*grin* Thanks much! I do love sharing. If you like my writings, you may enjoy some of my blog articles. While I no longer actively write for this one, there are many articles from me here. I completely write the one I added to the links below and it is all on plants with a fair bit of herb content depending upon what I feel like writing. I hope you enjoy! Sorry if the books have a east/central focus. It's where I live and what I know. There are many plants that do range across much of North America so there is some useful information even for people in the western parts of the continent. The Moerman book though covers Native Nations from all across the continent, even Western ones. It is an excellent book and a necessary one if you are interested in the herbalism of Native Americans, the blend of Western and Native herbalism like that of the Thomsonian and Eclectic schools, and just the herbalism of the plants indigenous to where you live. You may try Michael Moore's website, Southwest Botanical Medicine (if I'm remembering rightly). It's been a while since I visited the site and can't recall exactly, but I'm pretty sure there are suggestions of western US herb references on that site. FataMorgana Here is a link that might be useful: My blog - Our Green Neighbors

Are you planning a garden for shade or sun? There are many native medicinal plants for shade or woodland gardens. I frequently share info and pictures of native medicinal plants on my personal blog: Our Green Neighbors and I suspect that many of your native medicinals are the same as mine - I'm a neighbor across Lake Ontario in Western NY State. Any books and resources on First Nations herbalism will certainly identify many native medicinal plants for your location. As mentioned in the Herbs forum, be sure to educate yourself on any herbs before using them. FataMorgana Here is a link that might be useful: Our Green Neighbors

Writersblock,It certainly does not look like the picture,you posted. Oh,well. :-) Hi,Anna!!!!! Thank you. Sylvia and I are doing well. Sylvia is a breast cancer survivor !! I,often think of you when I see the blue goddess waterlily. I fell in the fish pond yesterday,cold morning. All of me went under but my head. Thank God,not my head. I went in, to make an adjustment with the connection,of the immersible pump and the pipe that takes the water to the waterfall. It was slightly,dislodged. The floor of the pond was very slippery. I think, I gave the fish a heart attack,ha ha ha. I went straight to the pool,hosed off and jumped into the cold water of the pool. No body saw me. Remember I use a walking stick,due to my left being weak,from the stroke. I had to crawl out,laughing at myself...

Cymbopogons are native grasses that are closely related to the Lemongrass that is used in Asian cooking, I have tasted a few different species, and they all taste bloody awful in my opinion (and smell like cats piss!!), but I have been told by a reliable source that it depends on the species and the growing conditions. I think these species have more potential as insect repellants than in any culinary use, as all the lemongrasses produce citronella. A lot of spices that come to us from other cultures have become part of a culinary tradition primarily because of their medicinal or practical qualities, I have been reading a lot about this in Indian cooking, the inclusion of things like asfoteida (or hing) in many indian lentil dishes is because of its digestive qualities, this is true of fennel seeds, ginger and many others. This is also true of the spicy liqueurs and appertifs of mostly european origins that we enjoy today simply for their flavour rather than their original intended purposes as digestive aids and remedies. I think that this is also true of the way Aboriginal people use plant material, so whilst I agree that they are probably not considered culinary spices, even by Aboriginal people, there are plants used in the preparation of food that have medicinal properties or are used simply for practical reasons (to keep food moist or to insulate it from the intense heat of a fire during slow cooking) and some of these impart some fairly distinctive flavours on the dish being prepared, and as such could also be considered culinary spices. I can imagine that todays use of the spice cinnamon evolved from a similar usage, but that is simpy specultion and the result of a wish to be able to grow my own cinnamon tree, peel some bark off and wrap it around a hunk of lamb and cook in some coals just to see what it tasted like ;-). mudlark