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Why not grow Valerian? It’s a fragrant perennial that can help with sleeping.
I’ve been growing Valerian in many gardens of my past, well before we moved up here to the Cariboo. It is a wonderful perennial plant, so it dies back in the fall and then grows again in the spring. You can grow them from seed or buy one in a container and transplant it.
I absolutely love the fragrance of Valerian so I just kept dividing existing plants and bringing some along when we moved. I’ve always just planted it again at the new place. I brought some up here and planted them in the flower garden right under the porch.
How to Plant Valerian
I try to plant Valerian root close to the house windows or the porch, so we can enjoy the wonderful fragrance. Valerian grows tall, more than 5 feet so it’s a good idea to enclose the plant with a Tomato cage in early Spring to let those tall stems get some extra support. A heavy rain can really damage the plant.
It blooms for about 6 weeks and at the end of the season, Valerian self seeds very easily; just don’t cut all the blooms when they are finished. Let the seed fall on the ground. In spring, some of those seeds will probably germinate and grow.
You can dig up any new plants that pop up and move them to where they will have room to grow. Valerian looks wonderful planted in a mass, so don’t worry about them being crowded – it looks beautiful.
You can see the Valerian growing on the front far right in the photo. It’s right behind the tulips. It won’t take long to shoot up several more feet, then start to bloom.
Some people use Valerian to help them sleep. Wonderful, wonderful…if you have some room, plant one of these!
The bees love the flowers and we all know we need as many bees as possible to pollinate our food supply. We actually seed our lawns with Clover as the bees love it so much!
In turn, they pollinate all the food growing in our vegetable gardens.
I love cutting a small nosegay and putting it in a mason jar of water. Placed on the nightstand, it is wonderful how the scent fills the room.
Grow Valerian below an opening window to enjoy the incredible fragrance!
More flower garden articles:
Ready to landscape? Here’s how to make a flower bed for anywhere in your yard.
The Perfect plants for that shady spot in your yard.
One hour in Fall will give you weeks of color in Spring! Here’s how to plant flower bulbs.
Margie Clyde says
Your valerian sounds wonderful-I will have to grow some! Where do you get seed for it?
Annie says
I actually didn’t start my Valerian from seed, I received a small division of the plant for someone I worked with years ago. Richter’s would likely carry the seed.
Amanda says
I loved this post! What a great idea to plant it outside your window. I wonder if other plants known for having a calming scent could be used the same way, like lavender or something similar. And if they bloom at different times (I have no idea) you could have different relaxing scents throughout the summer.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Annie says
Lavender is a plant I wish I could grow here, but it is too cold in the winter. You could try Lavender and also Jasmine, they both have wonderful scents.