Plants Ruled By Mercury: Lemon Grass

Lemon Grass

Lemongrass, or Cymbopogon Citratus, is a clumping grass that has amazing, citrus-scented leaves. The leaves and stems are popularly used in Thai and Veitnamese dishes, but they have many other uses, making C. Citratus a valuable addition to your garden.

Lemongrass is a perennial that thrives in zones 9 and 10, but it can be kept in pots in cooler zones. Grown outside, lemongrass can grow from 3-5' tall and up to 4' wide. Mine went from a little clump of maybe 12” to a massive 7' tall monster in less than a year - and with multiple haircuts! Don't worry, indoors and/or in pots, you can expect it to grow much more slowly. If your plant is in a container, you probably won’t see any flowers, but a very large or outdoor plant might show a few stalks of green flowers that give way to seeds, similar to rice and other grasses.

Lemongrass prefers full sun and a soil that is rich and moist. In containers, use a mix of one third compost, one third topsoil, one sixth peat moss and one sixth vermiculite. Feed container plants liquid fish emulsion and seaweed once a month during the summer. Use a pot that is at least 12" and keep the soil well-watered but not drenched. When the temperatures cool, over winter your Lemongrass in a sunny South or East facing window.

Once your plant is at least a foot tall, leaves and stems can be harvested continuously. The leaves can have paper-sharp edges, especially if you rub against the grain, so take care when harvesting and handling them, especially if your plant gets big.

You can use the leaves and stems fresh, dried or frozen. Dry C. Citratus in a dehydrator or by keeping small bundles in a warm place that is out of direct sunlight. Freeze in ice cubes with either water or oil.

Lemongrass is most well-known as an ingredient in recipes. It can be used in stir-fries, soups, and pastas, with tofu and with lots of different vegetables. But it is quite versatile and also makes a refreshing addition to tea blends, potpourris and scent sachets. 

Lemongrass is not bothered by pests and in fact, can be used to make a great bug repellent. But if you do keep your Lemongrass indoors, you may find one pest that surprises you- your cat! Cats love to eat Lemongrass leaves, I catch my cat snacking every time she passes by them. 

Lemongrass Astrology

Astrologically, Lemongrass is ruled by the planet Mercury, the sign of Gemini and the element of Air.

Mercury represents the mind. Gemini is an energy of quick, two-sided thinking. And Air is also about intelligence, mental faculty and communication.

Lemongrass can stabilize the mind. It supports quick-thinking and lends mental focus. Lemongrass can connect two-sided thinking and ease that sense of being wishy-washy, or having moods that morph on a whim. 

Use it as a wash, in a bath, in a tea or even in a room spray. 

Lemongrass tea is mentally rejuvenating and calming for the nerves. It eases the mental fatigue that can come from a racing mind.  It improves mental dexterity and can even give memory a boost. Try making a memory boosting tea by combining it with rosemary.

 

You can also try adding it to your bathwater to initiate a fresh start in your life. Use it together with lemon zest, mint, rosemary and epsom salt to add a zing to your next soak.

Or make a yummy scented spray! This spray will freshen up an office with stale energy, clear out your living room after a visit from your complaining In-laws and even wake up your mind during that dreaded 2:30pm slump.

Lemongrass is refreshing and invigorating. Just spritz into the air to keep the channels of communication clear. 

It also clears away old conditions, and is great for cleansing away unwanted energies. Spritz the room when you need to clear the energy or even just clear your head. 

 Lemongrass is also great to utilize during Mercury Retrograde. 

Check out this this super easy stove top distillation tutorial for creating your own lemongrass hydrosol. It smells incredible!!!

Distilling Lemongrass Hydrosol using the stovetop method at home. 

Here is a super short and easy video tutorial for distilling a hydrosol at home on your stove.

Often discarded as a by product of essential oil distillation, Hydrosol is actually versatile, environmentally friendly and useful. Great for beauty products, aromatherapy and more. If you grow any aromatics like this lemongrass or anything like rosemary, lavender, mints or balms, this could be a fun new way to work with your plants. You probably already have everything at home- a pot with a lid, super clean water, ice, plant of choice and a container to catch the hydrosol. A small , clean glass jar, about 2 or 4 oz size is great.

Water, plant, and container go in the pot.

Put the container in the middle of the pot on some sort of base, so it won't bounce around and spill its precious contents when it gets hot. I used the lid of the jar. 

Once you have your jar on its little lid base' place the plant matter around it. Pour in your clean water.

Flip the lid of the pot upside down, so the handle sits inside the pot when you out the lid on. 

Put the ice in a bag and place the bag on top of the upside down lid. Slowly heat up the pot. 

The scented steam rises and hits the icy cold lid, causing condensation droplets to collect on the curve of the flipped lid and drop into the catchment container below.

This is the hydrosol.

So easy and it smells sooo good! Put it in a spray bottle and spritz away!

Your hydrosol is fresh! Expose it to minimal air, keep it in the fridge and dispose if it gets cloudy or smells off. 

Tag me if you make any hydrosols! Its @celestialselfastrology on Instagram and tiktok.

If you like learning about plants and planets in this way, check out this article I wrote about Roselle Hibiscus 

Or visit The Astrologer's Garden page to watch my FREE classes about Growing your own medicine in your backyard or home.

Remember:

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice.

Please read the descriptions carefully, do your own research and practice common sense and safety.

Always consult your physician before using or ingesting any herbal remedies.

Test any new herbal with a small sample before utilizing a full application. A small percentage of people have allergies that even natural, organic substances may aggravate. A substance that is completely harmless and even healthy for one person might cause an allergic reaction in someone else.  Use at your own risk.

Jupiter Sextile Uranus

The Sun enter Pisces and the energy ebbs into a flowy, dreamy vibe that can carry us to shore on its gently lapping waves, it we float along with the current. After the "fight upstream" that the January retrograde season put us through, it feels good to follow the tide.

Jupiter in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus is an opportunity for so called "quantum leaps" of personal growth in the areas of your chart that are governed by Pisces and Taurus, especially if you have personal planets around 11 degrees of these two zodiacs, give or take a few degrees.

Building off of yesterday's Venus semi-sextile to Saturn that asks us to find pleasure in the daily rituals that will ultimately lead us to long-term rewards, today's energy has the ability to catapult us into the future, like a whale leaping from the ocean. 

It's a good time to ask yourself:

What small steps are making the greatest strides in my life? 

Venus Semi-Sextile Saturn

Venus Semi-Sextile Saturn

All the planets are direct now through the end of April. It's a go go go vibe in the collective- we feel like horses finally released from the stalls. We *really* need to feel the wind through our manes right about now!

But it's important to remember to watch our footing, the roads are precarious, filled with hurdles and potholes as we maneuver through the post retrograde seasons of Venus and Mercury for a bit longer still.

Today, Venus is in a semi-sextile with Saturn.

Slow and steady wins in the long run of life under this energy.  With Saturn, the planets of routines, in a conversation with Venus, the planet of beauty and pleasure, we are asked to embrace the baby steps and find pleasure in the daily rituals that slowly but surely move us forward towards our goal.

Saturn rules dry things and Venus rules beautiful flowers, so here is an incredible passionflower bloom that I pressed.

The process of pressing this flower is relatively simple- carefully press between the pages of a heavy book, put the heavy book under a stack of more heavy books, and wait.

It's a lot of pressure and a lot of patience. But if we are willing to do what it takes, we'll get something that we can treasure for a long time.

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North Node In Taurus

Transit North Node in Taurus

The north node is in Taurus, expanding themes of security, resources,  values and valuables, but also beauty, art and music, in the collective and in our personal lives.

Meanwhile, the south node in Scorpio will be asking us to purge, to heal, to compost, that which has served its purpose in our lives. We are asked to prune back the bare, dead brambles of the collective and trauma that has no doubt affected us in all in recent times.

We are asked to look at what parts of our life need to be laid to rest, so that new growth can bud, supported and nourished by what has been healed.

Over the next year or so there will be things that bubble up to the surface- hurts that need to be healed, taboos that need to be destigmatized, power struggles that have to stop, family secrets that need to be aired.

Allow space for this process. Ultimately, this time will serve as a balm, that will protect old wounds so they can finally grow a scab, so they can finally heal.

Reaching towards art, beauty, creativity and music, towards cultivating self worth, and perhaps even cultivating an actual garden, while letting go of old things and decluttering your mind, body and living space, will make the most of both sides of this energy.

Natal North Node in Taurus 

When your natal North Node is in Taurus it means you are here in this lifetime to transcend drama and power struggles, to transform the pain of the past into black gold, into compost, that will grow vines of peace and flowers of harmony. It is work that requires carefully plodding forward, that needs to be watered from the sweat of our brow, and lit from our hopeful soul so the sweet scent of these heavenly blooms can perfume our life with joy.

Growing Your Own Hibiscus Tea

Growing Hibiscus Flower Tea

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is also called Florida cranberry or Jamaica sorrel. Indeed, it is prized in Jamaica as a tasty, festive drink that is traditionally brewed around Christmas. But it is popular in many countries- for an upscale jam in Australia, as a fresh summer treat in northern Europe, as a sour green in African curries, as a Mexican agua fresca and so much more. Many parts of the plant, including the seeds, leaves, fruits, and roots, are used either medicinally or in foods.

Hibiscus Flowers in Recipes

As food, the leaves can be used as a cooked green, or added sparingly to salads for a fresh zing. It is a popular accompaniment to fish dishes in various parts of Asia. The seeds are high in protein and can be roasted, used as a coffee substitute or fed to chickens. But the calyx is the part of the plant that everyone is after. This fleshy, bright red cup-like structure contains the plant's seeds. The color and tart taste of the calyces makes them a good replacement for cranberries or rhubarb and useful in pies, sauces, cordials, punches, jams and even wine. I made a Sweet Roselle Syrup in this video with just, sugar, water and fresh calyces. Roselle is high in pectin, so no additional ingredients were necessary (other than time and patience) to achieve a nice, thick consistency. I layered a chocolate cake with this syrup and it was a family hit! I think it would also be interesting on pancakes or as a tangy component in a wing sauce.

The calyces can also be used to make a delicious drink, a tea that is high in Vitamin C, and renowned in countries world wide. I'm not surprised its named after the Rose even though it produces a modest hibiscus flower, because the Rose is the most well-known flower in the world. Roselle is similarly popular, but in the tropics.

Growing Hibiscus Flowers

This plant is an annual that can't handle temps below 40F. It grows in the tropics, suited best to zones 9-10, and produces fruit after about 4 months, usually in and around October.

Use tender leaves and shoots for cooking throughout the growing season. Harvest calyces when they are plump and shiny. Often the tips of the calyx will scrunch together in what I've dubbed "the kissy face" when they are ripe. Be sure to separate them from the seeds before using them in recipes. The calyces can be stored frozen or dried or processed into the many delicious treats mentioned above.

Remember:

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice.

Please read the descriptions carefully, do your own research and practice common sense and safety.

Always consult your physician before using or ingesting any herbal remedies.

Test any new herbal with a small sample before utilizing a full application. A small percentage of people have allergies that even natural, organic substances may aggravate. A substance that is completely harmless and even healthy for one person might cause an allergic reaction in someone else.  Use at your own risk.

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