Blue Jay's Picks; Hibiscus, Hollyhocks, St. John's Wort, Scarlet Pea

The more I delve into the plants on Blue Jay’s Picks list, the more I wonder how I’ll have time to mow the lawn. She only picked twelve plants and I have five more to go.

Hibiscus, or Rose Mallow is another one of those items that we will have to purchase to enjoy. I think that the lavender, rose dye color is what drew Blue Jay to the Hibiscus. The plant has pretty reddish and circular flowers, but some of the dye results, depending on the mordant and material, are nearly black. The plants will require some maintenance in this dry climate, and might do best in bed 77, in the shade.

I noticed that Blue Jay skipped over the Hollyhocks. “Oh no, why does it have to be Hollyhocks?”

St. John’s Wort produces some golds and reddish browns. When I first started researching St. John’s Wort, I had another of those puzzles. I was thinking along the lines of garden flowers. When I found Sand Mountain Herbs.com there was a handy red note saying that the seeds could not be shipped to Oregon, California, Colorado, Montana, Utah or Washington State.

Looking further on the USDA web site, I found that Common St. John’s Wort was C listed in Colorado, meaning that it was a noxious weed. (I like Sand Mountain Herbs for their ecological responsibility.) I’ll have no reservations about collecting this plant from pastures or open range. It is poisonous to livestock. It’s another one for the hike, ride or drive collection method.

Blue Jay passed over several brilliant yellows and went to the blues. Indigo first. The indigofera suffriticosa is native to Mexico and the Caribbean and has distribution in the southeast.

I did find another close relative indigofera miniata, which is supposed to be found in Texas. Its common name is Scarlet Pea or Texas Indigo. (This information is via the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). It reminds me of a plant that I have seen off the Rock Island Path while commuting to work on my bicycle. I think that we will try this, however since Rita Buchanan suggested that most alternatives in the indigofera genus don’t yield any useful color, we’ll get some seeds Indigo Tinctura from Sand Mountain Herbs. They like full sun and should do well in bed 88 or 311.

For more experimentation, we might get some shrubs from heronswood.com, the indigofera heterantha.

Japanese Indigo and Woad are the last two on Blue Jay’s list. I’ll get these next time.