Keowulf 28
My Queen Anne's Lace bare root plantlings arrived today! I just finished planting them in an indoor planter box to recover from being mailed (oh hugs! my sweet darlings) and to grow until it gets warm enough to move them outside into the spring sunshine. I ordered six plantlings - I received seven regular sized plantlings and another eighth teensy little baby plantling whose roots were tangled up in one of the other plantlings - that is so sool and mystically significant to me! I separated the two plants and planted each side by side so that each plant's roots could have space to develop.
Queen Anne's Lace is also called Daucus carota, wild carrot and the Bird's Nest. A flowering plant native to the temperate regions of Europe, this plant is also a significant ethnobotanical in Celtic folk tradition. Considered a weed in the USA, Queen Anne's Lace is beautiful to me.
As an herb, Queen Anne's Lace can be used to make a natural yellow dye (as woad is used to make Celtic blue dye), medicinally (as a contraceptive, diuretic, antiseptic or digestive aid), and shamanistically as an hallucinogenic.
It has been so long since I've had a garden, and this year's will start small. Queens Anne's Lace, as the first plant in my new garden initiative, has initiated a new cycle in my life and my return to the traditional herbalism of my Celtic ancestors.
I'm in love with my little plantlings!
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Bird's Nest
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4 comments:
They bloom because the one who planted them is blooming.
So mote it be! :)
Queen Anne's Lace was once a common roadside plant here on Long Island ; like blue cornflowers,goldenrod,& sweetpeas.It was a favourite of my maternal Grandmother.It was named after the queen of King James I.She was a master of the art of "tatting",making lace by hand.She was challenged by friends to create lace as beautiful as a flower.While doing so,she pricked her finger and a drop of blood fell on the lace,creating a dark red/purple center that appears on some Queen Anne's Lace flowers.In Victorian plant lore,it represents sanctuary,protection,and refuge.
Thank you Jayne for sharing this wonderfully personal story about your Grandmother and Queen Anne's Lace. It is this kind of connection to plants that makes working with them so special!
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