Worth knowing:
The perennial Lady’s Mantle is an important plant for every medicinal herb garden. Already the old Germanic people appreciated the herb and dedicated it to Frigga, the goddess of nature and fertility. Its name points to the big, mantle-like leaves. From May until August, it produces a rich, but rather inconspicuous yellowish inflorescence.
Natural Location:
The Alchemilla vulgaris is almost exclusively native in the Old World of the northern hemisphere and grows mainly in the mountains at the bank of a creek, on moist meadows, slopes and montane or alpine pastures.
Cultivation:
The Lady’s Mantle is a cold and light germinator. Outdoors you can start seeding already between October and January. Just spread and gently press the seeds onto potting compost in a bowl and place it somewhere sheltered, but also bright. Keep the earth moist, but avoid waterlogging. Ideally, you may cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out, but don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. In spring, the seedlings can be pricked out and planted about 20 cm apart from each other in the desired spot of the garden. For seed propagation indoors, however, you should initially keep the seeds in the refrigerator for a couple of days to increase the germinability.
Place:
The Lady’s Mantle prefers a full sunny place, but also grows in more shady areas.
Care:
The soil should be humus-rich and rather moist. If you don’t prune the plant back after blossoming, it will reproduce through self-seeding. Multiplication is also possible through cuttings of the root in spring. During blossoming you can harvest the leaves as well as the flowers, while the leaves can nicely be dried for your winter stock. In August you may cut the plant back strongly after blossoming.
During the winter:
The Lady’s Mantle is frost-hard.
Picture credits:
- © © H. Zell - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © H. Zell - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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- © - -
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