What is a comfrey plant good for?
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is sometimes used on the skin to treat wounds and reduce inflammation from sprains and broken bones. Comfrey roots and leaves contain allantoin, a substance that helps new skin cells grow, along with other substances that reduce inflammation and keep skin healthy.
Where do you put comfrey in the garden?
Use as a mulch. Chop up comfrey leaves with grass cuttings, and place a 5cm layer on the surface of the soil around all plants. This will slowly rot down to provide nutrients, and act as a mulch to keep in moisture and help control weeds.
What does common comfrey look like?
Common comfrey has large, oval, hairy leaves, and clusters of drooping, tubular flowers that are pinky-purple in colour.
How can you tell the difference between borage and comfrey?
It’s easy to tell comfrey and borage apart when they bloom. Borage flowers are always blue while comfrey flowers bloom in white, pink and purple. The flowers have different shapes, as well, with comfrey flowers shaped like bells and borage flowers like stars.
Can you drink comfrey tea?
You can also drink dried comfrey root and leaves as tea. Today, eating or taking any form of comfrey by mouth isn’t recommended. It’s considered unsafe, due to the pyrrolizidine alkaloids that comfrey contains.
How do you use fresh comfrey leaves?
You can use whole comfrey leaves as a poultice for sprains, arthritis, pain, and bruising. If you don’t want to walk around with a bandage of leaves sticking to you then you can make comfrey oil. Rub it onto the same injuries as a massage oil but avoid putting it on broken skin or wounds.
Can you use fresh comfrey leaves?
The comfrey leaves should be dry and crumbly before you use them to make comfrey oil. Leaves that are fresh or wet can introduce water into the oil which accelerates rancidity. It can also create a habitat for microbes, whether you see them or not.
Do comfrey plants spread?
Maintenance. It doesn’t take much to keep comfrey happy. You can cut stems back after flowering to encourage repeat blooming. However, keep in mind that this plant does have a tendency to spread.
Are there different types of comfrey plants?
There are two types of comfrey that gardeners most commonly grow: True/Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) also called the Bocking 14 cultivar.
How can you tell the difference between foxglove and comfrey?
Comfrey could be mistaken for foxglove when not in flower, as the leaves are similar. However, comfrey leaves are untoothed, meaning they have smooth edges, and foxglove leaves are toothed. Great mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is another plant foxglove might be confused with when no flowers are present.
Is comfrey good for hair?
Comfrey root is great for hair because it has healing properties and is chock-full with minerals, vitamin A, B-12, and antioxidants. It is superb at preventing dryness because the presence of attantoin not only stimulates skin cell proliferation, but it is also an excellent exfoliant that will soften skin cells.
Can you use comfrey flowers?
Growing and Using Comfrey. Herbalists throughout the ages have placed comfrey high on their list of useful plants. It is known to have an effect on a variety of external ailments. Some of the common ones include cuts, burns, skin ulcers, hemorrhoids, sprains, fractures, and boils.
Are comfrey leaves poisonous?
However, comfrey also contains several pyrrolizidine alkaloids (symphytine, echimidine, symglandine and lycopsamine) which are toxic and capable of causing sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (previously called veno-occlusive disease) and severe liver injury.
Can you boil comfrey leaves?
Place dried comfrey leaf into a large, heat-proof bowl. Pour nearly boiling water over comfrey, cover with a large plate and let steep for 15 minutes, then strain or leave herbs in.
Do tomatoes like comfrey tea?
It’s especially rich in potassium, making it the ideal feed to promote flowers and fruits in a range of plants, including tomatoes.
How do you use fresh comfrey leaves for tea?
Place chopped comfrey leaves at the bottom of a bucket. Weigh down with a brick, fill bucket with water, and cover for three weeks before diluting, one part ‘tea’ to 10 parts comfrey. Slugs stay well away after smelling this brew.
Where can I buy a comfrey plant?
Botanical Name
How to grow and care for comfrey?
Direct Sowing Comfrey Seeds. It is possible to direct sow comfrey seeds,however,they may need up to two years to germinate.
What does comfrey taste like?
They start pink and turn a true blue, hanging in downward facing clusters. Even the fuzzy white buds are attractive. Both the flowers and the leaves are edible, with a cucumber-like flavor.
How to use comfrey as a fertilizer?
Grow comfrey in your garden to harvest