The plant is the source of the flavoring for old fashioned horehound candy. The herb is adapted to low fertility areas but an all-purpose fertilizer can be applied in spring to encourage foliage growth. Numerous branching, erect stems with almost square, toothed, grayish-green leaves that are covered with a down from which the common name hoarhound is derived. Horehound candy is easy to make (see recipe on page 19). Tiny Green Gardens is all about fairy gardening, miniature plants and moss gardening. Well-drained soil is the secret to growing this herb, as too much moisture in the winter can kill it. account? Start your journey to holistic living today and you’ll discover all the best and latest information you want on choosing natural remedies and practicing preventive medicine; cooking with a nutritious and whole-food focus; creating a nontoxic home; and gardening for food, wellness and enjoyment. Horehound is most commonly used as the main ingredient in candies. In England, horehound was made into “an appetizing and healthful” ale and beverage teas are palatable if heavily sweetened to disguise the bitterness. Derived from a Hebrew word meaning bitter. The fresh leaves smell musky (some say fruit- or thyme-scented), but the odor disappears on drying. Pay now with a credit card and take advantage of our earth-friendly automatic renewal savings plan. Register now to get access to ALL current video workshops and prerecorded webinars plus anything new that we add through the end of 2020. Horehound is an important bee herb. Divide the clumps or use layers and cuttings for propagation. The name likely calls to mind a big glass jar of vaguely molasses-flavored penny candy at the general store, or perhaps a package of old-fashioned dark-brown cough drops. White Horehound Seeds (Marrubium vulgare) 100+ Rare Organic Medicinal Herb Seeds in FROZEN SEED CAPSULES for The Gardener & Rare Seeds Collector - Plant Seeds Now or Save Seeds for Years. Crinkled, slightly hairy leaves are characteristic of the horehound plant. Horehound. The home gardener needs only two or three plants for personal use. Horehound produces a burr-like seed pod which contains tiny seeds. Horehound is grown in full sun and well drained soil. Horehound is fairly easy to grow, improves the fruiting of tomatoes and peppers and attracts beneficial insects. Cut off the flowers to minimize the spread of the plant as horehound seeds itself. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Divide the clumps or use layers and cuttings for propagation. Henry Beston (Herbs and the Earth, 1935) notes that in olden times, “that wan nettle-like presence with its pointed, hostile bracts” would be relegated, along with other weedy herbs, to a “patch” somewhere outside the herb garden proper. Horehound tea. The tops dry well and are attractive in either dried or fresh arrangements with artemisias, sages, bronze fennel, lemon verbena, myrtle, yarrow leaves, and variegated ivy, to suggest just a few possibilities. The horehound herb plant is packed with nutritional benefits including high amounts of Vitamins A, B, C, and E. Horehound plants have an interesting history of medicinal uses. Hi, thanks for stopping by. However, there is little need for any of these strategies, as horehound self-sows in the garden with no special treatment, and you will soon have all the plants you can use. Other opinions are that Marrubium refers to “an ancient town of Italy” or to a Hebrew word for bitter. Companion planting with horehound improves the fruiting of tomatoes and peppers. Once established horehound needs little supplemental irrigation and can actually diminish the plant’s health. If you like OurHerbGarden.com, you're sure to love Tiny Green Gardens too. The horehound herb plant is a member of the mint family and looks quite a bit like the popular herb. Layering is another propagation option. Sow seeds outdoors in spring or fall, 1/2 inch deep. The seeds are surface sown and covered with a dusting of soil to prevent the wind from taking them. Prior to seeding the horehound plant cultivate the soil and rake it to remove roots, rocks and debris. Pest control isn’t the advantage to companion planting. • Hardy perennial Herbalists of old prescribed it for fevers and malaria and as an antidote for bites of snakes or rabid dogs, for ingested poison, and even for magic! Athens, OH 45701 Many plants are nitrogen-fixers. You’ll save an additional $5 and get six issues of. The leaves can be dried and used to make tea and the leaves can be stored for up to a year in a jar. The plant is easy to grow in even poor soils and is a hardy perennial over chilly winters down to USDA Zone 4. Sign up for our newsletter. (740) 592-4643 Even moisture is important to encourage sprouting which is erratic. Sign in with your online account. Like to read more content, Join the Mother Earth Living Community Today! Each issue  provides you with easy, hands-on ways to connect your life with the natural world -- from eating seasonally to culinary and medicinal uses of herbs; from aromatherapy and DIY cosmetics to yoga and beyond. Some studies suggest that in people with type 2 diabetes, taking horehound tea before meals may slightly lower blood sugar levels, improve appetite, dyspepsia, or indigestion after regular use for three weeks. Horehound plants tend to naturally grow in clumps. White Horehound is one of five plants used as a bitter herb eaten during the seder feast of the Jewish Passover celebration, and is known to be very effective for clearing congested lungs. Horehound is also brewed into Horehound Ale, a popular beverage in England. The horehound herb plant can be planted from seed, cuttings and division. It is a wild herb commonly found in disturbed soils, roadsides and dry scrublands. Creative gardeners have found ways of showing off common horehound to its best advantage, however, teaming it with herbs of contrasting foliage such as tarragon and oregano, rue, southernwood, and butterfly weed. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Indoors, horehound (pruned to keep it in-bound) can join small-leaved scented geraniums and upright and creeping thymes in dish gardens. Learn More About Burr Medic And Its Control, Potpourri Garden Plants: Creating A Potpourri Herb Garden, Zone 6 Herb Gardens: What Herbs Grow In Zone 6, Dutch Bucket Hydroponic Garden: Using Dutch Buckets For Hydroponics, Cast Iron Plant Division: Tips For Propagating A Cast Iron Plant, Money Tree Propagation – How To Propagate Pachira Trees, Growing Switchgrass – How To Plant Switchgrass, Lycoris Care – How To Grow The Lycoris Flower In The Garden, Information About Using Epsom Salts For Plants, Planting Prickly Pear Cactus: How To Grow A Prickly Pear, Gardening Mistakes: Overcoming Seed Planting Issues, Seed, Seedling Or Rescue: Acquiring Plants For Your Garden, Divide And Conquer With Cheap Plant Propagation, Regrowing Kitchen Scraps – Grow Vegetables And Herbs Again. Some references list horehound among the bitter herbs Jews eat at Passover, but according to Jo Ann Gardner (“Bitter Herbs: A New Look at the Plants of the Bible,” The Herb Companion, April/May 1990), it is not among the original bitter herbs of the Bible. It was recommended for killing flies and for treating cankerworm in trees. Already a Member but Horehound attracts. It contrasts nicely with glossy peony leaves and colorful California poppies in flower beds, too. Get the latest on Healthy Living and Natural Beauty! The horehound herb plant is a member of the mint family and looks quite a bit like the popular herb. Any plant that roots, shoots or fruits will benefit from a weekly feed from comfrey tea and a mulch of comfrey leaves. Horehound has erect, woolly, square stalks 2 to 3 feet tall, and wrinkled, scalloped, gray-green opposite leaves that are smooth or downy above and fuzzier below. Horehound has no significant pest or disease problems. Horehound does best in dry, poor soil with a southern exposure. “Hore-” does mean hoary (gray or white in Old English), but “-hound” is not canine; it’s simply an old name for the herb. Some gardeners prefer to plant the whiter, woollier, more ornamental silver horehound (M. incanum) or Spanish horehound (M. supinum), which is more compact and has pinkish flowers, but both of these are hardy only to Zone 7. Some references list horehound among the bitter herbs Jews eat at Passover, but according to Jo Ann Gardner (“Bitter Herbs: A New Look at the Plants of the Bible,” The Herb Companion, April/May 1990), it is not among the original bitter herbs of the Bible. www.companionplants.com Comfrey should ideally be grown as a stand alone plant as it grows quite large and can be invasive. Buy a plant or start horehound from seed. Lay comfrey leaves in the trench before sowing seed potatoes to prevent scabbing on the new potatoes. Being a member of the mint family, they are hardy and grow easily. Companion Planting Comfrey. Already a Member? It may not, however, summon up a picture of the source of these products, a rugged perennial herb native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia, naturalized in the bleakest spots in North America and at home in almost any herb garden from Zone 3 to Zone 10.   The Backyard Homestead Book Of Kitchen Know-How, Best Of Mother Earth News: Gardening Made Easy E-Book, The Complete Aromatherapy & Essential Oils, 8 Spaces to Declutter with Smart Organization Hacks. FREE Shipping. When growing horehound from seed, the best time for sowing is in the spring. $14.95 $ 14. Horehound has a natural ability as a pectoral remedy and is often made into cough drops and other candies relied upon for assistance with coughs and congestion. Port Murray, NJ 07865 Subscribe to Mother Earth Living today to get inspired on the art of living wisely and living well. The oil can be expressed and used in perfumes and potpourri. The plant is the source of the flavoring for old fashioned horehound candy. Companion planting with horehound improves the fruiting of tomatoes and peppers. These plants – such as clover and alfalfa – only get about 5% of required nutrients from the soil. The plant’s other requirements are minimal as it can spring up naturally in nutrient deficient areas and sandy soils. Pay now with a credit card and take advantage of our earth-friendly automatic renewal savings plan. 95. Horehound has traditionally been used to treat disorders of the stomach, gallbladder, and respiratory system as well as hepatitis. Horehound plants tend to naturally grow in clumps. In the language of flowers, horehound offers wishes for good health, and medical practitioners of many cultures have proclaimed its efficacy in treating a wide variety of ailments, of plants as well as people. Water horehounds belong to the genus Lycopus, and black (stinking) horehound and Greek horehound to the genus Ballota. The strong flavor is used in cough drops, candy and liqueurs. Teas and cough syrups were popular preparations, but the herb was also taken as snuff (to treat yellowness of the eyes), and fresh leaves were poulticed with honey “to cleanse foul and filthy ulcers.” Marrubium, a chemical compound extracted from horehound, is an expectorant. Seedlings are thinned to 10 inches apart and you can harvest the leaves after the plant flowers. However, the use of horehound for … The seeds are slow to germinate and do not need to be sown deeply. Redefine beauty and embrace holistic living with Mother Earth Living by your side. Gardeners disagree whether propagation from root divisions and cuttings is difficult; divisions are taken in spring and cuttings in late summer. 7247 N. Coolville Ridge Rd.