Traditional Healing Herbs are gentle, nature‑centered ways of easing the symptoms of flus, colds,and digestive upsets, of working with chronic maladies, and of giving first aid for minor accidents such as cuts, bruises, and stings. For thousands of years, people have relied on plants for healing. Gathering summer plants for winter remedies is part of the year’s rhythm. There is a magic in the healing herbs of gardens. This magic consists not only of the plants’ reputed medicinal properties, but in the strong sense of connection and interdependence that comes from growing and collecting what you need to stay healthy. There’s a pleasant satisfaction, too, in preparing herbal remedies for your family, your friends, and yourself. When a child catches cold, one can open a bottle and take out a pill or brew a fragrant pot of peppermint‑yarrow‑elderflower tea. Each way of treating the cold has its advantages, but the sweet ceremony of brewing and offering tea may be as much of a remedy as the herbs themselves. Among the joys of summer can be growing and gathering beneficent garden herbs, drying them in big fragrant bunches for winter teas, and preparing a collection of herbal tinctures, syrups, oils, ointments, and cosmetics. In winter, we can use summer’s bounty to keep ourselves healthy.
Showy perennial or biennial plants have big velvety leaves. Tall spikes of aromatic lavender blooms with pink bracts appear in midsummer. Grow in full sun and sandy, well-drained soil. Self-sows.
Traditional Healing Uses: Often combined with chamomile tea to sooth upset stomaches and digestive problems. Clary tea has also been used to treat kidney ailments, and clary tea compresses have been applied to swelling, ulcers, and boils.
Other Uses: Leaves may be dipped in batter and fried to make fritters, while flowers and seeds attract hummingbirds and goldfinches to the garden.
Harvest: Gather and dry leaves and flowers in early bloom.
Preparation: Pour boiling water on 1-2 teaspoons of dried herb and let steep 10-15 minutes.
Caution: Do not use during pregnancy.
