Perennial Plant Profiles

Centranthus ruber, red valerian

We can think of at least 180 great forest garden & perennial crops for cold climate Sweden.  Want to hear about them? Over the course of the next year we will profile 5 a week on the blog. Perennial plants and crops offer a low energy, oil & resource input based foundation for future-proof agricultures. By default if an agriculture is to be called regenerative the bottom line is that it must be soil building, not soil depleting. Relentless deep tillage & poor soil husbandry (wifery?!) contributes to the majority of the 24 billion tons of topsoil lost every year on planet water.  We are going to be focused on holistic polyculture grazing and perennial production at ridgedale over most of the site as this represents the most effective way to restore our degraded landscape, produce high value produce and ensure the future resource base we are managing holistically for in our decision making. 

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Genus Centranthus
Species ruber
Common Name red valerian
Form herb
Habit clumping
Origin Europe
Light sun
Moisture dry to mesic 
Edible greens, herb
Groundcover Yes

The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.  It is noted for attracting wildlife. 

Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked as greens. Exceedingly good, either in salads or cooked as a vegetable. Opinions differ as to whether either make very good eating, the leaves being rather bitter. Root can be cooked and used in soups.

Red valerian is sometimes confused in herbals and folk tradition with the true valerian (Valeriana officinalis, which is a very effective nervine). Whilst true valerian has a very strong action on the nervous system, this species has no known medical properties.

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OUR FRIENDS AT PFAF HAVE AN AMAZING DATABASE OF SPECIES (UK BASED);

Centranthus ruber