Native Medicinal Garden

2023 Garden and Learn Days are here! You can look forward to spending one Sunday a month learning about the healing properties of countless native species. Karen is a Master Gardener with an extensive amount of knowledge and experience in this field. For any other Master Gardener’s out there, this is a registered Project Site in Passaic County so please join us and you can add hours worked to your annual requirement for volunteer hours. We will be taking necessary precautions to promote social distancing guidelines while gardening. We hope to see you there! Happy Gardening!

Seed Sale

You can start your own medicinal garden with seeds harvested right here in West Milford. Karen has been harvesting seeds for the past two years. In addition to individual packets, Karen has also created seed bombs- just toss and water!

These seeds should be cold stratified, which means they need cold, moist conditions to germinate. We recommend planting them in the fall so that they germinate during the winter. If you prefer to wait until Spring, store the seeds in the refrigerator and cold stratify prior to planting.

Black Cohosh - Cimicifuga Racemosa

• Perennial

• Part shade, full shade

• Most, acidic, rich soil

• blooms June through September

Evening Primrose - Oenothera Biennis

• Night-flowering biennis

• Full sun, part shade, full shade

• Well-drained soil

• Blooms July through September

Echinacea - Enchinacea Purpurea

• Perennial

• Full sun, part shade

• Well-drained soil

• Blooms June through September

Milkweed - Asclepias syriaca

*Host plant for every stage of the Monarch butterfly

• Perennial

• Full sun

• Average to dry soil

• Blooms June to September

Motherwort - Leonurus Cardiaca

• Perennial

• Full sun to partial shade

• Moist, fertile soil

• Blooms July through September

Yarrow - Achillea Millefolium

• Perennial

• Full sun, part shade, full shade

• Well-drained soil

• Blooms from June to September

If you would like to order one or more packets of seeds, please email sustainablewm1@gmail.com. Packets hold about 25 seeds and cost $3 each, or 2 packets for $5.

History

Douglass Memorial Garden, aka The Native and Wild Medicinal Plant Garden, offers free outdoor herbal medicine education and is now in its 13th year. The medicinal garden began after Sustainable West Milford ‘adopted a spot’ at the triangle intersection of Clinton Road and Warwick Turnpike. The garden has developed into a medicinal sanctuary free of fertilizers and pest controls.

The plot is home to an abundant number of medicinal herbs and native plants marked by handmade stone tiles describing each species and medicinal use for the plant. The tiles are accompanied by a map of the garden and a hand-crafted bench for hard-working volunteers and visitors alike, both pictured below. The 2010 installment of the water catchment system provides natural rain water for the plants, allowing the garden to thrive between volunteer events. Our partnership with Robin Rose Bennet, master herbalist and author, and Wise Woman Healing Ways has enabled us to maintain this property as an educational garden. Our current garden leader, Karen Longo will offer outdoor hands-on learning opportunities in 2023. Visit our calendar for up-coming events and learning days at the garden. We hope to see you there soon!

The garden is located at the intersection of Clinton Road and Warwick Turnpike in Hewitt, NJ 07421.