Houseleeks grown on the roof ensure you will never be short of money.

Even the best gardener needs a bit of luck sometimes. So we lesser mortals who sometimes struggle to keep our favourite plants alive might do well to consider some of the practises of early gardeners. In ancient times every care was taken to make sure no evil would enter the garden. Gardens in those days were also much more practical, as they often supplied all the the essential food and the cures so it was important that they were productive. If your garden failed you might well starve. Many herbs were supposed to repel devils and witches but the Romans went a step further and would “place the skull of a mare or she-ass that hath been covered” and they believed that this would ensure that their gardens were fruitful. It is still possible to see a carved horses head over a gateway into old gardens today.

One of the luckiest plants (and thankfully one of the easiest to grow) is the houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum). If grown in the garden it will protect the gardeners luck and stop the garden from being struck by lightning. It was also often grown on rooftops and in this position would protect the house from lightning too and ensure that anyone who lived in the house would never be short of money. Perhaps governments should give every household a pot of houseleeks to make sure taxes get paid. Houseleeks were grown throughout Charlemagne’s empire because they were thought to keep witches and evil spirits away. The sweet bay (Laurus nobilis) would also protect the garden from lightning but if you want to protection from storms and hail the remedy is more difficult. Pliny recommends that you bury a toad in a terracotta pot to achieve this protection.

Bay trees protect your garden from being struck by lightening

Cerise yarrow should be hung in the toolshed

More generally it was believed that any flower with five petals was lucky but in particular if you find a lilac flower with five petals this is exceptionally lucky, while bamboo and sunflowers will bring good luck to your home if they are planted near to the house. I would suggest putting the bamboo into a pot so it can’t undermine the foundations, because that would be very unlucky. From Devonshire in England comes the belief that if you transplant parsley you will have bad luck and it was also well known that where parsley grows vigorously, the woman is dominant. If you are about to set yourself up in a business make sure your sage is thriving because an early Arabian belief says that while sage is flourishing your business will flourish, but if is withers your business will fail.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) hung in the toolshed will guarantee the safety of anyone using the tools and will also protect the shed from thieves, but if you do have the misfortune to be burgled then sleep with a sprig of heliotrope (Heliotropum arborescens) under your pillow and you will dream of the person who has robbed you, although I doubt if this would stand up in court. Many early gardens had their own bee hive and the bees were seen as the protectors of natures secrets and believed to bring luck to the garden and household. With the resurgence of bee hives in gardens today, you might like to know that bees will never stay in a garden where there is anger or strife. If, while working in the garden, you have the bad luck to be stung by a bee make sure you don’t complain too loudly because it is well known that they are most likely to sting fornicators while virgins can walk through a swarm without being stung. To lessen your chances of being exposed as an undesirable person,  keep marigolds

Heliotrope flowers have a sweet cherry scent

Marigold flowers rubbed on a sting reduce pain and inflammation.

(Calendula officinalis) growing nearby and rub the flower on the sting to reduce the swelling and stop the pain. While on the subject of stings, don’t get rid of all your nettles because they will protect you against witches and demons, and if you are feeling cold while working in the garden on a winters morning you could try the Roman remedy of flogging yourself with nettles! The theory being that the nettle stings bring blood rushing to your skin which helps you to warm up.

If all of this leaves you exhausted then I suggest you retreat to your bed with a good gardening book, but make sure there is a sprig of rosemary under your pillow to ward off evil spirits and protect you from bad dreams.

Bay trees make wonderful slow-growing hedges or clipped specimen plants. Heronswood, Dromana

Sweet bay (Laurus nobilis ) was seen by the old herbalists as a virtuous tree which “resisteth witchcraft very potently”. The Greeks dedicated it to Apollo, the sun god. The Delphic priestesses, oracles of Apollo, held bay leaves between their lips as they made prophesies. In Greek and Roman cultures victors, heroes, academics and artistic figures were rewarded with a wreath or crown of bay leaves. This gave rise to the terms ‘baccalaureate’ and ‘poet laureate’.
Bays are unusual in the world of herbs in that, given the right conditions, they can grow into large trees, sometimes as high as 20 metres. They are usually slow growing and with careful pruning make excellent lawn specimens, topiary trees, pot plants or hedges. To grow a bay as a standard or topiary specimen, remove any suckers from the base as well as all the lower branches, leaving only about six branches at the top. After this, continue to remove any suckers that appear and prune the branches at the top, into the desired shape, twice during the following and each subsequent summer.
Bays are lovely, evergreen aromatic plants with shiny, dark green elliptical leaves. Male and female flowers grow on different trees but all are greenish yellow and fairly inconspicuous. The flowers on female trees, once fertilised, develop into dark purple berries. Bays grow in most soils as long as the drainage is good, but like lots of sun and protection from harsh winds and especially cold winds. Young trees will not tolerate frosts but become more frost resistant as they grow.
New bay trees can be grown from seed, cuttings, or by detaching suckers. As seeds rarely germinate unless conditions are ideal (which includes constant temperatures around 24°C) and cuttings of semi-ripe shoots taken in summer can take up to 6 months to develop roots, the average herb gardener is probably better off buying an established plant or taking a sucker from an existing tree.
Bay leaves can be used either fresh or dried, but remember that the fresh leaves have a stronger flavour. The leaves are most commonly added whole to soups, stews, casseroles and meat sauces and removed before serving. Leaves are used either on their own or combined with other herbs as part of a bouquet garni. The combination will vary depending on the dish. For example, a bouquet garni for a beef dish could consist of one bay leaf and a sprig each of parsley stems, thyme, sage and sweet marjoram, tied together in a bunch.
Placed in food containers one or two bay leaves will prevent moths and bugs from infesting flours and cereals, and fresh bay leaves put between the pages of a book will help to repel silverfish. In fact the whole tree is disease and pest resistant and will protect other plants in the area from many insect pests.
The bay tree has been credited with numerous medicinal properties over the centuries, but is probably most useful now as an oil that is rubbed into aching limbs and muscles to bring relief. Combine 50 g of crushed leaves (either fresh or dried), 300 ml of olive oil and one tablespoon of white vinegar in a screw topped jar. Leave it in a warm place, shaking regularly for three weeks. Strain and add two or three fresh leaves, leave for another week and then use when needed.
Bay trees are supposed to protect us from devils, witches, thunder, lightning and bush fires so obviously no garden should be without one.

A small bay tree planted with other herbs in an elevated herb garden

If by chance you are female, single, looking for a mate and despairing of more conventional methods of finding one, then you could try the following technique that was once popular in Devon, England. On the evening before Valentine’s Day select five fresh bay leaves and pin them to your pillow, one in each corner and one in the middle. Now lie down with your head on the pillow and say seven times

Sweet guardian angels, let me have
What I most earnestly do crave—
A Valentine enbued with love,
Who will both true and constant prove.

Each time you say the verse you need to count to seven, seven times. If you follow these instructions carefully then your future husband will appear to you in a dream. Unfortunately the instructions don’t tell you how to actually ‘catch’ this husband, or what to do if you don’t like the look of him! — PW