Russian comfrey : The fastest growing plant I have
I discovered this plant about a year ago, and bought some roots to start on the side of my yard. After planting it took about two weeks for them to emerge. And they have been growing bigger with every month. Just in a single year I harvested its leaves three times and they just kept growing back. It goes by many names such as healing herb, blackwort, bruisewort, wallwort and gum plant. But I just call it Comfrey, its a plant in the borage family.
When I was looking at which kind of Comfrey to buy I noticed something called "bockings". This term refers to hybrids of plants that do not produce viable seed. I decided to buy some that are this way so they do not spread further than I want them to. The bocking variety will only spread through root propagation. I am glad I got the bocking 14 variety as they have grown so big, I am worried my Pussy willow may get smothered out by them, also some mint is growing behind the plant so it has a double threat. Luckily the Pussy Willow is over five years old so has a good head start.
These leaves offer alot of uses, I have found a rabbit living under the leaves and also a lizard. So they make good homes that protect them from predators circling above like Hawks or other predatory birds. Leaves are also high in nutrients, the plant is known to pull important minerals from the ground and store them in the leaves. So I have used these leaves as chop and drop for covering up some mint
Leaves also make animal feed, though not for humans due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids inside... I have given some of mine to some local chickens and they seemed to like to eat them when they have wilted after being cut off. The flowers the comfrey produces attracts many pollinators as well but for this time of year I just get leaf growth. I plan on cutting back the plants one more time before the frosts come in and we shall see if they try to grow back in the winter or wait until spring to do so.
A few posts below of pictures of the flowers they produced during the summer time. And how I used the leaves for a chop and drop method of mulching over some mint plants I want to stop growing. Links are to my peakd posts and my videos I have shared on LBRY. Odysee is a new dapp running on the LBRY network.
https://peakd.com/@solominer/two-bumblebees-feeding-on-comfrey-flowers
https://lbry.tv/@Solominer:e/comfreyharvest:9?r=3urrKhdN9iH7zyRX6cjYysCbSwPSAPus
https://odysee.com/@Solominer:e/chopndrop:2
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Comfrey is an amazing hardy
medicinal perennial..!!
@solominer
I'm not sure what variety I have. It was already growing and established when I bought my property many years ago.
It has survived many harsh cold and snowy Winters. It truly thrives and grows huge.
It's resting for the Winter now under a couple of feet of snow ☃️.
The pollinators absolutely love it...🐝🦋
:)
Ah nice, glad you know about this little plant as well. Yeah the cold weather just seems to make it stop growing but it comes back in the Spring/Summer/Fall like crazy.
Those flowers really do attract many bumble bees, I would see them on the flowers for hours a day.
This was a weird post for me to see... I was a little stoned so I kept wondering if this was something I had written and forgotten about!
We also discovered this wonderful plant, about a year ago, and have it growing near pussy willow. Ours is also near some mixed hardwoods, and is often mulched with a similar selection of dead leaves. Earlier this year, we planted some spearmint close by, but we're hoping that ours will come back. It felt like I slipped into a parallel universe!
I have the viable seed variety, and here in zone 5a I've not really had a problem with it spreading that way. The new sprouts are very small and tight to the ground, and seem to have a hard time getting above the lawn and wildflowers. We actually started ours from seed, and had to start them indoors then transplant them. It has begun spreading through root growth, and I'm a little worried that this may be a problem in another few years.
Hah no worries, yeah it is a wonderful plant. Good to hear your kind of Comfrey does not spread as bad as they say it does with the seeds. I am curious how quickly they spread underground from the root growth. Maybe in a year or two Ill see them growing. I may pull some up and move them to a different part of the yard to start some new comfrey plants.
Hope yours does not grow out of control, I am making sure I grow them where I dont mind them taking over.
I actually planted mine in a 4' x 4' box, and put that box in an area where if it does spread, it shouldn't be a problem for at least 2 years. If it does get out of control, well, the girlfriend calls that a 'beautiful problem'. Having too much of the things I want is my favorite problem to manage!
Haha good idea, putting them in boxes is a good idea. Plants like mint, bananas and other vigorous growers need to be kept separated or given alot of space.