My best guess from the info provided would be over-watering. This is a highly drought-tolerant plant which quickly develops root rot as well as leaf rot if the soil is not well draining or if it gets too much water. Treat it like a succulent - sandy soil (peat moss, vermiculite and compost all retain water) and minimal water. Hope this helps. Dave

Very interesting! -herbalbetty, what is oatstraw? Im guessing its not a combonation of oats and straw... -Annie, now thats a list! Do you use only one of these at a time or do you mix them up? Whats your favorite concoction? And (im not sure id do it or not, just curious) does it have to be a spicific kind of pine needles? I want to try lavender and bergamont sometime. I tried Lemon Balm tea and didnt like it. It was like I was sucking on a citronella misquito candle. Ps. I read something interesting about the history of Calendula officinalis in my herb book. It got its name from the Romans because this plant could be found blooming every month of the calendar year around Rome (Calendar=Calendula). And a long time ago Calendula was used to flavor and color butter and cheeses. Im not really a 'self medicating by herbs' kind of person, but I enjoy reading about them in my herb book. Its called The Complete Book of Herbs- by Lesley Bremness. It has a photo and description of the plant and its history. It also gives culinary, medical, and cosmetic uses as well as info on how to cultivate, harvest, preserve, and use the herbs. CMK

Good luck with this. I got antibiotic ear drops. My ear gets itchy, I scratch it, infection develops. My ear canal was definitely swollen and glands behind my ear were swollen. Eventually, the infection subsided but my ears are always dry, flaky and itchy. This time the doc decided I might have a problem with a fungus so prescribed anti-fungal drops. This helped a lot to relieve the itching. I also have bad dandruff and use a shampoo that contains tea tree oil. Since the inside of my ears is always dry although not as dry as it used to be, I wipe a little Tea Tree Soothing Gel by Jason in my ears. I too have lousy insurance so I understand where you're coming from. I hate spending over a hundred dollars between visit and drops but not be cured. My doctor also practices homeopathic medicine. I avoid most brands of soaps except for handwashing but for the rest of me, esp my face, I use a soap that contains Tea Tree oil. I seem to be sensitive to lanolin which I didn't figure out until my brother told me he was so now I only use skin creams that do not contain lanolin. One of the best skin moisturizers I ever used was when a friend demonstrated making skin creams with herbs and almond oil. BTW my FIL was once plagued by an itchy spot on his back that the dermatologist couldn't cure. I gave him some of my soap which helped immensely. For me, Tea Tree oil products work great,

I figure I could add something years later since other people added comments a year later. I moved into a rental house in Boulder, CO that had very well done perennial beds around the time this original post was written. It's been neglected for 7 or 8 years or so, especially the last 3 years. I can tell from Google maps the last year the lambs really took out for the rest of the beds and even the yard. I've been digging, pulling and now have covered an entire bed with clear plastic to kill the seeds before I'll consider planting there. The roots have formed an impenetrable mass and are sometimes thicker than my thumb. They have smaller roots finding them all together. I think if I were building a prairie Sod house I would be thrilled to find these. I'm constantly facing masses of sprouts and churning them over with hopes of killing most of them. We live in a Bee Safe neighborhood, and I don't think Round Up would have helped much anyway. I put an ad on craigslist and I've had many people haul garbage bags of plants away but eventually I got tired of answering the text-I think I had probably 50 people take A wavering amounts of these plants. I've never had them spread before but I stay on top of them, possibly since I use them in flower arrangements or pull them out as soon as they stray out of their designated area. I've discovered I now despise them and I don't think I'll ever let them grow again. I see them downwind from our yard and I'm tempted to go pull them now to spare them future agony- especially since it's likely the seeds came from here in the first place.