Janice Cox
Yarrow is a popular perennial herb that can be found in many gardens, mine included. It is known as a powerful “healing” herb. It’s also a fantastic landscape plant, culinary ingredient, and can be a key ingredient in anti-aging and healing body care products.
I have my yarrow planted along my driveway. I call it my “protector” plant as it keeps deer and rabbits out of my yard. They do not like the scent or bitter tasting leaves. It also helps as a ground cover, keeping weeds out and my yard in bloom. Yarrow comes in a wide range of colors from creamy white to dark red. It will also attract birds and pollinators to your yard, helping all of your plants bloom and produce more.
Yarrow has antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. It is cooling, soothing, and healing when used in skin care products. A simple tea or infusion of fresh flowers and leaves makes a calming product for troubled skin, insect bites, or a bad sunburn. Simply apply to your skin using a spray bottle or cotton pad. Yarrow in the bath is especially refreshing and will also boost your circulation. The most popular use of yarrow is as a key ingredient in healing skin balms and lotions. Yarrow leaves are powerful and have been used to stop bleeding in cuts and scrapes and also help the healing process. Legend has it that Achilles, the great warrior, used yarrow leaves to heal his soldiers’ wounds after battle. This may also be the reason the plant genus is called “Achillea.”
Yarrow can also be used in the kitchen when making bitters, teas, salads, and salts. You can use just about everything from oils, butters, honey, and vinegar in which to infuse the bitter peppery leaves, and adding a bit of citrus or sugar will help enhance yarrow’s strong flavor. You only need a few leaves, as the taste can be overpowering in dishes. Also, when infusing in oils always use dried yarrow so you do not introduce any extra moisture, which can spoil your product.
Yarrow is an especially beautiful dried flower and dries very quickly and easily. Pick bunches not larger than a quarter in diameter and let them air dry in vases or hanging from drying racks. If you are seed saving you may want to dry your bunches in paper sacks to help with collection and to protect them from dust or bugs.
Here are a few recipes for you to try at home:
Yarrow Cucumber Cleanser
Cucumber is naturally cleansing and calming to your skin. When you combine it with fresh yarrow flowers you have a mild cleanser that can be used in place of soap for all skin types.
1 whole cucumber
1 Tablespoon fresh yarrow flowers and leaves or 1/2 Tablespoon dried
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon honey
Yield: 4 ounces
In a blender or food processor combine all ingredients and process on high until you have a well-blended mixture. To use: Massage into your skin and let sit for a few seconds up to a minute. Then rinse with warm water followed by a cool water rinse and pat your skin dry. Store any leftover cleanser in the refrigerator.
Yarrow Bath Salts
Yarrow makes a relaxing bath. Fill a muslin tea bag with fresh flower heads and some leaves and toss in your tub as it fills, or wrap inside a cotton wash cloth and use as a “scrub” sack in the shower. Combined with popular bath minerals it makes for a soothing soak that will also boost your circulation.
1 Tablespoon fresh yarrow leaves and flowers
1/2 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup sea salt
Yield: 10 ounces
Mix together all ingredients and spoon into a cotton sack or onto a cotton wash cloth and secure with a rubber band. To use: Toss in a warm tub. Soak for 20 minutes.
Yarrow Flower Salt
Making herbal salt is a simple process with benefits. Yarrow supports digestion and also helps reduce bloating. You can create a simple salt that can be used in cooking. Just use care as a little bit will go a long way. Yarrow adds a sweet, bitter flavor to the salt.
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/2 Tablespoon fresh yarrow flowers
Grind together the yarrow and salt until fine and spread on a clean tray or cookie sheet to dry. You may also use dried yarrow and skip the drying step. To use: Use as a finishing salt on your dishes.
Medicinal Disclaimer: It is the policy of The Herb Society of America, Inc. not to advise or recommend herbs for medicinal or health use. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement of any particular medical or health treatment. Please consult a health care provider before pursuing any herbal treatments.
Photo Credits: 1) Achillea millefolium flowers (Erin Holden); 2) Achilles tends the wounds of Patroclus (Bibi Saint-Pol); 3) Achillea ‘Colorado Mix’ (Erin Holden); 4) Achillea ‘Terracotta’ (Chrissy Moore)
Janice Cox is a garden writer and natural beauty expert. She is the author of Beautiful Flowers, Beautiful Lavender, Beautiful Luffa, Natural Beauty at Home, Natural Beauty from the Garden, Natural Beauty for All Seasons and the newly released Natural Beauty at Home Handbook. She was the beauty editor for Herb Quarterly Magazine for more than twenty years. She is the education chair for The Herb Society of America and a member of the International Herb Association. She makes her home in southern Oregon.
The best way to think about cocktail bitters might be to call them the spice rack of the bar. Typically used in “dashes”, or the equivalent of a pinch of seasoning, bitters have the ability to highlight or enhance flavor in the same way that salt or pepper might. Bitters help to balance and add another dimension to cocktails that are often dominated by sweet or sour flavors. They can even tie different elements of a cocktail together, and add complexity to drinks that might be lacking. For something that comes in such a small bottle, bitters pack a big punch! But what the heck are they? What are bitters?
1. Toss your ingredients in a glass container with a lid, like a mason jar. Add your high-proof spirit, seal the container, and shake it daily for 2-3 weeks.
ARE THERE NON-ALCOHOLIC BITTERS?
While doing research for a presentation on herbal uses of native plants, I decided to look more into a plant I’d learned about in herb school, sweet flag (
Abenaki: 
Both species are perennial, grow in zones 4 to 10, have 1’–3’ tall iris-like leaves, and can spread 1’–2’. They bloom April through June, and like full sun to part shade. The inflorescence is a green spadix with no spathe (a spathe is a hood-like structure, like the white part of a peace lily). Both 
This chemical distinction is important, because β-asarone has demonstrated procarcinogenic tendencies (meaning it could metabolize into a cancer causing compound), and the FDA has banned the use of “calamus, calamus oil, or extract of oil in food,” although these studies used high levels of isolated β-asarone and not “suggested doses of the whole plant in terms of mg/kg of body weight” that an herbalist would recommend. However, since 
Colonists also used 
Many people may be familiar with the distinctive aroma of valerian root; old socks, wet dog, and horse manure are just a few things to which the odor has been affectionately compared. In fact, the constituent responsible for the smell, valeric acid, is also one of the components that causes swine manure to smell so badly (Chi, Lin, & Leu, 2005). Despite its odiferous qualities, valerian has been used for its sedative effects for over 2000 years. Valerian root is taken to relieve anxiety, promote sleep, and relax gastrointestinal spasms (Braun & Cohen, 2006). Some research shows that another compound, valerenic acid, may mediate anxiety by binding to GABA receptors in the brain, although the exact medicinally active compounds haven’t yet been pinpointed (Benke et al., 2009). It’s possible that valeric acid also has a role to play, as multiple constituents acting together may account for these effects (Spinella, 2002).
Glycosaminoglycans, the medicinally active polysaccharides found in marshmallow root, have an appropriate abbreviation: GAGs. Mixing the powdered root with water or preparing an infused tea results in a slimy, mucilaginous mess that can be difficult to choke down. But it’s this very sliminess that causes marshmallow to work so well at soothing irritated tissue. Marshmallow is used for coughs, as a urinary demulcent, and for irritated skin. The mucilage forms a bioadhesive layer that acts as a barrier, protecting the tissue and allowing it to heal (Deters et al., 2010). Extracts of the root have also demonstrated antibacterial properties (Lauk, Lo Bue, Milazzo, Rapisarda, & Blandino, 2003; 
No pub or bar would be complete without a bottle of bitters, with Angostura® being among the more popular brands. Although the recipe for Angostura® Bitters is a well-guarded secret, gentian is listed on the label as an ingredient and is likely a major contributor to the bitter flavor. By itself, gentian is considered extremely bitter and has been used as a yardstick when rating the bitterness of other herbs (Olivier & van Wyk, 2013). Bitter compounds in general have been shown to stimulate the secretion of saliva and digestive juices by activating the vagus nerve (Bone, 2003). The active constituents in gentian, gentiopicroside and amarogentin, are no exception. These molecules account for gentian’s use in improving digestion, increasing appetite, and relieving flatulence (Braun & Cohen, 2006).
What list of nasty herbs would be complete without pukeweed? This alternate common name for lobelia says it all. The emetic qualities of this plant were made (in)famous by Dr. Samuel Thomson in the 19
I was visiting my mother just a few weeks before Christmas in 2017. She had recently moved to a wonderful small family-run assisted living home. The owner, Ann Abdul, asked me if I’d like to taste some “sorrel drink” she had made for the holiday season. I had no idea what that was. It looked Christmassy–a brilliant ruby red. I took a sip, and the most delicious taste filled my mouth. It was a rich, complex, and unfamiliar burst of flavors. But it tasted like Christmas, too—it was sweet, and I thought I could detect cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla. But it also tasted a bit like lemonade with a pronounced citrusy tartness. I loved it, and I had to know more! 
It turned out that “sorrel” is a name for the calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa, a plant commonly known as roselle, as well as the beverage that is made from them. If you have ever tasted Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea, then you have tasted sorrel. (This sorrel is not related to the leaves of 
Another essential Trinidadian Christmas drink is one more familiar to most Americans. Ponche de crème is their flavorful take on eggnog. Served straight or spiked with rum, this delicious drink must contain a special Trinidad ingredient: Angostura Bitters. You may be familiar with 
Lastly, the third beverage essential to Christmas in Trinidad is also enjoyed year-round: ginger beer. Ginger beer is a strongly flavored version of ginger ale that is non-alcoholic. The rhizome of Zingiber officinalis contains volatile oils, such as zingerone and gingerols, that give ginger its characteristic “zing.” Most families in Trinidad, as well as the rest of the Caribbean, make their ginger beer at home from fresh ginger rhizomes, and the resulting ginger beer often has a very strong punch of ginger flavor. It contains other spices such as cinnamon and clove. It is made very strong, and it can be diluted with water or club soda to suit your taste.
1 package dried sorrel (Angel brand easily available online or in Caribbean market)
herbal, bittersweet liqueur as an aperitif or digestif”, to either stimulate or aid digestion before or after a meal (Parsons, 2011). However, during the 1850s in the United States, the temperance movement, along with high taxes on potable alcohol (alcohol consumed as a beverage), forced these types of drinks to fall out of favor, and led to the increased popularity of stomach bitters, a nonpotable alcohol (so not subject to the same taxes). Unfortunately, many unscrupulous companies began making outlandish claims for their products, forcing the federal government to step in and lay down restrictions. This, along with Prohibition in 1919, knocked bitters off the U.S. map for a good long while.
In Food: Many countries that traditionally partake of alcoholic bitters also have a history of harvesting and consuming bitter spring greens. Plants such as burdock, dandelion, and cresses pop up early in the spring, and their bitter leaves not only helped stimulate digestive systems turned sluggish from a winter of consuming preserved foods, but provided much needed vitamins and minerals. Additionally, many bitter plants are anthelmintic, meaning they help kill intestinal worms. It gives new meaning to the term “spring cleaning!”
common name comes from its use in killing intestinal parasites. Cinchona (Cinchona spp.) is the botanical source of quinine, the widely used antimalarial agent. Gentian (Gentiana lutea), the archetypal bitter, is a main ingredient in most commercially available cocktail bitters, including Angostura Bitters. Some plants that don’t have an overt bitter flavor, such as fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and ginger (Zingiber officinale), are also sometimes classified as “bitters” by herbalists due to their therapeutic action on the digestive system.
The main reason plants create bitter compounds boils down to one simple thing: defense. Since plants can’t run and hide from predators, they devised their own chemical defense system – the first instance of chemical warfare, you could say. When an insect bites into, say, a broccoli plant, it gets a mouthful of glucosinolates, sulfur containing compounds that are toxic to insects and rodents, and gross to some people. Plants see us as essentially giant rodents that want to eat them, and create a wide variety of nasty tasting compounds to deter us from doing so. In turn, since some of these compounds not only taste bad but can also kill humans, we evolved taste receptors to detect them, therefore potentially skirting death.
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