Purely as a lesson in optimism, brave little Periwinkle, I am willing to leave you be; all you need is a sheltered wall to warm your leaves and support your tendrils, and out pops a pretty blue flower to justify your existence. Gardeners don’t usually welcome you, your habit of throwing out runners left, right and centre, aiming at total domination of large tracts of garden soil cause us to confine you to wild areas where nothing else will grow, where you can fight for survival with ivy, dead nettle, bugle and sweet woodruff.
Aren’t these common names delightful? Names which have been bestowed on the plants by country people, wise women and herbalists; names which instantly conjure up an image, or tell you the purpose of a plant.
The Almanac says “Guard your Health and allay Disorders caused by New Year Celebrations.” Good advice which I didn’t heed. Beloved brought a cold home from a party and, although I avoided him as much as possible, he insisted on sharing it with me.
Fly Physic, Sloth and Venery,
Avoid all Baths most carefully.
Avoiding all Physic and Venery didn’t help; Sloth was forced upon me by the soreness of throat and chest. Baths were a necessary evil, but even they have been kept to a minimum recently.
John Hollybush, The Homish Apothecary of 1561 says,
“Many there are whom the head whirleth so sore, that he thinketh the earth turneth upside down. The same also has pain in the eye, and he weeneth that a sort of flies do fly before his eyes. Those may be healed in this wise: they may drink no strong drinks nor wine, without it be very well allayed with much water.”
Yes, he describes the symptoms admirably, but I don’t like his cure. I think I shall stick with wine and drink the water separately.
ja het is mooi,maar je hebt zo een hele tuin vol.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you feel better soon - husbands will insist on sharing things whether it is your last chocolate or their cold in the head...
ReplyDeleteoh dear, I love all those banished plants....especially sweet woodruff
ReplyDeleteSorry you are a bit sick....sending some good wishes your way
I'm with you on the cure. But so sorry you have to deal with a cure in the first place. What a magical turn of phrase our predecessors had!
ReplyDeleteI love myrtle/periwinkle. Rick has it as ground cover in his yard and the bright flowers always cheer me. You are lucky to see one so early. He also lives on the corner of a street called Woodruff, a street I used to live on. But I have never seen the plant.
I swear by the concoction my mother used for all kinds of colds and congestion: hot water with plenty of honey and many slices of orange and lemon. After drinking the sweet water, we ate up the fruit. A day or so with such drinking and eating citrus, and going to the bathroom, the cold was gone.
ReplyDeleteYour mother's remedy sounds delicious. I Don't have a cold, but I think I'll try it anyway.
DeleteI have no helpful advice for physics, except one, which was to cover the sick one's throat with vaporub and cover it with someone's large sock. Apparently, it was originally to have been a dirty sock, but neither my mother nor my grandmother would do that to us.
ReplyDeleteFor bronchitis and pneumonia, my grandmother made mustard plasters which warmed the chest almost beyond endurance, and sometimes blistered the skin.
I love the sight of your pretty little winter flower. At home (on the coast of British Columbia) they will be having flowers soon, if not already, but here in Alberta they call May "planting month"!
I hope you and your Beloved are both well soon.
Luv, K
A glass of water diluted apple cider vinnegar each day will keep sickness away ... plus make your hair shiny ... Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteSigh. Get better soon. Here as we swelter in the heat only those plants which are seeking world domination are likely to survive. No rain and temperatures over 40 Celsius are not kind to the garden (or gardener).
ReplyDeleteYour flower was a welcome balm. I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteSorry he decided to share it with you. I've found zinc lozenges to be a great help when my throat is sore. Get well soon, Friko.
ReplyDeleteack...i hope you feel better soon...not a fun time of year to be sick....
ReplyDeleteThe way water was polluted in those days, that sounds like a kill or cure remedy - probably "kill"!
ReplyDeleteThe flower is lovely. The cold.. not so much. I hope you're on the mend before too long. Enjoy the wine.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your cold. I have made it two years without illness or virus, but having written this, the angry gods will bring me up short soon, probably.
ReplyDeleteStrangely companionable to share post celebration sickness with you, F. My blog invisible husband brought it home!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
I just realized that I have periwinkles on one side of my house. I'm afraid the recent freeze killed them, though. I don't know if they can recover.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I don't believe I've ever seen a periwinkle before. Does this count, since it's not in person? And I agree with the delightfulness of common plant names. I miss the old ways that I read about.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Sickness. Even on your side of the world, it's going around, eh? Here's to a speedy recovery, and much comfort in the mean time.
Gute Besserung Euch beiden!
ReplyDeleteThe periwinkle is a welcome sight at this time of the year, isn't it; I still hope we'll get away with it this winter without (much) snow and cold.
Well Friko, your loss is our gain. You certainly write a great post for being sick with cold. Over on this side of the pond we have a terrific remedy for sore throat, it's called Kentucky Bourbon and water isn't involved at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd I must say that you gardeners, all of you it seems, should be ashamed of yourselves for the evil way you treat periwinkles. It's outright genocidal and shameful. What a beautiful little plant that asks for nothing and gives so much. And, I would place buttercups and primroses in that group as well. Shame, shame, shame.
Periwinkles are gorgeous - but like Black Eyed Susans do tend to overtake things… I plant a large section of BES's off in thier own little corner to run riot as they see fit… :) Feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon Friko! Tea with honey and lemon always helps me :)
ReplyDeleteClever post. I am currently fighting the Periwinkle my idiot neighbor planted under his shade tree. It prefers my garden and is doing its best to invade my space. Around here Woodruff is much loved, although thin on the ground. Ivy is detested by humans and loved by birds.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE periwinkle. I have it in all my beds. It's hardy, can take foot traffic, makes a good back drop for taller plants, spreads rapidly, is evergreen and has those beautiful little flowers much of the year. What's not to like?
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty photo, and a pretty name. I have the same plant clambering all over the south side of my bach, but I didn't know what it's called. I've been reluctant to pull it out but new gardener says I should.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are harsh ... maybe that's the German way ... I don't know ... just guessing ... your poems are sweet though, Friko ... thank you ... wishing you lots of periwinlke in your flower beds. Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteA hot toddy or two and a pile of good books won't make you better any quicker .. but might make it all more bearable .
ReplyDeleteGet well soon !
I love the old cures. And this post.
ReplyDelete=)
PS. Feel better!
Hi Friko .. hope it's gone now and you're both feeling better. Love John Hollybush's name .. and his remedies .. I can see the wine would be much more palatable, then the water to sooth the roiling throat ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary