This is my first year for growing Datura. Around here it’s known as Jimson Weed, though I believe what they call that here is a different animal altogether. It’s one of the staples of a witch’s garden, used for poisoning as well as inducing delirious states in whoever takes it. Intentionally or simply because they […]
Witch's Garden
A look at plants, ideas, resources, moon gardens, herbalism and how I became the witch's gardener. Gardening with a history.
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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 first of July, and a nocturnal visit to the witch’s garden
Wild Bergamot in the Witch’s Garden, July 1, 2016 It’s July 1 and the beginning of the heat. The first good crop of weeds are threatening to overtake the witch’s garden. But in betwixt the weeds there are treasures to be found. The wild Bergamot is from a couple of years ago in an overgrown […]
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 […]
Mid June in the witch’s garden … the cottage garden bursts into color
Daylillies and Lavender, June 14, 2016 Lavender is of course a staple of cottage gardening, and makes for a lovely scent, particularly next to paths where the occasional brushing up against it will release its scent. Behind that the Daylillies began blooming, a lightly night scented flower which puts off more blooms and is longer […]
Twilight in the moon garden: June 1, 2016
It’s day three of the unfolding of the first Brugmansia bloom. I first noticed the bud 11 days ago, and the flower popped out three days ago. Since then it’s been achingly slow unfolding. It teaches one patience. The Day Lillies have been blooming about a week now. I’ve read that they are night scented, […]
May 29 … Lamb’s Ear and Brugmansia about to pop in the witch’s garden
Lamb’s Ear is a seductive plant. It’s good for a moon garden as the furry leaves look almost silver in the daylight, and radiant at night. I had a few plants given to me a couple years back. It had taken over too much of her garden and she was tossing them out. I’ve kept […]
Brugmansia is welcomed to the witch’s garden with a witch’s brew of nasty weather
I was skeptical about trying a Brugmansia. They aren’t known for surviving in southern Illinois, and growing from seedlings or cuttings can take two or three years to pay off. But when I saw this monstrosity I decided to give it a go. I brought it into the witch’s garden and the weather turned foul. […]
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.
In the witch’s garden, peonies from the past bring forth a gift to the present
May 21, 2016. My mom planted this bush, who knows when. Dad has a thing about weeds, and a spray can full of noxious chemicals. It’s likely when the peonies started coming back in the spring he took them for weeds. For whatever reason, when I took over that part of the garden I took […]
Daylillies open for the first time this spring in the witch’s garden
May 19, 2016. It’s said that Daylillies are night scented, but so far I’ve seen no evidence of that. They’re tucked in below a butterfly bush and bordered by Lambs Ear and Poison Ivy. I’m in the process of yanking out all of the later. I’ll keep one because I do grow poisons after all. […]
