Common Fleabane

A useful day of errands, groceries shopping, etc. I managed to do a bit of clipping and footling about in the garden for an hour or so. It’s so bad out there that I haven’t even scratched the surface, but at least the bushes look tidier, the roses have been deadheaded and the worst of the brambles cut back. I removed a couple of oak seedlings from underneath the Acer tree - pesky squirrels! There are quite a few wildflowers about in the absence of any weeding being done.

My blip is of some Common Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) that has sprung up in the garden. This plant has medicinal properties, and though in England it never had much reputation as a curative agent it ranked high in the estimation of herbalists abroad. It was formerly used to treat dysentery. It was commonly called Fleabane because, if burnt, the smoke from it drives away fleas and other insects. The generic name, Pulicaria, refers to this property, the Latin name for the flea being Pulex. Arabians call it Rarajeub, or Job's Tears, from a tradition that Job used a distillation of this herb to cure his ulcers. It was also recommended for itching and other skin disorders. As it spreads by its root network I will have a job removing it from the flowerbed when I start reworking the garden.