Silene vulgaris
Origin: Hungary
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~150
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Also called Maidenstears, this perennial wildflower with distinctive blossoms (resembling a satellite dish on the end of a purple-dappled balloon) is native to Europe but has become widespread in US. Where it's become naturalized, it's usually just considered a weed (albeit a pretty one), but bladder campion is actually one of the finest perennial vegetables! The young leaves are sweet and good raw in salads, while the young leaves and shoots are excellent cooked, tasting somewhere between peas and spinach. They make a fine puree, soup, or simple side dish, and can be incorporated into all sorts of dishes. The leaves do taste best before the plant begins to flower (after flowering the level of saponins increases, making the plant rather bitter).
Bladder campion also has a long history of medicinal uses, including to treat dysentery, chronic bronchitis, gastritis, opthalmia, kidney and bladder diseases, and is also used to reduce heartburn and as a sedative.
Our Hungary-grown seed was imported by the good folks at Sheffield's Seeds in Locke, NY.
GROWING TIPS: Seeds need no special treatment to germinate. Simply surface sow or cover with a bit of soil in spring and watch them grow!
