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gtarman

Cold-climate plants, entheogens and ethnobotanicals

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Hey folks...

So I might be moving to the UK (Scotland) in the medium-term future. Such a climate agrees with my health much more than Australia's harsh climate.

But the big thing for me is that such a move could potentially mean leaving behind my ethnobotanical hobby, or at least large sections of it that require a warmer climate (or indoor/greenhouse cultivation, which is not my thing at all).

So I thought I'd try and find some entheogenic plants that one could grow in Scotland to keep my interest alive. I'm thinking of the Edinburgh sort of area...so relatively mild in the scheme of things, although they can get down to -10/-15 C on shit nights in the dead of winter.

I looked and saw a couple of other threads like this, but they were either plant-specific (cacti, caapi etc) or had a very different definition of "cold" (Perth...*lol*).

So are there many plants that one could grow outside there?

So far my brief list potentially includes...

Wormwood
Silene capensis
Ephedra
Common snowdrop - Galanthus nivalis (contains galantamine)

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gtarman,

As someone who lives in a cool climate, I feel your pain. :huh:

Hemia salicifolia easily survives/thrives in zone 8a. It might die back to the roots, but it inevitably rebounds with gusto.

Here's a thread from another forum that might give you some answers.

http://sharetheseeds.me/forum/index.php?topic=919.0

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Scutellarias, Desmanthus i&l, Lespedeza bicolor, T. bridgesii if brought indoors for winter dormancy, possibly T. macrogonus outdoors if protected from winter wet, Ipomoeas, Daturas and mandrake if thats your thing, tobacco if thats your thing, Peganum harmala (protect from winter wet?), mugwort for dream pillows.

You could try to breed plants that are almost hardy enough to be fully hardy.

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Sally should be ok. I think its legal there.

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Lepidium meyenii, tribulus terrestris and pedalium murex.

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I hadnt heard of pedalium... an aphrodisiac that treats gonorrhea, how efficient, you could use it before the date and after like the cactus thats hair conditioner and birth control.

But yeah, theres a ton of non-entheogenic medicines that will grow there. European and chinese pharmacognacy abound with plants that can survive in scotland.

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Hi gtarman,

Having relatives in Edinburgh, I am familiar with the climate. Its cold and damp to the bone. Really damn cold when that wind gets up... That wind chill will freeze your nuts to glacial temperatures in no time. Rain? You really don,t want to know... And it goes on for months and months..

How that climate can be good for your health, I have no Idea? My mums family originates from Midlothian. They have been there for generations. One of my cousins from Dalkeith did some research on the family tree a few years back. Most of them died from pnemonia and TB.

On a brighter note, when the sun does come out. The summer days seem to go on for ever and ever being so close to the Arctic circle. The Cairngorms National Park is a beautiful and primevil place once your off the beaten track. Also just up the road is Rosslyn Chapel which is nothing like anything you will have seen in Aussie.

Having said all that. If I were to go back to the UK it would be Midlothian. Ancestral ties maybe. Who knows.

Back to the Ethno stuff, Salvia d is still legal over there as far as I'm still aware. Its pretty much everywhere, Check out this link. Then click on the second link at the bottom of the page.

http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/siteoverview.htm

The irony is that you can still get hold of all sorts of plants legally and fairly cheaply over there through private individuals and of course ebay ect which are at the very least hard to source and stupidly expensive over here.

I think Catha edulis is now illegal however lots of people will still be discreetly growing it.

You will need a greenhouse "heated" at least during the winter to protect everything from the cold and damp.

Silene capensis does not grow well outside, even in Exeter down in the South of England, I've tried it. They grew very slowly in a stunted manner and the frost then killed them off. It will do great under glass though and give you lots of flowers and seed. My Silene c over here is grown from seed that came from mother plants grown indoors in my spare room back in England.

You will still be able to grow some of the Northern Hemisphere ethnos such as Wormwood, snowdrops ect in a sheltered spot outside. I hope this helps.

PH,

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mandrake,mookshood, belladonna or the cool niteshades

Edited by bullit
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Rain? You really don,t want to know... And it goes on for months and months..

Bliss! :D

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Meconopsis. Any of them

And send pics please

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Bliss! :D

you're probably well aware, but it's different kind of rain then we generally have in australia, in australia rain is just beautiful because the climate is generally so warm, it's like a sweet sweet shower of bliss from heaven that makes you want to run outside & dance around naked singing..

on the edge of the arctic cirlce in scotland it's dreary, grey, freezing cold endless rain that turns everything into a mossy, frozen, slushy, muddy glot..

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ;)

Edited by gtarman
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witch hazel,bearberry ,ginseng,golden seal..

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ;)

Rose tinted glasses.... Definatly NOT sunglasses :P

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p.semilanceata probably grows everywhere in the wild out there .. most likely illegally .... if you're into mushrooms ..

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maralroot, cowslip, Polygala tenuifolia, Rock Samphire, Black & Blue Cohosh, Bloodroot to name a few, & look at many of the alpine & higher altitude Northern Asian.

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I just moved over to St. Louis, MO, USA a couple of years ago, and I thought pretty much the same thing, but you would be surprised at what you can get away with indoors. I have a 2 bedroom flat with no patio or balcony, but I have loads of plants on every windowsill including tropicals that are all doing fine. I even have cactus that are growing, albeit pretty slowly, but they're alive! Do not fear, anything can be accomplished with a little determination and care.

Edited by Roopey
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Indoors climate is what you make it!!

You, yourself might nor survive so well outdoors in winter without some adjustments to what we have naturally!

Same with plants.

You can grow whatever you want, indoors (legally of course, we worship and obey our overlords glorious and ingenious rules at all times!!)

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post-12633-0-20181900-1431089356_thumb.png

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I lived in Germany for a few years, it got down to -20c in winter and rained every second day, on average. However in summer all that water and with luck some sunshine creates a very fertile environment for growing temperate region annuals. A Good green house sharing some warmth from the house allows for growing sub zero intolerant plants and cacti through the winter. Maybe Scotland is different, but in continental europe many interesting temperate region plants of medicinal interest grow. The local botanic garden where i lived had many solanace plants such as tobacco, brugmansia, henbane and datura, and others such as hemp plants, ephedra, poppies and trichocerus cacti, to name the obvious ones. There are also many edible plants and fungi growing 'wild', such as Burdock, sorrel, wild garlics, boletus edulis, not to mention game animals such as rabbit and deer. Just watch be aware of Echinococcus multilocularis when foraging for wild berries etc, I didn't find out about this fox transmitted parasite until I had been there for a year...

Yes the winter is grey, cold and wet, but there is something beautifully melancholic about the snow and deciduous forests. If I was to live in the uk, Scotland would be the place to be I reckon as it still has remote areas that can be considered wilderness.

Edited by ∂an
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sally is definitely legal over here and not viewed as a problem legally in the slightest.

dont fancy its chances growing outside in scotland much tho, or where i am.

it can be done outside in southern england though.. (where I got mine mailed from)

what about latua pubiflora? , edinburgh university have a nice outdoor crop going ..

by all means give us a shout if you get stuck on anything uk source-wise

and check out my gallery for ideas/confidence building on cold climate growing if you wanna.. ,

and if you do move to uk ,

-wishing you a successful transition and whatever relief this climate may bring be blissful.

I spent 5 yrs touring scotland in the past... scotland's nice as fk!

seriously recommend pitlochry and spey bay , oh yeah; wick , muir of ord and skye too

-avoid easterhouse in glasgow tho at all costs :wink:

and watch out for the female midges ! they have 3 razors for a face and a swarm of them is quite a formidable foe

sassafras albidum, - be aware it might kill anything growing in it's "intimate zone"

i hear acacia confusa likes it outside a bit south of me but I just lost mine indoors so cant comment lol

I know acacia retinodes likes england outside, not sure about scotland tho..

and acacia mearnsii ... and my acacia dealbata subsp alpina just survived its first winter

incarvillea sinensis and delavayi loves it in england wales and ireland so i assume it would also in scotland ...

judging by the garden centre stock :)

black nightshade and woody nightshade grow wild anyway... as does wormwood.

peganum likes greenhouse beds and comes back the following year

silene capensis self seeds where I am and has started sprouting from seeds already here..

no resprout signs on the mother plant yet though..

i've killed many xhosa (silene cap') with over husbandry , they love it outside under mother nature's wing

better than under mine lol

conservatories with double glazing, central heating and electricity are your friend tho - that's for sure.

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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frgot desmanthus illinoensis or w/e its called :innocent_n:

will probably add more as they come to mind :wink:

-sinicuichi plants , (salicifolia and myrtifolia) like to brought indoors to overwinter from sept/oct here (maybe a month or two earlier would be advantageous in scotland though....till you can be arsed to cart em back out i guess (when the lilac flowers bud usually indicates the frosts are over)

My source of hemia cuttings was from outdoor grown mother plants in the south again

but they're not that hard to germinate either , contrary to popular belief.

(pot wrapped in cling film on window sill sown at the same time as tomatoes [jan here, maybe wait till march up there?] )

edinburgh can probably grow anything that newcastle and durham can(north england) ... and they're only a couple of hundred north of me

there's a nice cactus dude in durham too

p.s. brugs and datura metel will die if left out for winter and are really prone to spidermite under glass but can be cut down and overwintered as a (maybe 3 foot) stump including bonsai'd rootball (thinking mainly brugs) in a black bag in a dark shed or something...

or propogate by cuttings every autumn with an aeroponics pod?

-there's a good chance mimosa scabrella will be the hardiest mimo and is touch sensitive more than tenuiflora too : 3 ... will know more when i can get one or two past the seedling stage..

but probably best indoors

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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