Comfrey for the Urban Herb Garden
The Folklore and Cultivation of this Superstar Healing Herb
This next installment of "Medicinal Herbs for Small Gardens" focuses on easy-to-grow comfrey, and includes recipes for medicinal preparation and the usual dose of magic.
Welcome to the next installment of Medicinal Herbs for Small Gardens. Today's featured plant for your herbal pharmacy is the healing powerhouse, comfrey.
Comfrey Folklore
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) goes by a wide array of folk names including, but not limited to “boneset,” “bruisewort,” “healing herb,” “knit bone,” and “miracle herb.” Needless to say, the many unofficial titles bestowed upon comfrey speak volumes about its actions as a medicinal plant. Perhaps not much is written, then, about the strictly magical properties of comfrey, for the medicinal effects of the plant seemed magical (indeed, "miraculous") enough in their own right. It has been said that the Saxons referred to the plant as “Yulluc” and utilized it in travel magic. Comfrey was apparently also given to bards and minstrels to protect them in their wanderings.
Growing Comfrey
Finding comfrey among the usual basil and sage at your local garden center may be next to impossible, so starting comfrey from seed or a cutting may be your only options. Fortunately, comfrey is easy to grow, especially if you place the seeds in the crisper of your refrigerator for about three months before sowing them. Regardless of whether or not you expose the seeds to cold beforehand, you should have no problem sprouting enough comfrey to populate your small garden, porch, or balcony. Start your comfrey seeds indoors around the end of January (any warm, sunny spot will do). Use regular 4” pots, a decent potting mix, and about two seeds per pot (plant the seeds about 1/4” down), as the plants will need to live in these pots until May, when you will move them outdoors. Once comfrey starts growing, it doesn't stop until the first cold snap, and if given the opportunity to reseed itself, it will do so generously. When harvesting comfrey, try to pick the youngest leaves first. If it's the roots you're after, those can be dug (they're impossible to pull!) in the fall.
If you can't find comfrey seeds, then order a couple of comfrey cuttings from the internet. The cuttings take far less time to mature into usable plants and are easy to grow. Simply stick them in the soil and make sure they stay well-watered, well-drained, and out of strong sunlight. Just like our previously profiled plant, peppermint, comfrey is yet another incredibly invasive, shade-loving plant. Again, these factors make comfrey an excellent candidate for the porch or balcony gardener, as you'll be planting everything in pots anyway. Comfrey does need room to roam in order to prosper, so consider planting your comfrey in a large urn or whiskey barrel. Another option would be to check with your apartment manager, landlord, etc. to see if they wouldn't mind having an unused bit of weedy earth turned into a beautiful, purple-flowered comfrey patch that everyone could benefit from and enjoy!
Have you decided that comfrey is a must-have plant in your medicinal herb garden? Then read on to learn why comfrey is the miracle herb!
