Herb growing recommendations

Especially ones that like clay soil

For spring 2025, I have the following plants for sale:

( *native )

• Elderberry cuttings*

• Motherwort

• Cutleaf coneflower aka sochan*

• Lemon balm

• Valerian

• Milk thistle

• Meadowsweet

• Mountain mint*

• Tulsi basil

• Spilanthes aka toothache plant aka buzz buttons

• Skullcap (several species)*

• Bee balm (several species)*

• St. John's Wort

• Sage

Pickup in Berea; large orders I am willing to deliver to you in Berea, Richmond, Lexington, Louisville

To assist with your planting, here’s the link to my spreadsheet of medicinal herb growing info - includes everything from seed-starting to where to plant in your garden.

Here are a few more quick tips for some of the easiest to grow perennial herbs, along with pictures of the plants at the stage I’m selling them:

Note: all of these plants that handle heavy/clay soil well:

• Meadowsweet: full sun, can tolerate clay soil, likes wet areas, great for pollinators. Flowers make wonderful medicine for inflammation and gut healing (especially in tea) but they are so pretty and well loved by insects you may have trouble harvesting them (I certainly do!).

• Motherwort: full sun but can also handle part shade, widely soil tolerant, will spread by seed, good for garden edges, recommend not planting in cultivated garden beds, great for pollinators. When plants pop up in unwanted areas, just pull them and tincture the leaves for medicine - many uses related to its calming effect on the nervous system and bitter flavor that supports digestive system.

  

• Cutleaf coneflower/sochan: seems to do best in part shade, moist to wet soil, will spread mainly through rhizomes but also through seed. You will want a decent size patch for the edible greens.

  

• Elderberry: can handle wet mucky soils, easy to grow but make sure to keep watered until established. will grow in part shade but makes the best berries in full sun and soil with high organic matter. Makes a great planting next to a chicken coop.

• Valerian: widely soil tolerant, tends to blow its seeds all over the garden and so you may find it popping up in areas many feet away from the original plant, but it is not agressive about it. Just pull up the plants where they aren’t wanted to and tincture the roots for use in pain, muscle spasm, and relaxation and sleep support.