thanks for posting this.. very enjoyable read.. seems like a neat plant

I have done much research into why this plant would be called heal -all and have come to the conclusion it may refer to the healing of ground (soil) It is one of the first plants to colonize very bad naked soil .
The other possibility is that it is very common and found almost everywhere. If you follow the Doctrine of Signatures line of thought God not only placed clues to the use of herbs , but also placed herbs near those in need of that cure .

Nice article and enjoyable read
Hope to see more

Cinda

I am so excited to see an article on one of my favorite local wildflowers! I just adore them; they are so cute! I didn't know they were good for all those ailments, but I couldn't bring myself to cut them down. It's great to learn that info, though, in case I ever need it.
They grow in lots of spots in and at the edges of our wooded acreage. I would love to plant a nice patch of them in the garden.
Thanks for all the research and for sharing it with us!

Excellent article, Christine! I received a plant of that at a swap years ago and it does still come up in my yard, so it must be a tough plant.

GREAT article Christine and I had no idea of all it's healing properties. WOW! Thank you so much for all the info!

I really liked this, Christine. I learned a lot about this little plant. And those flowers are so interesting when viewed up close! Great shot. I think I may need to cultivate a little patch of this myself. I'm going on a hunt to see if I can find some around here today (well, tomorrow since it's going to rain most of the day today).

I'm glad you all enjoyed the article. Thank you so much!

Cinda, that is very interesting! I often wonder, and have considered that certain plants are healing the soil. You have also sparked my interest to learn more. Thank you.

Tee, I hope you find some when the rain stops, the leaves should be coming up now. I'll get a pic if you want.

Christine, I received seeds of this plant at the native seed swap we had in the fall of 2010.
I planted them that winter and they germinated very well, so I potted them and last fall 2011 I set them out in the garden, they haven't bloomed at all yet, so I wonder what might be the problem, is it too early in the year?
Josephine.

wildflowers said:Tee, I hope you find some when the rain stops, the leaves should be coming up now. I'll get a pic if you want.

I'd appreciate that.

I just went out and took this pic:

Well, that tells me that it is too early for bloom, thank you for the picture.

So sorry, Josephine! Yes, it's still early for blooms. It blooms in May around here; you should start seeing the flower heads forming sometime next month.

For some areas it doesn't bloom until June.

Having just finished up-potting some seedlings of this plant I can see why it does well in poor soil; it grows an amazingly robust root system by the time the first true leaves begin to appear. I was very surprised by the size of them.

Wonderful information, Christine; I like the idea of having not only pretty, but also potentially useful plants in my gardens.

Thanks so much for this article!

wildflowers said:I just went out and took this pic:

Thanks for doing that. It's raining, raining, raining all day here. So tomorrow I'll go on the hunt.

It's too early for those to bloom here, too. I will save seeds this year if anyone wants some in the fall.

Thank you so much for this great information Christine. I am pretty sure we have this growing in our bottomland wood edges and I'll be looking closely for it next time I'm out!

Well, Christine, I just had a good laugh at myself over this plant. I was still chuckling all the way in from the yard.

I kept thinking the pictures of the flowers and leaves of this plant looked so familiar. And I kept wracking my brain trying to remember where I might have seen it in the yard. After some searching, I found it ... in one of the beds ... right where I had planted it last year. I had bought a little pot of it somewhere, and lo and behold, there it was. Looks good this year too.

Well, that was easy. Sometimes I wonder about myself.

Oh Tee - I love that story

Hi all, my signal was out for no apparent reason yesterday!! One of the only downfalls of living out in the boonies! lol

Thank you Chelle and Dave! I enjoy learning about wildflowers and this is one of my favorites!!

Renee' that's great you are saving seeds! might as well save the dried flowers too, for tea.

Tee, that is a great story!! Sounds like something I would do.