A new herb appeared in the garden this spring, and, because there was an ID tag, I apparently planted it. Valerian, commonly used in herbal sedatives, grows quickly into a robust plant that is definitely not suitable for the front border of the garden. It rapidly reached five feet tall and showed no signs of slowing. Just when I was thinking that Valeriana officinalis would make a good substitute for Jack’s beanstalk, I learned that it already had a role in a different childhood tale: The Pied Piper of Hamelin. It wasn’t just the piper’s music that attracted the rats of Hamelin, it was the Valerian leaves he had in his shoes and elsewhere on his person. So, as catnip is to cats, Valerian is to (yikes!) rats.

A new herb disappeared from the garden this spring . . .