Plants will ship Mid-March 🙂
Comfrey, True (Symphytum officinale) potted plant, organic
$8.50 – $57.00
Family: Borage (Boraginacea)
Hardy in Zones 3 to 9
Herbaceous perennial native to Europe. True Comfrey is the original herb as detailed in all the ancient literature. Traditional usage (TWM): used externally to speed healing. Source of alantoin. Plant prefers full sun and regular garden soil. Good drainage is helpful (add sand and organic matter to clayey soil) and frequent watering is also helpful. After the plant reaches the late flowering stage, simply cut it back and lay the leaves back down on the crown. It will regrow through its own mulch.
Potted plant, Certified Organically Grown
Cindy Morrow (verified owner) –
Would this be ok to plant around any fruiting trees?
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Richo Cech –
Hi Cindy, Thanks for writing. Not only OK, but splendid! Brings in pollinators, breaks up hardpan, builds soil, brings up minerals that help trees avoid common diseases. Richo
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Cindy Morrow (verified owner) –
Just want to say thank you! I received my potted roots and they were carefully packaged and arrived safe and sound. I put them in a big pot and they popped up leaves the next day. One week later they had grown to 4 inches. They are alive and thriving!
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Richo Cech –
Hi Cindy, Thanks for writing. Oh spring, oh spring, you wonderful thing, the comfrey comes shooting up, more than just an ephemeral fling! Richo
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Lois –
I wish to buy comfrey. How much is it
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Richo Cech –
Hi Lois, To my recollection the true comfrey crown cuttings are $7.00 and the potted plants are $8.50. This should be easy to confirm by clicking on the photo of the plant. All the best, richo
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Question
senea –
I have searched a lot and cannot find anything at all or it’s questionable about properly cleaning the Comfrey roots well enough to dry for making infused oil. I saw a couple British ladies clean them so well that they were all white on YT. I am thinking that there should still be some of the brown skin left on. In most videos I only see a mention to clean them, but no visual to assure me I’m doing it right. Please let me know where to find that as here I am with soaking roots anxiously searching. Seems quite a job but maybe there is a secret how to. I see how you prepare them in Growing Plant Medicine Vol. 1 page 255-256 and I’ll be doing that. I think this applies to many different roots as well. I see one mention to clean it like a carrot, not real helpful as it is a little mucilaginous. Senea
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Richo Cech –
Hi Senea, Thanks for your note. In the old days I dug and cleaned all the comfrey for Herb Pharm’s comfrey tincture and for “Herbal Ed’s Salve.” We would put the dirty roots on a table screen, spray them off thoroughly with a garden hose, cut them apart wherever there were dirt-filled interstices and spray again. Then we would pick up each piece and individually spray it off to make sure there was no dirt clinging on. Certainly NOT removing the epidermis which is full of active constituents! Then we would slice them finely, less so if bound for tincturing, when we would then blend with the alcohol and set to macerate. If bound for oil extraction, we would slice them finer, allow to drain, then spread out on screens in the dryer. I don’t think a short period of soaking them is a problem, but it isn’t really part of the process. richo
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Leslie Degnan –
Thank you! I’m very excited about getting these going. Planning for the first 3 to make a circle around the pear tree.
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Richo Cech –
good idea
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Leslie Degnan –
Hi Richo, This question will make you laugh. (Yes, I am new to comfrey-growing!) I have a few root crowns where one end has tiny tendril-like roots and the other end has coming out of it something large, white, and definitely root-looking. Which end is up? Thanks in advance!
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Richo Cech –
hi leslie, it is fun to grow an learn, no reason for embarrassment or concern, the rootlets go down, and the white growth goes up, it will become leaves, that is known as the crown. r
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Question
Rafael –
Will this plant be available for purchase soon.
Has it been sold out for 2022?
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Richo Cech –
hi rafael, we did start a bunch of these and will re-enable soon. inside tip, the true comfrey root cuttings are a slightly better deal and are definitely larger stock at the moment. richo
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Carrie Robertson (verified owner) –
Grows so quickly it’s amazing (even in this Texas heat). Lovely flowers. Only had for a couple months and already cut back and it’s growing back great. Very pleased.
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John Wheeler –
It’s a question of usage; for healing salves, Richo is absolutely right, just before flowering is best. For compost or mulch, it doesn’t matter.
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Annie –
Can I still buy Coffey plant from you, and can I plant it on the ground will it still grow?
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Richo Cech –
Hi Annie, Yes, the comfrey is easy to start. We are currently offering true comfrey root cuttings as well as potted plants–both are reliable. If you’re in a warm zone, you could get going faster by ordering root cuttings–they are being sent out daily at this time of year. Richo
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