Accessible Gardening: #21 Practical Matters for Phsically Challenged Gardeners, 1 by Amargia

Amargia wrote:
Your husband may get angry at me for telling you this, Jacqueline, but you might want to check into Chaste Tree berries (Vitex agnus castus). It eases menopausal symptoms. The reason Dave might not be happy is that Chaste Tree reduces sex drive along with the night sweats and hot flashes. If you do try herbs to get relief, stay away from the mixes found in drug stores. Most of those are a joke.
Poor Jim, living in a household of women who either suffered bad PMS symptoms or were going through menopause, once brought home one of those mixes. He must have complained to a co-worker about living in a household of women with hormone issues because one of his co-workers told him about this amazing stuff at the drug store that turned his wife from absolute bitch to angel. I am not a licensed herbalist, but I do know a little about medicinal herbs. I read the label on this miracle cure. The main ingredient was kava-kava, a strong sedative. The effects of kava-kava are powerful enough that police in CA were arresting people driving under its influence. It was the fashionable abused herb for a time in L.A.
The herbs that actually affected female hormones in the formula were a hodge-podge. Several were even antagonistic, used to treat problems that were polar opposites. It was like the manufacturers had a list of herbs traditionally used to treat problems of the female reproductive system and put them into a single capsule. The product is still on the shelves, but real herbalist did make enough of a fuss that the manufacturer removed the kava-kava. No one considers it a miracle cure for \"female troubles\" any longer. Surprise. Surprise.
The deer are not responsible for the Resurrection lilies pictured below being broken off. I was the guilty party. I accidently snapped them off while weeding. They have a nice fragrance better appreciated in a vase anyway. These bulbs will also go into the place Jim thinks will be safe for them. A bed of Spring and Summer bulbs had to be hurriedly moved when our entrance was switched from the NW corner of the property to the SE corner. There was no time to create another bulb bed. The bulbs were put into existing beds wherever they could find an empty spot. (I was too sick at the time to help.) We are rearranging things as the bulbs bloom and I can identify them. I do not know if there is a place safe from deer, if they are hungry enough to risk dining from the flower borders around occupied buildings, but I appreciate Jim\'s gathering his little darlings in one area. Flowering bulbs put on a better show when they are massed together.
Carrie, would you like me to refresh the thread. I will if the misspelling bugs you as a writer or if you think the thread is getting too long. I have plenty of time. It\'s raining again. sigh.
Are you getting all the rain too, Bets?

I needed something positive and upbeat. Today\'s book is Listening With My Heart by Heather Whitestone. She\'s a local girl and one of the most determinedly positive people I know of.
Lycoris squamigera (Resurrection Lily, Naked Ladies)