Spilanthes, Buzz Buttons, Tooth Ache Plant
Whatever you call it, it’s a neat little plant to have in the garden to have fun with your friends once the flowers come into bloom. Coming from the background of medicine on my dad’s side, and horticulture on mom’s side, I’ve always been fascinated with plants as medicine. God’s creation is much more than we know, and medicine is more than a pill or an injection. So, when I came across the toothache plant around 4 years ago at the Deland Wildflower festival, and the lady selling me the plant told me about how it makes whatever part of your mouth it touches goes numb, I had to try growing it. Lo and behold, the medicinal effects really work! For about 5 minutes, my mouth was numb and tingly where ever I rubbed the flower bud, with an underlying electrical sensation.
Just the other day, I went to get my chompers cleaned over in Port Orange at McDonnell Hovencamp Dental Care. I thought they might be the perfect folks who would appreciate this novel little plant. Dr. Judy has been my dentist for nearly a decade, and her husband was my pediatric dentist – I still remember the magic tricks at the end of my cleanings. I brought three plants, one for my Hygienist, Becky, one for Doctor Judy, and the other for (sometimes) the hardest job, the Gatekeeper, Jenifer. You can find out more about their practice at https://www.mcdonnelldentalcare.com/.
I knew that one out of three people would be able to keep this plant alive; but, that’s just the thing about buzz buttons… They are super easy to grow! They live for a few months, go to flower (and you get to play tricks on your friends with the buzzy sensation when you tell them to nibble the flowers), and then the flowers die (and the plant too). But that’s their normal lifecycle. The seeds are easy to harvest and propagate – they’re little black specks that look just like basil seeds when you roll and crush the browned flower heads after they’ve turned from yellow. They love compost (I’ve grown them right in black kow manure) and they love being in slightly soggy soil. If you start a bunch of the seeds at once in a seed starting tray, you can easily use them as perimeter plants along the border of a functional/medicine garden, or you can just as easily grow them inside on a bright and sunny window sill.
Next time you see us in your area, ask us about our mobile plant nursery and installation services. We’ve always got something neat for your Kairos Outdoors – our upcoming plants are “truly tiny” bananas (that actually bear good tasting fruit – bananas the size of your fingers). If you have any gardening or growing questions, give us a call – someone on the team probably has an answer to your growing question.
The next time you have someone over, show them your tooth ache plant, and tell them all about the local “Buzz” – ahahaha, you see what I did the…. Never mind.
See you next time! Nicholas Johnston
