GUIDE TO THE PLANTS and the stories they feature in…the stories , links and more info can be found on the next web page: 'The stories'
Bed one (half barrel)
Fennel a beautiful feathery herb with a liquorice flavour, tasty in salads and safe for all to eat it's traditionally used as a digestive herb, in infant gripe water and to promote milk production in breastfeeding mums, it was also used by Roman gladiators as a restorative and to deter witches!
Bed two
(the whirligro kindly donated by Iain Findlay http://whirligro.co.uk/ who also helped the group from Fair Deal paint and assemble the whirligro)
Violets was traditionally used in a cooling cough syrup commonly given to children, the flowers are edible as well as pretty
Both fennel and violets feature in the story 'The Battlefield marathon'
Bed three (the blue bird table)
'The Scottish bed'; Includes the following plants which feature in these traditional stories:
Juniper ‘Why the trees lose their leaves’
Broom ‘ Taming the winds’
Heathers ‘Malvina’s heather’
Mugwort ‘Mermaid of the Clyde’
Bed four (terracotta pot) Red and white Roses
‘Snow white and Rose red ‘
Bed five (low wooden trough) This is just for the mint family…they're all pretty robust and invasive so should happily live together without 'taking over' any other plants.
Mint ‘Menthe’ There are 3 types of mint in here…can you smell and taste test them and guess which is which? One is a chocolate mint, one a variegated spearmint and one a variegated Apple mint which funnily enough has a pineapple flavour and scent!
Melissa (Lemon Balm) ‘The way home’ Lemon Balm looks like mint to many, but its got a very distinctive balmy lemon scent and flavour, it makes a lovely calming infusion or a handful of leaves can be added to fruit in a juicer!
Catnip ‘Catnip and the cat Sith’ Another close relative of the mint family…but just give ta leaf of this one to a cat and yu'll see how it got its name.
Bed six (the blackboard tea chest)
Blueberry bush…mmmmm yum….story to come!
Wild Strawberries ‘The First Strawberry’
Bed seven (the treasure chest)
Elder tree ‘The Elder Mother’ also Elder features in our Battlefield Marathon story..watch out it can be the home of a witch!
Lavender ‘Lavinia’s lavender’
Crab Apple ‘ The Apple Star’
Yarrow ‘Achilles and the centaur‘
St Johns Wort ‘Chase the Devil’
Bed eight (the wishing well)
‘Stone soup ‘ please feel free to write a wish or a word on a stone of your own and add it to the well...or pick some stones out of the well and use them to create a story of your own
Bed 9, 10 and 11 (recycled wood planters)
Annuals: Pea’s ‘Princess and the Pea’
Beans ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’
Turnip ‘The Giant Turnip’ One or two of these have also found their way into the whirligro this year!
Pumpkin 'Three magic pumpkins', ‘Pumpkin Soup’, ‘Cinderella’.
I’m sure you all know these...but if you don’t there are a list of refs on the story page too!
Bed one (half barrel)
Fennel a beautiful feathery herb with a liquorice flavour, tasty in salads and safe for all to eat it's traditionally used as a digestive herb, in infant gripe water and to promote milk production in breastfeeding mums, it was also used by Roman gladiators as a restorative and to deter witches!
Bed two
(the whirligro kindly donated by Iain Findlay http://whirligro.co.uk/ who also helped the group from Fair Deal paint and assemble the whirligro)
Violets was traditionally used in a cooling cough syrup commonly given to children, the flowers are edible as well as pretty
Both fennel and violets feature in the story 'The Battlefield marathon'
Bed three (the blue bird table)
'The Scottish bed'; Includes the following plants which feature in these traditional stories:
Juniper ‘Why the trees lose their leaves’
Broom ‘ Taming the winds’
Heathers ‘Malvina’s heather’
Mugwort ‘Mermaid of the Clyde’
Bed four (terracotta pot) Red and white Roses
‘Snow white and Rose red ‘
Bed five (low wooden trough) This is just for the mint family…they're all pretty robust and invasive so should happily live together without 'taking over' any other plants.
Mint ‘Menthe’ There are 3 types of mint in here…can you smell and taste test them and guess which is which? One is a chocolate mint, one a variegated spearmint and one a variegated Apple mint which funnily enough has a pineapple flavour and scent!
Melissa (Lemon Balm) ‘The way home’ Lemon Balm looks like mint to many, but its got a very distinctive balmy lemon scent and flavour, it makes a lovely calming infusion or a handful of leaves can be added to fruit in a juicer!
Catnip ‘Catnip and the cat Sith’ Another close relative of the mint family…but just give ta leaf of this one to a cat and yu'll see how it got its name.
Bed six (the blackboard tea chest)
Blueberry bush…mmmmm yum….story to come!
Wild Strawberries ‘The First Strawberry’
Bed seven (the treasure chest)
Elder tree ‘The Elder Mother’ also Elder features in our Battlefield Marathon story..watch out it can be the home of a witch!
Lavender ‘Lavinia’s lavender’
Crab Apple ‘ The Apple Star’
Yarrow ‘Achilles and the centaur‘
St Johns Wort ‘Chase the Devil’
Bed eight (the wishing well)
‘Stone soup ‘ please feel free to write a wish or a word on a stone of your own and add it to the well...or pick some stones out of the well and use them to create a story of your own
Bed 9, 10 and 11 (recycled wood planters)
Annuals: Pea’s ‘Princess and the Pea’
Beans ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’
Turnip ‘The Giant Turnip’ One or two of these have also found their way into the whirligro this year!
Pumpkin 'Three magic pumpkins', ‘Pumpkin Soup’, ‘Cinderella’.
I’m sure you all know these...but if you don’t there are a list of refs on the story page too!
Well here's the original plan….its changed and diversified as we've gone along and no doubt will continue to do so.
And there may be some surprises, go along and take a look for yourself, all will gradually be revealed!
And there may be some surprises, go along and take a look for yourself, all will gradually be revealed!