Here are a few street herbs, from close to the park…

This one is an update on that pretty rosette forming Geranium, growing in a pavement. It is now flowering and has retained the rosette habit.

Second is a Chocolate Mint growing in my geveltuin tuin. I’m showing it today because so many mints are presently in flowmaking ambling even easier identification. The Mint family (Mentha spp.) is quite enormous, they are Labiates, have square stems and smell strongly of mint. I chose Chocolate mint for my home some years ago as I like to add the leaves to chocolate puddings, intact I just love chocolate, so this variety was a logical choice. Mints are great pot plants, they spread easily by setting out runners. This is not such a positive feature when grown in many gardens. It can take over the whole garden if allowed to grow unchecked. When foraging mint, which is a water loving plant, always harvest clean parts which have not been submerged in water. The water and thus submerged parts of water plants, may harbor really grizzly parasites which will have a fun time with your internal organs before you realize what has happened. This is not just a tropical occurance, it is potentially true of all water. Mint and other water plants which are harvested well above the water level should then be treated with the same cautious foraging rules as other plants.

Here is an Ivy plant (Hedera helix) which catches my eye everytime I walk past it. It is unusual in its leaf shape and sometimes I see small leaves growing directly out the mature leaves. It grows very close to a front door so I suspect it is an escaped specially bred garden plant. You may remember that skin toning and stimulating cellulite treatments can easily be made from this herb. Not one to eat though.