intention

Little cases or jars can hold fresh or dried plants anywhere

If you would like to dry some of your plants, and have little room, a basket on top of your kitchen cabinets works very well for me. This basket contains rose hips that were gathered by a friend for me.

As you can see, from someone who does not a green thumb as many other herbalists do, home herb growing can be done, and bring joy to your life, despite the tight quarters.