SPRINGHOUSE FARM JOURNAL
By: Heather Lovett
Working in a shady part of my garden the other day I was struck by what a satisfying little plant sweet woodruff is. Sweet in both appearance and demeanor, this attractive groundcover forms a spreading, cushiony mat in moist, shady spots, yet is not a bully like other notorious creepers, and can easily be pulled out if need be.
The "sweet" in sweet woodruff’s name comes from its scented leaves, which, when dried, have a wonderful fragrance reminiscent of new-mown hay: "Like the good deeds of the worthiest persons," says Joseph E. Meyer ("The Herbalist," 1918) the "pleasant smell [of sweet woodruff]…delights by its fragrance most after it has been dried."
The leaves retain their scent for a long time, and were once used as a strewing herb to rid houses of unpleasant smells. They were also placed in linen closets, added to potpourri, and brewed for a medicinal tea. An old German drink called "Maitrank," traditionally consumed on the first of May, is prepared by steeping sweet woodruff leaves in Rhine wine. The addition of fresh fruit (usually strawberries) and seltzer or champagne just before serving transforms it into a festive "Maibowle."
Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, sometimes listed as Asperula odorata) grows about eight inches tall and has tiers of whorled leaves arranged like starbursts along four-sided stems. In late spring and early summer, clusters of tiny white flowers with a subtle honey fragrance bloom at the tops of the stems. After the flowers are gone, the plant’s glossy green leaves maintain a healthy, tidy appearance for the rest of the summer.
The distinctive pinwheel-like arrangement of the leaves and stem are a clue to sweet woodruff’s close kinship to several common (and less tidy) roadside weeds, such as yellow bedstraw (Galium verum), wild madder (G. mollugo), northern bedstraw (G. boreale), and cleavers (G. aparine).
Yellow bedstraw, a European native, is a taller plant (up to three feet) with bright yellow flower clusters all along the stems. Like sweet woodruff, yellow bedstraw has a pleasant (though less pronounced) scent when dried, and in Medieval times it was used as a stuffing for mattresses (hence the common name).
It was also employed as a curdling agent in the making of cheese, and thus came to be known in some parts as "cheese-rennet." Gerard reports in his "Herbal" (1597) that "the people of Cheshire, especially about Namptwich, where the best cheese is made, do use it in their Rennet, esteeming greatly of that cheese above others made without it." (Galium, the plant’s generic name, is derived from "gala," the Greek word for milk.)
Wild madder, another European import, and the similar northern bedstraw are both tallish plants with smooth stems and white flowers that bloom in summer, but our native northern bedstraw can be distinguished by the four, rather than eight leaves circling its stem. The ubiquitous cleavers, a sprawling, prickly plant, has many local names (catchweed, beggar-lice, cling-rascal, stick-a-back, sticky-willy, burhead) that allude to its hitch-hiking tendencies.
Unlike sweet woodruff these wild bedstraws thrive in full sun, but years ago I discovered another shade-loving species in a garden I was visiting with a friend. A lovely plant, it stood about three feet tall and had sprays of tiny white baby’s breath-like flowers, blooming away in dappled shade. The owner of the garden said it was one of her favorite plants, and although it had a tendency to topple over, she showed us how to gently lift the flowering stems and pat them together, causing the many tiny blossoms to became entangled like Velcro.
I later found this taller woodruff in a catalog listed under the name Galium ‘Victor Jones,’ although tracking down the exact species was a challenge. Several sources identify it as a form of G. odoratum, which is unlikely because its leaves lack the characteristic sweet smell. I suspect ‘Victor Jones’ is actually G. aristatum, often confused with the much weedier and weaker-stemmed wild madder. Both are commonly called "false baby’s breath."
Whatever its origins, ‘Victor Jones’ is a good substitute for baby’s breath, which does not grow well in the shade, and it has the added advantage of blooming later in the summer after true baby’s breath (Gypsophila elegans) is finished.
I was happy to find another useful and attractive Galium species for my garden, but my favorite remains the fragrant, reliable sweet woodruff. I have long since forgotten which friend or family member gave me the original plant (it’s difficult to grow from seed but easy to divide and transplant) but I’ve carried slips of it from house to house ever since my first garden.
In Germany, where sweet woodruff grows wild throughout the Black Forest, it is known as "waldemeister" (master of the woods). While a rather grand name for such a charming little plant, sweet woodruff has certainly mastered the art of seduction with its delightful scent, leaving behind a lasting, positive impression "like the good deeds of the worthiest persons."
Source: Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd., Madison, Ohio, 44057. Phone: (800) 852-5243. G. odoratum and G. ‘Victor Jones’ (plants).