Garden Witch's Herbal (11 page)

A Venus flower, you are faithful, constant, and true,

May I use this knowledge wisely in all that I do.

Close the wildflower spell with these lines:

This seeker's wildflower spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Butterfly Weed (
Asclepias tuberosa
)

Butterfly weed can grow up to three feet in height. Its flowers are displayed at the top of their stalks in clusters. Flowers are found in several shades of orange to red. They bloom from midsummer to fall. The leaves are fuzzy, narrow, and lance shaped. Butterfly weed is part of the milkweed family, so expect the pods and the pretty floating seeds to come in late summer–early fall. It can and will reseed itself quite easily. The plant's habitat includes just about anywhere that has disturbed soil such as upland fields, prairies, glades, and the edges of woods. It prefers sun to light shade. It is also readily available as a nursery plant. Scout out a plant or two from your local nursery to add to your butterfly and magickal gardens.

This plant has many folk names such as swallow-wort and pleurisy root. Sacred to the Greek god Apollo, the name of this wildflower is taken from the Greek Asclepias, who was thought to have been both a physician and a god of healing. In the language of flowers, the butterfly weed stands for joy and gaiety. This plant's magickal uses are health and energy. Its astrological influence is Jupiter, which also ties into healing and health issues.

A Healing Spell with Butterfly Weed

The bright orange butterfly weed bestows energy to spare,

Grant me health by the powers of water, fire, earth, and air.

By Apollo's and Jupiter's grace, help me to be strong,

May I live a charmed life that is happy, healthy, and long.

Close the wildflower spell with these lines:

This healing wildflower spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Goldenrod (
Solidago gigantea
)

This is the state flower of Nebraska, and it has strong stalks that can reach two to seven feet and curve near the top into flower-bearing little branches of a bright golden-yellow. The leaves are narrow and resemble willow leaves. The leaves are longer at the bottom and shorter toward the top of the plant. Goldenrod lives in sunny spots, prairies, rocky woods, and along wet places such as rivers and ponds and blooms from July through October.

Goldenrod will sometimes volunteer into your garden. The birds often drop the seeds. Finches enjoy goldenrods, so let a little patch of goldenrod grow wild in your garden; it will bring good luck to your home. Rumor has it that if you hold a stem of the plant in your hand, the flower head will bend toward lost items. In Colonial America, goldenrod had several folk names, including blue mountain tea and woundwort.

In the language of flowers, goldenrod calls for caution, while other floral languages say it means encouragement. This is the bloom to work with if you want your secret love to remain undiscovered. Magickally, goldenrod has the association of prosperity and prophecy. Its astrological influence is Venus, and its associated element is air.

My Secret Love Spell with Goldenrod

This golden herb of Venus lend your power to mine,

May our love stay a secret between us for a time.

This flower means caution, but it encourages too.

Encourage my love and I to stay faithful and true.

Close the wildflower spell with these lines:

This lovely wildflower spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Hedge Bindweed (
Calystegia sepium
)

Also known as the wild morning glory, this is a creeping, viney, and climbing plant. Its flowers are large and funnel shaped; they are usually white blushed with pink in the center, or they may be a pale pink with white stripes inside the throat. Bindweed flowers close up by noon on sunny days, just like their cousin, the blue morning glory. Bindweed's leaves are described as being arrow-shaped with two squarish lobes. It is found in sun to part shade in fields, waste places, and roadsides. Bloom time is summer through early fall.

In the language of flowers, the wild morning glory promises to be “reassured by your affections.” Magickal uses for morning glory blooms include happiness and peace. If you grow the climbing flowers in your garden, you may also use the vines for bindings and protection. Stuff the vines in a jar along with dark-colored glass pebbles and pins to repel intruders and thieves. Bury the Witch jar on your property at a full moon.

The wildflower spell below is designed to use wherever you happen to find the wild morning glory growing—along your fence or up a sturdy perennial in the garden. (At the moment, I have bindweed growing up a decorative celestial metal and glass plant stake.) The bindweed's astrological influence is Saturn, and the elemental correspondence is water.

Garden Witch Tip:
Morning glories of all varieties are mildly poisonous. Make sure that you keep them out of reach of small children.

Banish Troubles with Bindweed

I banish my troubles with the help of hedge bindweed,

These vines will bind up trouble with all possible speed.

Climbing where they may, these wildflowers are lovely and sweet.

Any problems are bound by the power of three times three.

Close the spell up with these lines:

This protective wildflower spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush (
Castilleja coccinea
)

The scarlet Indian paintbrush grows anywhere from eight to fifteen inches tall. The flowers are inconspicuous and greenish yellow, hidden within the axils of brightly colored bracts, which can vary in color from red, orange, and yellow. The leaves are short and oblong with rounded ends. The stems are hairy and can vary in height. It lives in sunny spaces, fields, prairies, glades, and wet areas. This plant can tolerate both very dry and wet conditions. Bloom time is April through July.

The scarlet Indian paintbrush is a flower traditionally used to attract love. If this is grown in your garden, then carry a flower with you to promote loving vibrations. If you discover the flower in the wild, then do as suggested earlier and be sure to leave the plant for others to enjoy. Go ahead and work your magick with the plant then and there. A gentle touch or two of the plant won't hurt anything. Please thank the plant for lending

you its energies. Remember to seal the spell as suggested previously by drawing a clockwise circle around its base. Its astrological influence is Venus; its elemental association is water.

Attracting Love with Indian Paintbrush

With your colorful bracts, attract a new lover to me,

With a touch of magick and the power of three times three.

May my love spell be blessed by the element of water,

By Venus, may they be filled with passion, life, and laughter.

Close the spell with these lines:

This loving wildflower spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Mullein (
Verbascum thapsus
)

This prominent plant takes over disturbed land and can reach up to seven feet in height. The giant stalks of mullein are hard to miss. The flowers are yellow, and they will bloom from the bottom up on that long spike. Bloom time is May to September. The leaves of this plant look like gigantic lamb's ears. They are oblong, silvery green, soft, and fuzzy. This plant is considered a biennial, which means that it will not produce a flower stalk until its second year. Mullein favors dry, sunny conditions in fields, waste areas, and embankments. Mullein is available as a nursery plant and makes a great addition to a children's garden. The first year, the leaves are soft, huge, and a fuzzy silver. The second growing year, the flower stalk shoots straight up, so give it room. (I have had the flower stalks grow as tall as eight feet in my gardens.) Let mullein reseed itself if you want it to make another appearance in your garden for a third year.

Folk names include Aaron's rod, hag's tapers, hag's torch, graveyard dirt, flannel plant, and velvet plant. In medieval times, the flower stalks were dipped in tallow and lit for torches (which explains the name hag's tapers). Also on an interesting note, the early American settlers used the large, soft mullein leaves for diapers.

The astrological influence of mullein is Saturn, and the elemental correspondence is fire. Magickally, mullein was thought to ward off evil spirits. Mullein leaves are often dried and ground up for various spells. The dried leaves also can be used as a substitute for graveyard dirt.