By Bonnie Porterfield
Of course, there are The Herb Society of America (HSA) founders, but let’s fast forward to those women instrumental in doing the arduous work of jumping through civic, political, and legal hoops to get the National Herb Garden in Washington, DC, started. We have a number of members to thank for doing this work. From the idea first being presented by Edna Cashmore in her 1966 President’s Report for a national garden, to the work on potential sites, garden designs, legal aspects, and fundraising, this was a monumental project.
When Genevieve Jyurovat assumed the HSA Presidency in 1974, legal oversight of a major endeavor was already part of her skill set. In 1966, as Chairman of the Western Reserve Unit (WRU) of The Herb Society of America, Genevieve worked with attorneys, personnel at the Garden Center of Cleveland (now Cleveland Botanical Garden), and City of Cleveland officials to negotiate a long-term agreement for a property to be developed as an herb garden on city property. She successfully navigated the legal maze to establish permanency for an herb garden funded with private donations but located on public land.
Then, as HSA President, she made almost weekly trips from Hudson, Ohio, to Washington, DC, to consult with attorneys and federal officials on behalf of The Society. According to a tribute to Genevieve written by Past President Madalene Hill,
“These many trips resulted in an agreement between The Society and the Arboretum which in turn culminated in a bill being sent to Congress which would permit the United States Department of Agriculture to accept gifts on behalf of the U.S. National Arboretum. This bill passed the Senate on July 25 and the House on November 4, 1975. The agreement was signed between the Agricultural Research Service and The Herb Society of America in February 1976. Genevieve Jyurovat, with her quiet, soft voiced, low key manner and the iron fist enclosed in a silken glove, had achieved a landmark decision.
Genevieve was the one with the foresight and the will to see that before a penny was raised for the garden, there must be legal underpinnings established to protect such an endeavor. Genevieve was the one with the bulldog tenacity to persevere until her goal was reached. Without her quiet, but persistent efforts to successfully negotiate with the Federal Government, we were in danger perhaps, at some future date of having the National Herb Garden destroyed to provide space for public parking or a building named for the political figure of the day. How could The Society have been so fortunate to have had Genevieve in the right place at the right time?” (The Herb Society of America Newsletter, Volume 4, Issue 9, Fall 2000).
Can you imagine in today’s world how this could be accomplished?
Once Genevieve secured this agreement, she called upon her old friend, Kathrine Patch, for fundraising help. Katherine had assisted Elsetta Barnes, ASLA (one of the first women landscape architects and designer of the current WRHS herb garden), in raising funds for the WRHS herb garden. As the story goes, Elsetta asked Katherine to be the treasurer of this project. “But,” exclaimed Katherine, “I’ve never been treasurer of anything in my life.” “Don’t you pay your bills?” responded Elsetta. “I guess I do,” replied Katherine. And suddenly, Katherine had a new job! Katherine used this experience to raise the initial funds for the National Herb Garden.
With initial funding secured, together with a matching government contribution of $200,000, it was up to HSA President Betty Rea to lobby Congress to have these matching funds restored when budget cuts threatened the project. (That’s the short version of this part of the story.)
On June 12, 1980, the National Herb Garden was dedicated with Mrs. Albert C. Burrage, one of the founding members of The Herb Society of America, presenting the garden and Joan Mondale, the Vice President of the United State’s wife, accepting on the behalf of the American people.
From a single idea of a national herb garden to its dedication, the women of The Herb Society of America got the job done. Cheers to these women as we celebrate Women’s History Month.
Photo Credits: 1) National Herb Garden circa 1980 (US National Arboretum archives); 2) Genevieve Jyurovat (The Herb Society of America archives); Katharine Patch (HSA archives); 3) Dr. John Creech (National Arboretum Director), Betty Rea (HSA), Hon. Robert Bergland (USDA Secretary), Eleanor Gambee (HSA), Rubert Cutler (US National Arboretum archives); 4) Mrs. Joan Mondale, Eleanor Gambee, and Anne Burrage at National Herb Garden dedication, June 12, 1980 (US National Arboretum archives).
Bonnie Porterfield is a forty year Life Member of The Herb Society of America and a member of the Western Reserve Unit. She has served in many roles during that time including two terms as Great Lakes District Delegate, Unit Chair, Co-Chair of the Western Reserve Unit’s first symposium and member of the GreenBridges™ and Library Advisory Committees. She is an avid herb gardener, reader, learner and supporter of local efforts in reestablishing natural areas that promote native plantings.
Long before humans roamed the forests, fairies are said to have taken up residence in the cavities of trees, forming fairy houses where they took refuge. Dating back to the Middle Ages, fairy folklore says that these little beings possess supernatural powers. 
The first step to creating a magical miniature garden is to dream up what you want the garden to be. A good way to do that is to start with a theme. Just like when you throw a party, knowing the theme allows you to plan and design the garden better.
For your cottage garden, you can’t use large flowering plants like foxglove or larkspur as you’d find in a human-sized landscape, but you can bring flowers to your Lilliputian paradise with small blooming plants like Erodium spp. (stork’s bill, heron’s bill) and miniature roses (Rosa sp.). Many trailing herbs, such as the aptly named ‘Elfin’ thyme, also flower in the spring. Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes) adds color to your fairy garden all year long.
The way to put life into your fairy garden is to add some action. Set the stage in your fairy garden by creating the illusion that something is going on. The secret is to give the viewer the “idea” of movement. What creates that illusion is how the fairy relates to her (or his) environment.
Choose a container with drainage holes that has enough space to arrange your planned scene and is at least eight inches deep. Use a high-quality potting soil. When choosing plants, ensure all of them are either full sun or shade. 
Anise or aniseed, 
The seeds that anise produces are actually the fruit of the plant. It is these fruits that can be used either whole or ground to add a licorice flavor to food. The leaves of the plant can also be used for tea, sprinkled on salads, or as flavoring in soups and stews. Anise is the flavoring used in many licorice candies, and is also used in pastries such as pfefferneusse, springerle, and pizzelle cookies. The flavor goes well with eggs, fruit, cheese, and vegetables. It is also used in a number of alcoholic drinks such as pastis, anisette, raki, and ouzo. Most cuisines have used anise as a flavoring for a very long time.
Anise has a long history of use in traditional medicines. It has been used to treat respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions, migraines, skin infections, mental distress, and hormonal issues, although there is not enough human clinical evidence to support the effectiveness of these uses today (Singletary, 2022). The Egyptians wrote about using anise nearly 4,000 years ago as a diuretic, as a treatment for digestive issues, and for relieving toothache pain. Greek and Roman writers including Pliny the Elder and Hippocrates wrote about the use of anise as a treatment for coughs and as a breath freshener. Even the mathematician Pythagoras weighed in on the benefits of anise saying that it could cure epilepsy! Today, the essential oil is used in cough preparations, as well as gum and oral health products (Singletary, 2022).
Anise was not only used as medicine and as flavoring, it was also used to lure animals into traps. In the 16
It seems that as I continue my career in horticulture, there are plants that I come back to over time. With my recent move to Wyoming, I have come back to a lot of plants that are familiar from my childhood in western South Dakota. One of those is rubber rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa. When I first learned it, it was Chrysothamnus nauseosus, but taxonomists assigned it to a different genus. I first knew it from visits to Badlands National Park where it grew as a low, billowy shrub among the desolation of nearly white decomposed Pierre Shale. 
Fast forward to last fall when I arrived in Cheyenne to look for a new home. It had been a dry year, as they often are here, and anything that was not watered frequently was dormant and brown. Rubber rabbitbrush, however, had burst into bloom with its golden flowers covering each defiantly green shrub. I passed by one home with much of its front yard devoted to the shrub, and upon close inspection, I discovered that the stems were an attractive shade of green. The ones I knew from South Dakota had gray stems. It turns out there are two subspecies—Ericameria nauseosa ssp. consimilis has green stems and is more western in its distribution, while Ericameria nauseosa ssp. nauseosa has gray stems and is more eastern.
The species name refers to the smell of the foliage when crushed. It is described as pineapple-like by some and as foul and rubbery by others. While the scent may depend on the sniffer, the fact that the whole plant contains rubber in high amounts is beyond doubt. As early as World War II, it was studied as a potential domestic source of rubber when much of the world’s rubber production fell into Japanese hands. It is a small source of industrial rubber today. Perhaps one of the factors limiting its use as a source of rubber is the long time of six years that it takes for the plant to reach a stage of maximum rubber content. Curiously, the rubber found in rubber rabbitbrush is not in the form of latex; it is rather in the form of solids in the inner bark and outer ring of xylem just inside the bark. Ericameria nauseosa ssp. consimilis may have up to 4% rubber by dry weight, double the amount for Ericameria nauseosa ssp. nauseosa. The rubber from rubber rabbitbrush is also free of the proteins that cause problems for those with allergies. 
I was interested to learn why rubber rabbitbrush is only of minor commercial importance. It turns out that guayule, Parthenium argentatum, was designated as “the official crop for domestic production of rubber” (Bowers, 1990) even though it is not as cold hardy as rubber rabbitbrush. Even plants cannot escape politics. Perhaps it is the six years needed to reach peak rubber production. It may also be the quality of the rubber, which is judged by the molecular weight of each carbon chain; longer chains and higher molecular weight are desired. Rubber rabbitbrush does not have the highest molecular weight (Ma, 2019), and that may be why it is not widely grown or harvested for commercial rubber.
The leaves and trichomes also contain about 35 percent resin by dry weight. The resin contains aromatic (in the hydrocarbon ring sense, not in the olfactory sense) terpenoid compounds that could be used in manufacturing plastics. Some of the terpenoids may be used as nematicides and insecticides (Finley and Neiland, 2013).
There is a wide median just outside the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens in the middle of Carey Avenue. Upon arriving in my position as Director, I was told that the City of Cheyenne had a thought that this expanse of turf should become a water-wise landscape with native plants. Of course, rubber rabbitbrush is one of the plants that comes to mind. Its deep root system and ability to withstand high pH and salinity make it one of the few plants that might succeed in this tough spot. The soft, billowy texture created by the fine branching habit and tiny leaves in summer, the stunning and bright yellow flowers that cover the shrub in late summer and early fall, the fluffy seed heads that follow and persist well into winter, and the stunning green stems make it lovely in every season. It is heavily used as a pollen and nectar source by native bee species, because it produces so many flowers when very few plants are in bloom.
Rubber rabbitbrush may grow as tall as six feet. Plant Select® has selected a compact cultivar called Baby Blue that tops out at 28 inches if the species is too tall for you. Because it can recover quickly from hard pruning and blooms on new growth, you can also cut it back nearly to the ground in late winter or early spring to keep it in bounds.
It’s midwinter, and many of us are stuck inside due to cold weather. To beat the winter blues and celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, why not treat yourself to a homemade herbal spa day? A day spent like this is a perfect opportunity to connect with yourself and bring the beauty of nature inside.
To begin, gather all the ingredients you will need for your homemade herbal spa day. I’m including some of my favorite recipes here, or you can find recipes for body butters, lotions, and potions online, and use them to create your own unique blends. Some popular essential oils for skin care include lavender, rose, geranium, and jasmine. You can also add dried flowers, such as rose petals or jasmine blossoms, to your blends for an extra special touch.
I am never without sterile French green clay, because it’s a wonderful base for any face or body masque; it’s like a mini mud bath you can use at home! I’ll often mix green clay with olive oil and a gentle essential oil, like rose oil, to make a simple face masque that I pat on, leave for 15 minutes, and then wash off.
To make my favorite body butter, take one cup of ghee and scoop it into a small bowl. Add six drops of rose essential oil, six drops of jasmine essential oil, and three drops of holy basil essential oil. Beat this together with a fork until incorporated. Use as you would any body butter. I particularly love this blend, because it is so very good for your vitality, mood, AND your skin.
So, to begin this blissful day, find a quiet corner in your home where you can create a peaceful and calming atmosphere. Buy yourself some beautiful fresh flowers beforehand. Light some candles, play some soothing music, and get ready to pamper yourself. Our goal for this day is pure connection. Bring nature inside. Begin by taking a few minutes to shut your eyes and meditate or take a few cleansing breaths. I like to keep a journal nearby to write down any thoughts that come up before I start. This is more for emptying and quieting the mind, so that I can fully enjoy the treats I’ve prepared!
Finally, finish your spa day by wrapping yourself in a soft warm blanket and enjoy the peace and quiet. Take a few deep breaths, and let yourself relax completely and even drift off to sleep for a while. When you awaken, pay close attention, because often the first thoughts upon waking can be the catalysts for important life changes. When you are ready, enjoy another cup of tea or a glass of wine and savor the moment. Don’t forget a delicious piece of chocolate!
Have you ever said to yourself or others, “My garden is my therapy?” If you have noticed that you feel more relaxed and even rejuvenated after imbibing the beauty, fragrance, and even hard work in your garden, you are not alone! Gardening provides physical exercise, as well as a rewarding intellectual and emotional connection. When recognized on a personal level, it is not a stretch to see how people in a wide variety of care environments who are facing diverse personal challenges can benefit from professionally facilitated horticultural experiences as well.
The profession of horticultural therapy (HT) was formalized in the early 1970s, though people have sought out gardens and gardening activities for respite and health recovery well before then. The practice of horticultural therapy involves a plant-based activity, a horticultural therapist, client(s), and identified treatment goals and objectives. Either in a group or as individuals, clients participate in outdoor or indoor plant-based activities designed to address their particular health or wellness needs. For example, patients in a rehabilitation hospital can work on standing tolerance, dynamic balance, and coordination by transplanting tea herbs into a planter raised to a comfortable standing height. Later in the season, the patients are rewarded with familiar fragrances as they harvest the herbs to make herb teas and learn about the roles relaxation and stress management play in their recovery.
In another example, adults with brain injuries focus on pre-vocational skills, such as following increasingly complex directions, organizing their work space, and social skills needed for interacting appropriately with coworkers and supervisors, all while growing plants for a sale. They could be growing any plants for sale, but the sensory stimulation from herb plants increases motivation and inspires conversation with customers during the plant sale. I have noticed that HT sessions are often so enjoyable, even with focus and hard work, that participants can feel like they are taking a break from therapy. Yet, they realized real progress towards their goals and objectives. 
HT programs are found in diverse organizations addressing a wide range of physical, social, emotional, vocational, and wellness needs for people of all ages. I’ve always said, “If you have seen one horticultural therapy program, you have seen ONE horticultural therapy program!” The flexibility of this field means that programs are unique and creatively designed to fit lots of different organizations–and not all are health care. Most focus on some type of improvement, recovery, or function maintenance ultimately for improved independence and quality of life. Quite often, horticultural therapists co-treat with other clinicians, such as recreation or occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, social workers, and vocational rehabilitation counselors. 
The other by-product of horticultural therapy programs is an environment with lots of plants! Imagine the impact plants have on senior living facilities, psychiatric hospitals, correction and juvenile detention facilities, veterans hospitals, and community support programs for people coping with grief, chronic illness, or cancer. When walking by a “lemon” garden, filled with lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon basil, lemon thyme, lemon 
Cumin, 
Cumin is an annual herb in the parsley family (Apiaceae). The seed that it produces is also called cumin. It requires a long, warm growing season of 120-150 days to produce the seed. In cooler climates seeds can be started indoors and then transplanted into the garden, although they may not transplant well. Cumin needs full sun and fertile, well-draining soil. Root rot can be a problem if the soil does not drain well. The plant reaches a height of about one foot tall and has feathery looking leaves and pink or white flowers. The seeds are small and boat-shaped with ridges and are very fragrant. They look similar to caraway seeds. Cumin is available as a whole seed or as a powder. Fresh leaves of the plant can be chopped and tossed into salads.
Cumin seeds have been discovered in 4,000-year-old excavations in Syria and Egypt. Cumin was used in the mummification process of Egyptian pharaohs. References to cumin are found in the Bible, both the New and Old Testaments. During Roman times, it was associated with being frugal with money. Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161-180 AD, had the nickname Marcus Cuminus because his subjects thought he was reluctant to spend money. In the Middle Ages, cumin was baked into bread, and it was thought that eating this bread would keep a lover faithful. Soldiers carried it in their pockets for good luck and people fed it to chickens thinking that it kept them from wandering away (Great American Spice Company, 2020). The Hindus considered cumin to be a symbol of fidelity. Cumin was used to pay rent in 13
There were medicinal uses for cumin in early history. Early Egyptians used it to treat digestive and chest issues and for reducing pain. Fourth and fifth century BC Greek medical texts show that cumin was used for women’s reproductive problems and to treat hysteria. Medicinal use of cumin was popular throughout the Middle Ages. Today, cumin is used in Ayurvedic medicine as a stimulant for digestion and is prescribed for colic and dyspepsia. It is also still used in Egyptian and Chinese herbal medicine.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted March 9, 2018. We hope it inspires you as you plan your spring gardens!
No room to garden? Not a problem. Find a large container and plant your herbs or vegetables in that. Many nurseries make that easy by selling herbs and vegetables already growing in large containers. There is something uniquely satisfying about picking vegetables and herbs that you have grown yourself.
I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads: “I’d rather be lost in the Sods than found in the city.” A friend introduced me to the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in West Virginia back when I was in college (and back when few people ever ventured that far outside of Washington, DC), and I have been hiking in the West Virginia mountains ever since. They are truly special in so many respects.
Gaultheria procumbens (American wintergreen; Eastern teaberry) dotting the forest floor. As heretical as this may sound, I actually dislike the taste of wintergreen, but I find the scent uplifting and enjoy crushing a leaf to release its heavy perfume. The leaves’ fall color is also some of the most beautiful I have seen. Historically, American wintergreen has been used as a flavoring for teas and even chewing gum. According to Foster and Duke (1990), “Traditionally, leaf tea [was] used for colds, headaches, stomachaches, fevers, kidney ailments; externally, wash [was used] for rheumatism, sore muscles, lumbago.” But, care must be taken when consuming Gaultheria. Its essential oils are very toxic when ingested internally.
Downy rattlesnake-plantain (Goodyeara pubescens) is a member of the Orchidaceae family and a native herb that I have encountered only once, despite it being a common species of orchid in the mountains of the eastern United States. I spotted it during my recent foray into the southern WV mountains, where it was sparsely distributed amongst the leaf duff under a stand of varying oak (Quercus) species. It is a rather unique-looking plant that I might have missed had I not been tuned into the forest floor. Goodyeara
has dark green leaves with pronounced light-green to white venation arranged in a basal rosette, and the white flowers are born on tall, slender stalks.
Medicinal Disclaimer: 
The fresh or dried rhizome of ginger (Zingiber officinale) has been used “as a condiment and aromatic stimulant from ancient times”. And from as early as the 15th century, ginger was exported from Zanzibar—a possible origin of the Latin, Zingiber—for use by healers, monks, and herbalists in tisanes, syrups, tinctures, and other carminative simples.
Anti-emetic? Ginger root is used as a natural remedy for nausea and vomiting, which is why many people of my generation actually remember being given a serving of ‘flat’ ginger ale if we were sick with the flu. Ginger ale was decanted to a glass and set aside to rest until all of the bubbles disappeared, leaving a sweet, ginger-flavored liquid that was effective in calming upset tummies. Today, this home remedy isn’t possible because Canada Dry® Ginger Ale does not list ginger in the ingredients.
Ginger Bug 
The Herb Society of America Blog 