Goldenrod, often considered a roadside weed, offers many healing properties. It is a familiar face in North America’s late-summer landscape and one of the continent’s humble yet potent aromatic plants.
If Goldenrod is an aromatic plant, does that mean it creates essential oil? Absolutely! Continue reading for plant highlights, key therapeutics and personality of Goldenrod essential oil and aromatherapy blending ideas.
Wild Carrot or Domesticated Carrot? Sometimes classified as a noxious weed by some states in North America, Queen Anne’s Lace has naturalized across fields, disturbed ground and along roadsides since the plant was introduced to North America. Although related to the edible carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativa), “carota” has a small, inedible, tough and whitishContinue reading “Carrot Seed Essential Oil”
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “Juniper Berry”? Maybe it’s “gin” or “cleansing” or even something like “wisdom”. This article features Juniperus communis, the most wide-spread conifer of the northern hemisphere whose plethora of berries may instill us with gifts of clarity, patience, wisdom & more. Continue reading for plant highlights, therapeutics and personality of the essential oil and aromatherapy blending ideas.
Linking the Sacred & Profane Have you ever been enthralled by a pine tree? Pine tree, you say? Yes. Those evergreen beings who embody the sacred states of immortality, grace and fortitude. Yet they also give so much of the tangibly profane: wood, resin, essential oil and more. This article (and soon to be associatedContinue reading “Plant Talk: Scots Pine”
The Mystery of Myrrh Of all of the well-known resinous bearing plants in the world Myrrh may be the one known to penetrate mental, physical and emotional cracks. Myrrh and its sought after oleo-gum-resin (aka: gum-resin or resin) bears the signature of oldness, inner wisdom and depth. But what exactly is Myrrh and how mayContinue reading “Myrrh Essential Oil”
Rosemary has been recognized as a powerfully cleansing and regenerative herb for centuries. But Rosemary goes deeper than that by stirring the heart’s soul and more. Spend a few minutes getting to know Rosemary the plant and the essential oil including recipes and an episode of “Plant Talk” where I’m distilling rosemary leaves!
Yarrow, the plant of “thousands of leaves” may bring an element of healing and protection to your life. This post includes an aromatherapy blend for a mood mist.
German chamomile essential oil is distilled from the flowers of Matricaria recutita and often grown and distilled for its essential oil in Hungary as well as other parts of Eastern Europe, North America and Australia. Native to temperate parts of Eurasia, M. recutita best expresses itself when grown in this type of terroir. As manyContinue reading “Plant Talk: German Chamomile”
Lavandula stoechas is classified in the mint (Lamiaceae) family and native to the Mediterranean basin. It is a compact perennial shrub with linear gray-green leaves. Its characteristically dark purple flowers, topped by purple bracts, are on dense, oblong spikes reaching to 1.25” long. Unlike its relatives, it prefers the coastal (low altitude) arid climates ofContinue reading “Plant Talk: Spanish Lavender”
Yarrow, an herb in the Asteraceae family, has been used for wound healing/vulnerary purposes since ancient times. According to folklore, Achilles (the Grecian battle hero), carried the herb while on battle campaigns to treat battle wounds. This tough (it’s so tough that it grows in the incredibly damp, clay soil of my gardens!) herb can be found throughout the temperate climates of theContinue reading “Getting to Know: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)”
