Summer Herbs

Now it's summer and the herbs I had shown you in my blog are long since gone.

One that flowers very nicely right now is the "Wegwarte", a form of "Chicory" - but wild and thus not used as salad or vegetable. But it is rumored to have some magical powers too. Either for finding the right husband if an unmarried young girl puts it under her pillow over night, he will show up in her dream then. and if unearth in a special ritual makes the one carrying it invulnerable and invincible.

The "Ysop" (Hyssop) is having a second season - I still count it to the more summer than spring herbs, it likes high temperatures and dry soil. Right now this is the favorite flower for the bees. I even saw a more white than yellow variation on this bush but so fast flitting about I didn't manage to get a close up shot of those bees. ( If you look close you can see the bees in the photo.)

Not wearing flowers yet - they will be whitish and rather small. In front of this bush like herb you can see some Hawkbit. (Also called "Löwenzahn" in German - or "Milchkraut" [ yes, I had to look this one up ^^;;] The look like the Common Dandelion but grow with smaller flowers, thinner leaves and having the flowers on hard long stilts and are a different class altogether. 

This one - also not yet in full flower - but it will be in strong yellow once it does - looks a lot like that Fernleaf Yarrow. This can be seen in gardens around her in summer as solitary bushes of moderate height (between 80 cm and 1.5m).

But I think it is something completely different. It does grow on dry soil like the other two (all of them close to the train station and take months to reach this size - about 80cm high - and carry their flowers and later the seeds). If someone knows this plant, please, let me know. Maybe I come across the name "accidentally" while searching for plants and herbs. Of course I will update it then.

Now this pink-purple one I don't know at all. It grows opposite of the others between high grass and bushes and a run-off for water after heavy rain. I couldn't get any closer and I haven't seen it anywhere else so far - as most high grass gets cut before the flowers show. 

There are some more "just summer" herbs. I will add them if I can get a photo before they get cut for cow silage.

Hyssop - an invasive plant

So when taking photos of the Common Sage I came across a similar looking plant.

After some search in various books in a book store by rapid leafing through them and noting the possible names mentally I made another search online and finally found the name of the similar plant:
It's a Hyssop (in German: Ysop )

This plant is rather new to our region, but due to the climatic changes with milder winters and hotter (and dryer) Summers it feels "at home" here now too. It has been cultivate in more Southern and Eastern regions as early as the 16th century.

Here the photos I took:

And finally as a sort of reminder the "Common Sage" (Wiesensalbei), so they don't get mixed up (although both have their leaves used as a flavoring herb):

Lady's Mantle

It's a herb with tiny green / yellow flowers that gets used as tea from the parts above the ground to relieve monthly cramps and after menopause in women.
For more information on this go to:  Frauenmantel (Lady's mantle - The English wiki page is mainly list of of them with no photos).

I have one growing wild in my garden; didn't plant it but letting it grow in my grass. And it seems to be spreading as time passes.
Here two examples I found in the internet:
Alchemilla mollis
Alchemilla monticola
Both are close but are not quite the plant I have.

The specialty of mine is the "lotus" effect of the leaves. So nice photos. ;)

Here a photo of the full plant growing next to the palm tree:

Suddenly there were flowers over the leaves!

Same plant three days later! 

And a close up of the flowers:

Single flowers look more green with a tiny bit of yellow leaves.

As group they look yellow!

A new plant - but the grass needs cutting and it will get cut too :(

Some more smaller plants - those at the pedestal can stay!!

Salvia pratensis (Common Sage) - Wiesensalbei

With a keen eye I can spot lots of healthy herb plants growing wild where I live.
But to actually pick them and use them I have to be quick.
They get cut down so fast for the "neat" look of the grass, or for silage food in preparation for the winter.

This one is:

Salvia pratensis (Meadow Sage; in German: Wiesensalbei )

This plant is about 75cm high!!

Same plant - closer look at the leaves

I took this photo of a wild growing one at the train station. It can be used for flavoring food like with the
Salvia officinalis (Garden Sage - the leaves have a grey touch to them; in German: Echter Salbei).
This also gets used for infections in the throat area - but should be used sparingly. Over-dosage is toxic.

Not to be mixed up with this plant:

Sorry, don't know the name of this one -- maybe someone can tell me??!!

Same color and size -- but different flowers (first red than turning to purple) and leaves growing all along the flower stem. The leaves of the Sage plant are on the ground.