Plant Spirits

[veggiewolf]

...

 
Basil doesn't really live through our winters; occasionally, I'll have one last, but usually they don't do well once it starts to cool down.  I grow it indoors three seasons out of four.

If you have a sheltered place, though, I have friends in Philly that keep their rosemary going all year round.

[Aine Rayne]

Basil doesn't really live through our winters; occasionally, I'll have one last, but usually they don't do well once it starts to cool down.  I grow it indoors three seasons out of four.

If you have a sheltered place, though, I have friends in Philly that keep their rosemary going all year round.

 
I feel like rosemary is trying to tell me something because I keep hearing about it! I have no clue where to buy rosemary or its cuttings to grow any. I'll have to look it up, because it seems to be a popular suggestion for others to give me lol I am happy to say my lavender is still going, stronger than a couple weeks ago. I'm still worried about it because the best place for it to get light is also furthest from a heat source to keep it warm. I think it will be ok, but I tend to be paranoid lol

We also recently acquired a philodendron that we named Dennis. He was nervous at first but he's certainly stretching out and relaxing now!

[Maythe]

I feel like rosemary is trying to tell me something because I keep hearing about it! I have no clue where to buy rosemary or its cuttings to grow any. I'll have to look it up, because it seems to be a popular suggestion for others to give me lol I am happy to say my lavender is still going, stronger than a couple weeks ago. I'm still worried about it because the best place for it to get light is also furthest from a heat source to keep it warm. I think it will be ok, but I tend to be paranoid lol

We also recently acquired a philodendron that we named Dennis. He was nervous at first but he's certainly stretching out and relaxing now!

Have you got the lavender indoors? Here in the UK the most common type of lavender is definitely an outdoor plant and probably wouldn't be very happy indoors. French lavender with the long petal ears at the top of the flower head is a bit more tender and will need somewhere sheltered over winter but even so probably not inside. It's wet and cold rather than just cold that kills off lavender over winter.

[Aine Rayne]

Have you got the lavender indoors? Here in the UK the most common type of lavender is definitely an outdoor plant and probably wouldn't be very happy indoors. French lavender with the long petal ears at the top of the flower head is a bit more tender and will need somewhere sheltered over winter but even so probably not inside. It's wet and cold rather than just cold that kills off lavender over winter.

I do have it indoors. It's doing better now, but I didn't know that lavender didn't care much for being inside. Although, we get really cold and wet winters here, so yeah

[yewberry]

Have you got the lavender indoors? Here in the UK the most common type of lavender is definitely an outdoor plant and probably wouldn't be very happy indoors. French lavender with the long petal ears at the top of the flower head is a bit more tender and will need somewhere sheltered over winter but even so probably not inside. It's wet and cold rather than just cold that kills off lavender over winter.

It's not so much the wet.  It's wet plus poorly-draining soil (clay, usually, although sometimes low-lying areas can retain water regardless of soil composition).  It rains like a mutha here all winter, but the sandy soil where I grow my Mediterranean plants drains well, keeping their roots healthy.  I also grow them on a mound, which sheds water down the sides and never allows it to pool.
 
Brina

[yewberry]

I've begun to think about this recently, buying up handbooks on local flora and fauna, and taking walks. The thing that bugged me about this sort of thing though is that the plants that truly matter in local ecosystems seem to get looked over for the non-native European varieties

This.  Of course, many of the non-native plants that grow wild in the U.S. are so ubiquitous as to be naturalized citizens (albeit sometimes problematic ones), so I do use them too.  Also, doing so takes a non-native out of the ecosystem, which most agree is a good thing.

Also, and I've said it before probably a hundred times when people ask for information about "witchy" plants, please just look down.  I'm always amazed at how much money people will spend to buy, say, dandelion root.

Brina

[Aine Rayne]

It's not so much the wet.  It's wet plus poorly-draining soil (clay, usually, although sometimes low-lying areas can retain water regardless of soil composition).  It rains like a mutha here all winter, but the sandy soil where I grow my Mediterranean plants drains well, keeping their roots healthy.  I also grow them on a mound, which sheds water down the sides and never allows it to pool.
 
Brina

Well the only place I could plant it definitely has a lot of clay in it. I don't really know enough about plants or soils to take that risk. I'm still learning.

[Waldhexe]

Well the only place I could plant it definitely has a lot of clay in it. I don't really know enough about plants or soils to take that risk. I'm still learning.

I'm not an expert, but you could buy a bag of the appropriate soil and put it on the spot in your garden where you plant lavender (or put it into a pot).

About rosemary...I don't know how this is in the US, but here they are also sold in supermarkets. (I didn't have much luck with them though, because they all died after some time, could be bad quality or I didn't care right for them - but the leaves dried up when the plant died and were still good for cooking and other use). You can also burn rosemary as incense or put it into bathwater.

[Waldhexe]

I feel like rosemary is trying to tell me something because I keep hearing about it!

Btw, has anyone ever tried to feel into a plant or to draw power from it?

I've made the experience that drawing power works especially well with edible plant bits and already dried tea leaves. It gives me a feeling on how the energy of the plant is.

(I realize some may consider it rude to draw power from a plant, but you can ask permission or do it with a plant bit that's already dead and which you're going to eat/drink anyway...)

With living plants I encounter outside and are not going to eat I just try to open myself to it and feel into it to percieve it's energy. (And I 'talk' to it beforehand.)

[Maythe]

It's not so much the wet.  It's wet plus poorly-draining soil (clay, usually, although sometimes low-lying areas can retain water regardless of soil composition).  It rains like a mutha here all winter, but the sandy soil where I grow my Mediterranean plants drains well, keeping their roots healthy.  I also grow them on a mound, which sheds water down the sides and never allows it to pool.
 
Brina

 Yeah that's what I meant. Sitting in wetness is the difficulty. Sorry if I was unclear.

[veggiewolf]

I feel like rosemary is trying to tell me something because I keep hearing about it! I have no clue where to buy rosemary or its cuttings to grow any. ...

 
Depending on where you are in the city, I'd suggest the Italian Market or Reading Terminal.  You should be able to get a small plant for relatively little money.

Also, many grocery stores sell rosemary plants.

[Aine Rayne]

Depending on where you are in the city, I'd suggest the Italian Market or Reading Terminal.  You should be able to get a small plant for relatively little money.

Also, many grocery stores sell rosemary plants.

 
You know I rarely think about Reading Terminal I'm in West, so that's my best bet probably. I've only been there about three times so it just skips my mind. When I next get some money I may go and see if they have any. Does rosemary grow well indoors?

[veggiewolf]

You know I rarely think about Reading Terminal I'm in West, so that's my best bet probably. I've only been there about three times so it just skips my mind. When I next get some money I may go and see if they have any. Does rosemary grow well indoors?

 
My husband is from West Philly - Spruce Hill abutting University City.

It can grow well indoors, yes.  It needs a lot of light and warmer temperatures.

[Aine Rayne]

My husband is from West Philly - Spruce Hill abutting University City.

It can grow well indoors, yes.  It needs a lot of light and warmer temperatures.

 
lol I'm from West out on Landsdowne. My grandmother lives on Walnut up close to Upper Darby :3

Well I have a window with a lot of light but it's not near the radiator. But, the oregano and lavender are doing ok there, so the rosemary might too