Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lady's Mantle

This charming little plant has a ton of folk lore associated with it. It is easy to grow and is a plant that enjoys having some shade. It produces very pretty little chartreuse colored flowers in July and August. Named Our Lady's Mantle because the scalloped leaves resembled a cloak that would have been worn by the Virgin Mary. Its Latin name, Alchemilla vulgaris, represents its early history where Alchemists, the early chemists and magicians, used the dew collected from the leaves to magically turn base metals into gold. It is also said that these little pools of water are where the fairies stop to bathe and play. And finally, if you collect the dew of Ladies Mantle in your fine china tea cup and slowly sip, it is said to keep you youngly!

2 comments:

PeggyR said...

We use to have lady's mantle on the hill in the back where we use to live.

Marilyn Miller said...

I must find some Ladies Mantle to keep me young. I love picturing the fairies bathing there.