Who doesn't love daisies, so daintily gracing our parks and green spaces at this time of year? Well, park managers and lawn fanatics, I expect, but what do they know! This hardy little flower is intriguingly named "Bellis perennis", which always makes me think of "Bellum", the Latin for "war". In fact, the Plural Dative and Ablative cases of "Bellum" are "Bellis". I know right, a nugget of information you didn't even know you needed! You're welcome. It's all a bit convoluted to explain, so for the sake of our non-language-nerd readers I shan't go there. But if you'd like to geek out on the linguistic details, do knock yourself out. Just what this inconspicuous little flower should have to do with notions of war is beyond me. But then again, lawn fanatics may hold a different view!
Right, let's abandon this linguistic ramble and get back to the botanic subject at hand. All I really wanted to say was: I recommend gathering a few handfuls of these beauties and making some daisy salve! Daisies have a reputation for helping to heal wounds and bruises, besides holding many other beneficial properties.
Start off by putting the daisies in oil and leaving them to infuse in a warm, bright place for 3-4 weeks. If you can't wait that long, you can speed up the process by gently heating the daisy oil, leaving it to cool (covered) over night, and making your salve the very next day. You will also need some beeswax, and potentially some shea butter/cocoa butter and essential oil (optional). I used beeswax, shea butter and rosemary essential oil, and it came out beautifully.
For details on the whole process, check out the last few paragraphs of my Pine Permutations post. Now that I've hit on the magic 10:1 ratio, I use this for pretty much all my creams and salves - and it works a treat every time.
PS: Predictably, Google Translate suggests "perennial wars" as a translation for "Bellis perennis". Suits me. May the lawn fanatics wage a perennial war against the daisy army. I know which side I'm on.
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