Results for Category: Botanical
How to Propagate Herbs From Cuttings
When it comes to multiplying your beloved herbs, growing new plants from seeds you’ve collected is the easiest and most practical option. But there are other ways to propagate herbs using your already-established plants. Your herb garden is in full swing, your potted botanicals an abundant source of joy, making their way into your apothecary…
Herbal Wonders of Greece
Greece is a beautiful country surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Ionian seas. Ranked as one of the sunnie...
Summer Solstice: Mark the Changing of Spring Into Summer With Intention
It seems to me as though the more years I accumulate the faster they seem to fly by, each racing past more quickly than the last. ...
How to Grow Your Own Tea Garden + Helpful Harvesting Tips
It’s an Appalachian summer morning and the sun is just starting to peek its face over the mountain. I start my day in the tea garden. The tops of the trees glow gold while the valley is still cool and covered in dew. I wander through the garden, favorite mug in hand, snipping a bit…
A Mother’s Day Tribute to ALL Mamas!
Being a Mom looks different for everyone. Much like our herbalism journey, no two paths are the same. We asked some of our inspiring students and herbalists – How has being a Mom influenced your herbalism journey? We’ve put together a Mother’s Day tribute highlighting a few of these responses. Read the powerful messages below about…
Growing an Edible Flower Garden
No garnish elevates a drink or dish quite like an edible flower. While I am sometimes able to find edible flowers among the fresh ...
Prepare Your Herb Garden With These 4 Spring Tasks
Spring is an exciting time in the herb garden! So many beloved herbs are perennials, and as they begin to sprout and grow after th...
Andean Plants and Their Herbal Uses
The Andes mountains are home to at least 20,000 endemic species of Andean plants (Myers et al., 2000 as cited by Cueva-Agila et al., 2019). In Ecuador, the Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests ecoregion boasts up to 8,000 different plant species (Richter et al., 2009). The southern part of the country, especially the Loja and…
A Spring Equinox Drawing Exercise with Botanical Illustrator Joséphine Klerks
As we’ve worked behind the scenes on our new drawing exercise mini course, Botanical Drawing for Herbalists, we’ve spent many hours oohing and awwing over the incredible artwork produced by talented botanical illustrators of our day. One artist who regularly catches our attention with Earth-centered illustrations that capture the spirits of medicinal plants is Joséphine…
A Day In the Life of a Botanical Illustrator With Madison Safer
Madison Safer is a freelance illustrator who beautifully interweaves her creative artwork with her herbal practice. You may have s...
How to Make Oak Gall and Coreopsis Botanical Paint with Rebecca Desnos
With the launch of our new Botanical Drawing for Herbalists Course, we’ve been extra inspired by projects that involve making in...
Planting the Rainbow: Incorporate Plants Into Your Garden Based On the Color of the Blooms
Gardening is a hobby that can fulfill both the utilitarian as well as the aesthetic sensibilities within the human soul, but you don’t always find both in the garden. I grew up with gardens that were either designed around production and output or designed for aesthetic purposes. However, you don’t have to choose. Planting the…
The Father of Medicine: Was Hippocrates an Herbalist?
“Where there is love for mankind, there is love for art of healing.” – Hippocrates Considered the father of medicine, Hippocrates was a renowned ancient Greek physician and teacher born on the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea. He lived during the Classical Period of ancient Greece, which was a time marked by a…
Gardening By the Moon: How Lunar Planting Deepens Your Relationship With the World You Live In
When we hear a phrase like “gardening by the moon,” it can elicit mystical and magical thoughts. However, this is an ancient (...
Herbs for Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the Aging Brain: What the Research Has to Say
Most of us will be touched by the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Whether a parent, life partner, friend, or ones...
Herbs of Apollo: Greek God of Healing, Prophecy, and the Sun
Who Was Apollo? Apollo was the ancient Greek god with a multitude of powerful associations, including the sun, music, poetry, healing, oracles, prophecy, plagues, and archery. As the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and Leto, the goddess of motherhood, Apollo was one of the twelve Olympian gods who was both revered and feared…
Plant Allies to Prepare Your Immune System for Winter
Winter stirs up nostalgic thoughts of evergreen trees and warm, cozy fires, but it can also cause increased stress and anxiety, with concerns of the approaching cold and flu season coupled with navigating a pandemic. Luckily, plants are available to us to help support the immune system, soothe the nervous system, and promote balance to…
Motherwort Benefits + Recipe
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is a striking plant. Growing as tall as 5 feet, it bears the signature square stem and opposite lea...
In Search of the True Brahmi: Bacopa vs Gotu Kola
Herbs known by the name “brahmi” have an affinity for the nervous system and tend to support memory. There are a few different...
How to Harvest and Prepare Prickly Pear Cactus
The prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) cactus is synonymous with the American West, and what a gift she is to desert dwellers. The name prickly pear refers to a group of around one dozen species in the Opuntia genus (Desert USA, n.d.). Every part of this plant is useful, and prickly pear serves a wide range…
The Herbs That Got Away: Rediscovering Silphium and Other Missing Historical Plants
With a landscape brightened by vivid colors and infused with aromatic scents of ocean and mountains, the ancient Mediterranean region provided a sensational feast for the senses. Many of the historical plants that the various ancient civilizations in this region gathered for food, medicine, and religion remain in use today. Yet, the story of some…
Plant Personalities: How Growing Plants Deepened My Relationship With Them
I can proudly shout from the rooftops that I am a giant nerd! I am obsessed with herbalism, plant personalities, and creating deep...
Transform Your Land Into a Botanical Sanctuary
Native plants and their habitats are under threat. These threats come from overharvesting caused by the demand of the herbal marke...
How to Source Sustainable Seaweed
Seaweed has been farmed in Japan since at least the 17th century (“Seaweed Farming”, n.d.), when farmers cast bamboo branches into shallow waters where seaweed spores would collect. But its use as a food source stretches back much further, with archaeologists discovering that the coastal people of Monte Verde, Chile harvested and consumed seaweed as early as 21,000…
5 Easy to Grow Perennial Herbs for Busy Gardeners
For anyone who has attempted gardening, it can be hugely disappointing to spend an entire weekend setting up your garden and then watch your garden plants decline or wither because you were wrapped up in work and life responsibilities and didn’t have time to take care of it. On the other hand, having a garden…
Vining Herbs: Take Gardening to New Heights
Vining plants do so much for a garden. Vertical climbing plants take up minimal ground space and add height and texture to the gar...
California Poppy Benefits + Recipe
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), the state flower of California, is a beautiful wildflower that has been an ally to we...
How and Why To Start an Herb Garden
As a kid growing up in Ohio, I really looked forward to the growing season. My father always had a love for plants (mainly flowers) and would take us to the local garden centers to grab the flowers for that year’s gardens. However, when our family first moved into our house there were no plants…
Bioregional Herbalism
Bioregional herbalism is the oldest form of herbal practice. Before global trade people used what was close at hand. This taught herbal practitioners to develop relationships with the plants in their region on a much deeper level—beyond clinical knowledge and using herbs to address specific problems. This deep, experiential knowledge gave people a profound sense…
Herbal Trees
Trees are a lovely way to decorate and enhance the landscape in a multitude of ways. Some trees are large with dense canopies and ...
