Every Summer I look forward to working on my herb garden. Each year I look for something new as I love exploring and working with new herbs. Last year I selected a tiny Cola plant that I saw. I read that it could get bigger but that it may not be successful in my area so I planted it at the front of my herb garden where I could keep an eye on it and I could move it later if I needed to.
I honestly wasn’t even sure that it would come back this year. This is the cola plant this year. It’s a little hard to see. It’s on the right. That’s a huge pineapple sage plant on the left and all the green in the back is chocolate mint. Isn’t that crazy? I love it. We are going to have quite the harvest this year. Pineapple sage really thrives in my herb garden as well.
The cola plant is now at least 2 feet high. Apparently it can grow to be three to four feet high and two to three feet wide. The Cola Plant got it’s nickname because it smells and tastes a bit like Cola. Contrary to what some may believe this is not where cola flavor comes from. It actually started out from the Kola nuts on the Kola tree although I’m not sure how widely used that is any more. The name of the Cola plant is Artemisia abrotanum. It is also known in some places as southernwood, lads love or southern wormwood.
It is native to Europe and was brought to the United States in the 1600’s. They are commonly used in landscaping as there are several varieties and they are really quite pretty. Some varieties even have a bit of a silver look to them. Some of them have these yellow button flowers in late Summer and early fall. It’s most known for it’s scent. It’s pretty strong actually! You definitely want to give it a sniff as some people may not care for the scent. I find it to be a pleasant scent that I can see why it was used in homes and closets to make things smell nice. Another benefit to it is that it helps to repel moths and other bugs making it an herb that it was quite common to find in the closets and dressers to keep clothes safe. For that reason some of you may be familiar with it.
It can be used to give flavor to meals you are cooking and in teas. It can really give a zip to cold drinks like seltzers. It can be used with meats, sauces, drinks and even some deserts.
For a long long time it was thought that this herb was magickal and could ward off evil. Some of us still believe that it is. 😉 It is also found to work quite well in love spells.
Have a magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong
