Comfrey

[daxtell71]

As a very new gardener I started with herbs so have quite a few and invested in some comfrey seeds which came and are slowly coming up. What I don't know is how to care for the plant or if it is one that I will have to sew each each year.

Also do you have any suggestions for other medieval herbs as I am trying to create that feel in the garden. Also Mixing Veg with flowers etc.

Thanks in advance any help is like gold to me at the moment.

[Monika]

Comfrey has very deep roots, so plants them in a 'forever' place because you'll never get rid of them. And, unless you have plenty of room, don't plant too many because they are large and greedy things, albeit very useful as a fertiliser. There has been a recent thread on this forum about comfrey - you might find it useful.

[Westi]

Lots of thugs in the herb world so do your research Daxtell! I gave up my herb bed about 6yrs ago & still digging up Lemon Balm & Russian Tarragon all over the plot! I still have herbs but home in pots so I can control them!

[Breq]

You need to be careful that you grow a sterile comfrey like Bocking 13 - it does not produce seeds and so does not spread itself everywhere; It is only propagated by cuttings. If you grow comfrey from seed, it will reseed itself and be everywhere. Find someone with some Bocking, and they can put a cutting in a pot and it will be away in no time.

Other thugs of the herbal world: anything in the mint family (incl. lemon balm), fennel, and sweet woodruff. I potted up some mint cuttings for a friend and rested in on another (tall) pot so I did not forget it to pass it on. In two weeks it had roots out of the pot and 6" into the other! I usually keep the thug pots on hard surface but forgot that time... I got sweet woodruff yonks ago from a lady who told me firmly to put it in a place where it can't escape or at least in a restriced area. Smells amazing but will be everywhere overnight if you let it. Makes nice herbal pillows.

I like Sweet Cicely, and old-fashioned herb that seems to thrive under my quice. Nice anise-like scent and I hope to use it with rhubarb next year (to reduce sugar requirment).

The usual suspects, parsley sage, thyme, rosemary (I like the prostrate kind - less of a giant shrub), and lavender are fab - great for insects when the flower, lovely and useful. Lots of varieties of each to have a go with

[daxtell71]

That's brillian thank you everyone I shall put the plant in a pot and make sure it does not turn into to much of a thug ! Great suggestion and advice. I am so glad that I have found this forum. So far I have Mint and Feverfew in pots and Rosemary and Lavender in the front Garden. Its all coming together nicely my little piece of paradise.

[67alan67easington]

If you use comfrey and other greens to make liquid feeder how long can you store it for
thanks in advance alan.

[Johnboy]

Dear Daxtell,
Heart breaking as what I have to say my advice is to invest in some Bocking 14 Comfrey plants and destroy the Comfrey
plants you have lovingly grown from seed. Blocking 14 was produced by Lawence Hills in the days of HDRA now under a different name. Blocking 14 does not set seed in UK and should you need more plants propagation is done by root cuttings. I had the privilege of working alongside Lawrence as often as I could in the early 1950`s when he was experimenting with the different Comfreys.

[daxtell71]

Thanks, Johnboy for the very helpful advice.

Debs

[Johnboy]

Dear Daxtell (Debs maybe.)
It has occurred to me that the Comfrey seeds that you have lovingly grow may not be Russian Comfrey at all. There is a Comfrey grown for the herbaceous border which if my memory has white flowers and is a dwarf plant compared to it's Russian counterpart. If you bought the seed from the flower section of a catalogue check up on this as I could have given you the wrong advice. Let's hope you have not taken my advice already.

[Primrose]

Does alkanet have any botanical relationship to comfrey? It also has very deep roots and is a thug spreading everywhere in our garden.

I get rid of the roots but wonder if the leaves have the same sort of liquid manure capacity?

[Johnboy]

Dear Primrose,
Alkanet and Comfrey are both in the Borage Family. I would think that if it has very long roots as does Comfrey then it would be really useful in compost making.
JB.

[retropants]

Primrose, alkanet root is a very good natural dye. It imports red to purple depending upon the pH. I use dried cut alkanet root to dye my lavender soap purple. It also makes a lovely pink for my foot cream. PH of the soap is 10, the foot cream will be neutral. It is used for textiles too.