Worth knowing:
Chasteberry is a popular honey plant and a pretty late bloomer that brings almost in autumn colour to the garden again. Outdoors, it can grow up to three meters high and just as wide. Not only the flowers have a smell, but also the hand-shaped, lanceolate leaves that are arranged in groups of five to seven leaves, exude an intense peppery-spicy aroma. The leaves turn yellow in autumn. The German name follows the pepper form of the fruit and its use in medieval monasteries, where monks and nuns took it to keep their vow of chastity and to suppress the carnal desires. In Italy, it is still a custom to sprinkle the paths to the monasteries for the novices with chasteberry flowers. In wine-growing regions on the Mediterranean, you can often still find wine baskets woven from very flexible and resilient chasteberry twigs.
Natural Location:
Of course, the chaste tree, as the monk’s pepper is also known, is found in southern Europe and especially in the Mediterranean, but also in West Asia.
Cultivation:
It is best to start propagation indoors either in Autumn or in spring. Spread the seeds onto moist potting compost and cover them only with a little bit of earth. Keep the substrate moist and warm. Germination usually takes about 2 to 4 weeks. Make sure there is enough space between the seedlings when planting out so that the spreading subshrubs can fully develop.
Place:
Choose a warm, sunny and wind-sheltered location. A place near a protective house wall, for example, would be best.
Care:
Chastberry is rather undemanding and durable. Larger pruning measures are not necessary. You should, however, remove faded shoots at some point in early spring. Harvest: the fruits of the medicinal plant are harvested in October. Let them dry well and keep them in a dark place.
During the winter:
Monk’s pepper is winter-hardy up to -15° Celsius. Some winter protection, however, is still recommended. The plant will shoot from wooden parts again the next hear. Pot plants should hibernate at a temperature between 0° and 10° Celsius.
Picture credits:
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- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
