Top: Evening Primrose flowers growing in the fairy section of a witch’s garden Thinking of you while out for a ramble Down by a cold frosty stream Set down on a bed of hemlocks and primroses And gently I fell into a dream I dreamed I saw a pretty fair maiden Such beauty I’d never […]
Witch's Garden Feature
Welcome to a guide to magick herbs and herbalism – witchy plants, white and dark, potions and poisons for the cauldron, as well as goodies for kitchen witches
The Witch’s Garden is a guide to the old ways, old magick and herbal medicine. Learn more about the gardening and gathering practices of our ancestors, be them the wise or cunning women of Europe, or early settlers and Native Americans of the American continent. And follow along with our own zone seven witch’s garden, as I try to nurse a collection of witchy plants through the year.
A notebook of thoughts, ideas, experiments failed and successful in growing a witch’s garden. Since witches are often nocturnal creatures, we also go into moon gardens, and a fair amount of cottage gardening as well.
See what’s blooming in the witch’s garden. Photos and dates for a witch, moon or cottage garden in the U.S. Zone 6
An incomplete as hell herbalist, the science and folklore of the plants, how to grow, how to serve to cure or to kill. Company can be so bothersome, but sure, come in and have a nice cup of tea?
Monkshood: A deadly poison and essential ingredient in witch’s flying ointments makes its first appearance in the witch’s garden
Monkshood is one of the more deadly plants in the witch’s garden. It was also one of the plants closely associated with the witch’s flying ointment. A look at this diabolical botanical, and how it differs from its cousin, the legendary wolfsbane.
Celebrating the Cowslip on May Day morning in the witch’s garden
Cowslip is a witch’s garden plant which s traditionally found by foraging. Know for its connection to May Day, divination and of course faeries, it’s been celebrated in folklore and by Shakespeare, for its connection to love.
Cleome Serrulata: A Native American addition to the witch’s garden and table, and a friend to bees and butterflies
You can’t overestimate the importance of bees in a witch’s garden, for our stinging friends help to pollinate. Just behind them in usefulness in this task are butterflies, and to attract both, plant a bit of Cleome in your herb garden. Additionally, many beekeepers love Cleome as it is an excellent source of nectar, resulting […]
From the witch’s garden, Meadowsweet, a love potion as well as a balm for aching hearts
A look at Meadowsweet, a wildflower traditionally thought of as an omen of love. But with any love potion, it works best when love is already present from the start.
A last look around the moon garden and the witch’s garden before the autumn’s chill does its work
Taking a last look around the witch’s garden and the moon garden before the first fall frosts does its work. What to bring inside, what to pluck and what to say goodbye to. A look at what worked this year and didn’t.
Why a moon garden?
A love letter to my witch and to the night. A moon garden is a haven for those of us who are nocturnal, for those who shy from the sun and beam with the moon. What makes a moon garden so intriguing?
Why a moon garden #3: Brugmansia tree bursts into bloom and lights up the moon garden
I admit I had doubts it would do it. The USDA lists our plant hardiness zone as 6b, which isn’t exactly this plant’s natural habitat. But it did it. There was a single bloom which last four or five days, and as it was dying off the whole trees burst into bloom. The first bloom would […]
The Witch’s Garden reborn: Taming the feral beast for a new spring
As spring sends new shoots bursting upwards, I’m struck with a sudden urge to rework the witch’s garden. A look at what survived the winter to act as a the base of a new beginning.
Deadly Nightshade: From Witch’s flying potions, to the beauty of the women of Venice, to death from the sweet berries of Atropa Belladonna
Deadly Nightshade … will you die for love? Will you die for beauty? Will you die for powers beyond your wildest imagination. That’s the allure of Belladonna, one of the most famous of all the plants in the witch’s garden. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the […]
Tanacetum vulgare: Once a necessity for British gardens, Tansy has been used for abortions as well as immortality, and goes good with eggs
And where the marjoram once, and sage, and rue, And balm, and mint, with curl’d-leaf parsley grew, And double marigolds, and silver thyme, And pumpkins ‘neath the window climb; And where I often, when a child, for hours Tried through the pales to get the tempting flowers, As lady’s laces, everlasting peas, True-love-lies-bleeding, with the […]
Foxglove digitalis: From witches’ thimbles to witch’s hats, a flower to lure fairies and whose magic in folklore brings both life and death
It was this song which included Foxglove that gave me the idea to start a witch’s garden. It was in the spring of last year when I saw my foxglove was in bloom that I recalled poor Charlotte of the Rake’s song, and got to wondering what other deadly plants might be scattered throughout the […]
