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’s a pleasant satisfaction, too, in preparing herbal remedies for your family, your friends, and yourself. 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.
Whorls of dusky pink flowers bloom in summer on 3 foot perennial plants. Grow in full sun and light, well-drained, non-acidic soil.
Traditional Healing Uses: A woman’s herb commonly used for menstrual problems, the side-effects of menopause, and as a postpartum sedative and infection preventative. Also used to lower blood pressure and slow heartbeat, and to alleviate anxiety, fever, insomnia, rheumatism, and sciatica.
Harvest: Collect and dry leaves and flower heads during summer bloom.
Preparation: Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of dried herb and steep for 10-15 minutes. For a menopause tincture, cover fresh herb with vodka, steep 6 weeks, and remove herb.
Caution: Do not use during pregnancy.
Take a look at all our Traditional Healing Herbs in this amazing flip-book! Or click here for a poster.
