EASY-TO-GROW plants

Indicates plants that will spread and take over your yard easily. Plant them in contained areas or trim them frequently so they don’t go to seed. *

Bee Balm (Bergamot)- flowers and leaves are used

Beebalm is commonly seen in shades of pinks and purples

Borage *- flowers and leaves are used

Bright blue borage flowers ready to dry

Calendula *- flowers are used for tea, skincare, wound care and other methods

Calendula flowers come in orange, yellow and white with some variations

Chamomile- flowers are used in teas and various other methods

Don’t confuse Chamomile with False Chamomile or Pineapple weed.

Lambs Ears- the fuzzy leaves are great for wound care and can make a nice toilet paper!

These fuzzy lambs ears are soothing just to hold and pet.

Marigolds- flowers are used

Mint *- so many different varieties of mint, and so many possibilities for different teas

Fresh mint smells amazing!

Raspberries *- the berries are great, but the leaves are wonderful in teas

Red raspberries and leaves

Roses- flower petals and hips are used

Morden Sunrise roses from my previous garden. Any rose will do but I find the old fashioned roses have the strongest scent.

Viola/Violets- flowers are used in baking and teas

Violas are often found growing in grass

Yarrow *- flowers are used. It is said that the white common yarrow is the most potent as opposed to the colourful variations available in greenhouses.

The pink yarrow is very pretty but the white flowers are preferred for medicines.

Plants that are worth the effort

Arnica- flowers are used for wound care

Arnica flowers

Echinacea- roots, flowers and leaves are used- the old fashioned purple ones are said to be the most medicinal, not the new cultivars.old-fashioned

Common echinacea flowers

Black Elderberry sambucus canadiens (edible fruit)- flowers and berries are wonderful, flowers are great for skincare

Elderberry flowers

Black elderberries

Lavender- flowers are used for cooking, baking, teas and drinks or sweets

Lemongrass- leaves and stalks are used in cooking and for tea

I grow my lemongrass in a pot so I can bring it in the house in the fall and enjoy it year round.

Lemon Verbena and Lemon Balm- leaves are used for tea

St John’s Wort- flowers are used for tincture

Flowers of St John’s wort are far more potent than any powdered supplement

Valerian *- the flowers are a lovely relaxing scent but the roots are where the medicine is. The roots smell awful as they dry (like very stinky socks) so try to dry them outdoors or in a garage.

Valerian can be invasive to use a contained area to plant it.

Weeds to look for

Plantain *- leaves are used for skincare and wound care

Plantain weed, the stalks are full of seeds

Alumroot or Cranesbill- root is used to GI complaints and to stop bleeding

Cleavers *- leaves and stems are used fresh for skincare

Cleavers can be invasive

Chickweed *- leaves and stem are used fresh for skincare, can be used in salads and cooking

Common Chickeweed

Dandelion *- flowers, leaves and roots are all used. Be sure to collect from an ear that has not been sprayed in many years.

Dandelion flowers

Lambsquarters *- great eaten raw when leaves are young as a substitute for spinach in salads

The silvery grey lambsquarters leaves taste similar to spinach

Mullein *- flowers are used for treating earaches and leaves are used for respiratory ailments

Mullein flower stalk with fuzzy leaves at its base; that is a borage plant to the right and elderberry plant at the top

Purslane *- Portulaca- Harvested in early summer, July to mid-July. Use in salads, soups and broth. It is a nutritional powerhouse, offering remarkable amounts of minerals (notably calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium), omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins (A, B, C), and antioxidants. Leaves should be flat but juicy like a succulent. Waxy to the touch, NO fuzzy leaves.

Purslane weed

Stinging Nettle *- leaves are used in teas, cooking and baking. be careful when harvesting as the sting is real, use gloves and sharp scissors or knife. The sting from the nettles is said to alleviate rheumatic pains.

Nettles often grow in clusters, are “stinging to the touch and covered in fine hairs.

Mugwort and Wormwood*- used in teas, tinctures and inhalations

Mugwort is much greener than its silvery cousin Wormwood



Trees to identify in your area

Birch- the powdery coating on the birch tree makes a decent sunscreen

Common birch leaves

Birch trees put on a spectacular fall display!

Black Poplar/ Balsam poplar (Populus nigra/Populus balsamifera)- white poplar trees are most common and have much smaller buds than black poplar, black poplar buds will have thick, sticky yellow/reddish sap leaking (strongly scented) from them in the spring. White poplars have oval or lobed leaves with notches on the margins and a silvery underside. Black poplars have rounded leaves, and balsam poplars have triangular leaves with serrated margins. Black poplar tree bark is more gray with a rough appearance and furrowed texture whereas white poplar bark with white with grey (similar to aspens). Buds are harvested very early in spring just as things start to warm up, often in late April.

Juniper, creeping- cones/berries are harvested all summer long. Cones are produced every other year so if the patch of junipers you see doesn’t have any, come back the next year.

Creeping juniper can be found wild and in landscaping

Lilac- flowers are edible and can be used to make syrups, drinks and other sweets.

Lilacs smell and taste sweet too.

Linden- leaves, flowers and nuts are all edible. Flowers and leaves are used in tea, Nuts can be used as a coffee or chocolate substitute (I’ve tried this it wasn’t very good- but I’m a coffee and chocolate snob!)

Linden tree in flower

Maple- leaves are edible, and trees can be tapped for sap

Signature red leaves of the Maple tree

Pine- needles are used for drinks, teas and cough syrups. We will discuss more about which Pine trees are safe to harvest from and which are better to leave be.

Some people use Fir needles instead of Pine, but I prefer Pine.

Spruce- tips are edible and used for respiratory aliments











Other wild plants to find

Alfalfa *- shoots and leaves can be used raw in salads, leaves are used in tea

Careful when foraging alfalfa, as there is now Genetically Modified Alfalfa

Burdock acticum lappa *- you probably don’t want this one in your yard unless you have lots of space. It is large and very invasive. Roots are used for skincare, hormone balancing and re-energizing.

Burdock is very invasive

Cattails- cattails can be used for flour in baking

Comfrey *- leaves are harvested in summer for skin care

Goldenrod *- flowers and leaves can be used in teas and skin care

Goldenrod flowers can have various sizes of clusters of flowers.

Motherwort *- leaves are used in teas

Motherwort is often confused with other herbs including Dead Nettle.

Red Clover *- leaves and flowers are used in teas and salves. It has phyto-estrogenic activity and is often used in menopause. Topically it can be used to relieve arthritis pain and gout and take the sting out of bug bites.



Tea Garden Plants

  • honeysuckle flowers

  • linden leaves and flowers

  • hibiscus flowers

  • lemon balm

  • lemon verbena

  • all the mints

  • catnip

  • rose petals and rose hips

  • chamomile flowers

  • pine needles

  • chicory root

  • dandelion root

  • burdock root

  • red clover

  • stinging nettles

  • lavender

  • bergamot

  • citrus peel (organic)

  • raspberry leaves

  • Holy basil

  • motherwort

Botanical Dye plants

  • acorns

  • alum (as a mordant)

  • birch bark

  • cabbage

  • calendula

  • coreopsis

  • curly dock seeds

  • onion skins

  • elderberry

  • goldenrod

  • mallow blossoms

  • marigolds

  • Lady’s mantle

  • lichens

  • nettle

  • motherwort

  • mullein flower stalk

  • Oak bark

  • peach leaves

  • Seabuckthorn

  • Sumac seeds and fruit

  • yarrow

  • walnut shells

Never consume anything you are not 100% certain of. As the consumer, you are responsible for proper identification and safe consumption.