I read somewhere that the more functions a plant has in your garden, the more useful it is. If you fill your garden with multi-use plants, there’s more of a chance that your garden will work together as a natural system.
What do I mean by functions? Let’s take a look at bee balm, a plant I’m putting in the front flower bed this spring. Bee balm is a perennial herb. It is:
* Attractive to beneficial insects–As you can tell by the name, bees love bee balm. They even sleep under its leaves.
* Beautiful–Bee Balm adds visual pleasure to the garden.
* Edible–The leaves can flavor food and the flowers are a lovely addition to a salad.
* Medicinal–According to this site, bee balm can help in the “treatment of colds, … headaches, gastric disorders, reduce low fevers and soothe sore throat, [and] relieve flatulence, nausea, menstrual pain, and insomnia.” Wow.
[How Stuff Works]
So, four functions, one plant. Sounds like a deal to me.
Native wildflowers are remarkable and never cease to amaze me with what they can do for us, if we would just pay attention.
Kieron, like Emerson said, “a weed a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”