Last Feb or March I got a comfrey from Richter's. It was basically a leaf with roots, and had survived a trip from Canada to Texas thanks to their good packing. I potted it in a six-inch clay pot, not really expecting to have much success. It now has a dozen or so leaves, some over a foot long. It wilts in direct sun but revives in the relative cool of the evening (it's on a porch facing SE). The leaves have some burn spots and aren't too deep a green, but they seem fairly sturdy. I've just fended off an infestation of mealy bugs by hand and they don't seem any worse for that. I'm thinking it wilts because it's in such a small pot; the roots have to need more room than they have.
Anyway, it's time for me to decide about the transplant, which will occur probably in late September. I have a very big pot -- probably 20-inch -- and I also am putting in a big herb garden that's divided into four quarters. I want the comfrey in the forward center of one of the quarters. I just have to decide whether to put it into the ground, or into the big pot and set the pot in the quarter. The garden will get full sun next summer: the house faces NW and the garden is directly behind the house. So the house shades the area when the sun is going down but that's the only shade.
I'd RATHER put it in the ground, but wonder if it has acclimated enough to withstand the sun next summer if I do. I'd hate to kill it by putting it in the ground and letting the heat get it -- if it's in a pot and gets distressed I can move it into shade pretty easily.
GardenMermaid? You have to have an opinion on this one. But thanks in advance to anyone about this.
suggestion for comfrey?
I'd put it in the ground next to some plants that may be able to offer some shade during your hottest summer months. I've grown it in both partial shade and full sun out west. Never tried it during the time I lived in Florida, which is probably closest to your climate. Comfrey usually does not do well in pots and is not recommended for container gardening. Check the pricing on comfrey at Horizon Herbs. You may want to order a few extras plants ($2 each) and try them in a few places.
http://www.horizonherbs.com/
You could also try Russian Comprey. Its doesn't spread by runners so is happier in a pot since it stays in a clump. It will eventually get to big but then you can divide it.
Is your plant big enough to divide into two plants?
Not big enough to divide, but here's an update. I kept having the feeling its puniness was because it was in such a small pot, so I put it into a huge pot and worked some brand new worm poo into the soil, and it seems much happier. I still plan to put it in the ground, or maybe leave this one in the pot and get a new one or two for the ground.
thyme, I'll keep my eyes out for the russian variety.
And my dirt got delivered this morning! It was all I could do to force myself to come to work. This evening, if it's not raining, I'm going to get the 20' herb bed going! I'm so excited!
My experience with comfrey is that once you put it in the ground, it takes over. I was given a very small plant that I put in a flower bed behind our trailer. Since the trailer is gone, the comfrey has overrun a rhododendren, some meadowsweet, and a Japanese larch tree. I've been cutting it and adding it to my compost, which I am just about to 'uncover,' having been told that it makes a good conditioner. I need to go out and give a good whacking soon, or I won't be able to get to my raised vegetable bed.
Just have a care where you plant it. And remember that when it's happy, it can easily reach 4 feet high.
Thanks for the advice! It's kind of amazing how, when you see it in a nursery photo, a plant can look so sweet and unassuming -- and somehow they never mention what a thug it can become. At least I know not to put mint in the ground unless I want nothing but mint in the ground. Live and learn.
LOL, it's always the "quiet" ones that get you.
Kathleen, were you actively working the garden areas around the comfrey that you planted? My experience is that comfrey will spread whenever it's roots are disturbed. I planted one at the edge of the garden bed. It only spread into the areas that were actively worked in such a way as to disturb the comfrey. It was extremely slow in spreading in any other direction. We use so much comfrey in the garden that we never have enough. It's great in the compost. I usually place a comfrey leaf underneath the seed potatoes when I plant them. This year I didn't have any comfrey at potato planting time and it shows.
You might find some of the items at this link interesting. Scroll down for the comfrey tea recipe to use on the plants.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/biodynamic.html
It was/is in the middle of the lawn, and taking over. I don't think after it was planted that there was any tilling near it. I have also found it popping up in the long perennial/native bed. Part of the problem started when it went through an "abandoned" period when we were moving our focus to the house and that yard. It had lots of time to self seed and took advantage.
I'll remember that tip on the seed potatoes. I grow mine in an old bath tub and was wondering how, without an infusion of manure, I'm going to keep it going another year. I've just started pulling them this week and the harvest is rather thin. My gardens are very haphazard as far as production this year. I really need to lay down a heavy compost mulch before snow flies. Mybe a layer of old hay, one of comfrey (I have lots!) and another of the hay.
Thanks for the link. I'll spend a little time looking through that.
If you plan to use your comfrey internally, you are better off sticking to symphytum officinale. It is lower in alkaloids than symphytum uplandicum (russian comfrey) and therefore, safer for the liver.
Comfrey is also amazing for burns. I have healed third degree burns using a poultice of Comfrey leaf, honey and wheat germ oil (keeping the poultice on all the time until it was healed). Healing will be the fastest when applied as soon as the burn occurs.
How to make the poultice is described under comfrey paste on the following website:
http://www.herballegacy.com/id46.htm