Treat Yourself to a Midwinter Spa Day: A Homemade Herbal Valentine’s Gift to Yourself!

By Beth Schreibman Gehring

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.

Herbal spa days are an easy and romantic way to soften your dry, parched winter skin using ingredients such as rose petals, essential oils, jasmine, and coconut oil. They can help you create lotions, potions, and body butters that are not only good for your skin, but also have a relaxing and rejuvenating effect on your body, mind, and soul.

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 always tell my clients that if you can eat it…you can generally put it on your body. For the most part, this is very safe advice, but always be on the alert for any kind of allergic response to any ingredient you choose.

Here are some of my favorite ingredients for home-crafted body care lotions and potions: 

I love to use raw honey, because it’s naturally antibacterial, full of antioxidants, moisturizing, and very soothing. So, it’s great for calming broken out and parched skin, giving your complexion a needed lift. Its inclusion in any recipe really helps create a glow. Combined with ingredients like ghee, avocado, and green clay, raw honey makes a wonderful face and hair masque.   

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.

Himalayan salt is another great ingredient for nourishing my skin–it’s like Epsom salts, only better, when used in a bath. The salt eases everyday aches and pains, and it’s also my favorite salt to use in homemade salt scrubs.

Ghee–or clarified butter–is a terrific moisturizer for skin and hair. In my observation, ghee seems to bring a soft glow to the skin that most other oils don’t. It also doesn’t smell odd when you use it the way that regular butter would, making it a wonderful base ingredient for infusing essential oils and fragrant petals for skin softening treats.

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.

If you are lucky enough to have a blooming jasmine plant, pick the fragrant blossoms and mix them gently into the butter, then place the container in a warm (not hot) place. After a few days, pick them out. You will have what is known as jasmine enfleurage. Enfleurage is the perfumer’s art of creating scent by having fragrant flowers release their oils into fat.

Full of fatty acids, coconut oil is another one of my favorite moisturizers for skin and hair. It can be used to remove makeup, but I think it’s at its best when mixed with some coarse brown sugar and a couple drops of your favorite essential oil to make a luscious sugar scrub. All by itself, coconut oil makes a wonderful massage oil, but when blended with a bit of vanilla essential oil, it becomes a heavenly treat.

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!

Once you have gathered everything you are going to use, start by taking a warm bath or shower to open your pores and prepare your skin for all the pampering it’s about to receive. After your bath, apply your homemade lotions and potions to your skin, focusing on areas that are particularly dry. Take your time to massage the products into your skin, letting the ingredients work their magic.

To finish pampering yourself on Valentine’s Day–or any day–I don’t think there’s anything more glorious than a relaxing foot bath. In this recipe, I’ve used pine essential oil, a fragrance that I love for promoting emotional balance, as well as respiratory support, and rose geranium, an oil that I use to help reduce hot flashes in women of a certain age! To make this foot bath, I use hot water, about a cup of Himalayan salt, many of my favorite smooth rocks and crystals that I’ve brought back from the many rivers and seas I’ve visited, two cups of fresh kombucha of any flavor, which is glorious for gently exfoliating the skin, and fresh catnip and rose geranium leaves, whose scents can promote relaxation and joy.  I use three drops of each oil that I wish, but no more than two different oils, and I always add 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil to diffuse the essential oils.

Soak your feet for 15 minutes, drink a relaxing cup of tea, and then dry your feet. Finish by exfoliating with the sugar or salt scrub of your choice, rinse again, and smooth your feet with some of that glorious jasmine body butter. Then, put on a pair of warmed socks and enjoy.

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!

A homemade herbal spa day like this one is a wonderful way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and connect with yourself in a way that is normally difficult to do with our busy schedules. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to bring nature inside during this time of the year and help alleviate the midwinter doldrums.

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) Winter scene (C. Moore); 2) Dried herbs (Canva); 3) Dried rose buds (Victor Wong, Creative Commons); 4) Herbal body butter (Canva); 5) Tea and journal (Canva); 6) Tea (Canva).

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Beth Schreibman Gehring is a lover of all things green, delicious, growing, beautiful, magical, and fragrant. She’s also a lifestyle blogger, storyteller, and occasional wedding and party planner who uses an ever-changing seasonal palette of love, life, and food to help her readers and clients fall madly in love with their lives! Beth lives and works with Jim, her husband of 40 years, and is owned by 17 full sets of vintage dishes, hundreds of books, two cats, one dog, a horse, a swarm of wild honeybees, a garden full of herbs, fruit, vegetables, and old rambling roses, too many bottles of vintage perfume and very soon, a flock of heirloom chickens! In 2014 she took a stab at writing a book called Stirring the Senses: How to Fall Madly in Love with Your Life and Make Everyday a Day for Candles & Wine. Available on Amazon! Join her in her gardens at https://bethschreibmangehring.substack.com/, or contact her at  beth.gehring@stirringthesenses.com

Sensory Herb Gardens for Special Needs Children

By Candace Riddle

Ever since Beatrix Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit, children and gardens have had a special friendship. That friendship is even stronger between children with special needs and special gardens called “sensory gardens.” 

The difference between a sensory garden and a “regular” garden is the human factor— regular display gardens are designed primarily for visual beauty, while a sensory garden is designed to stimulate all the senses: sight, sound, scent, touch, and taste. A display garden is meant to be viewed or seen from either a short or long distance, whereas a sensory garden is meant to be experienced close and personal using all five of the human senses.  

Educators describe a sensory herb garden as peaceful and calming with the ability to draw kids into the moment; even non-verbal kids can show their feelings about their garden experience.

When we use the term “children with special needs” in this writing, we are painting with a broad brush including physical, mental, emotional, and educational disabilities. When planning a sensory herb garden, consideration must be given to not only the garden plan—both hard and soft scaping—but also how children with any of these special needs can interact with the garden.  

As with any garden plan, sensory herb gardens start with the lay-out and hardscape: the beds should be narrow enough for children to reach into (from any side, the depth should be no more than 24 to 30 inches; that is one of the advantages of the tiered square design–it allows access on four different sides at three different levels, see photos), and the paths must be wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, which would preclude the use of gravel or a soft ground cover and mandate concrete, bricks, or flagstones. Mulch can also be used as part of the sensory experience. Pine needles, for example, have a sweet scent; wood chips have a tactile feel; and oyster shells have a scent of the sea and a smooth or sharp feel. A water feature can bring several things to the sensory garden: trickling sounds, the sensation of feeling water or wetness, even taste (usually happens when you are not looking!). Windchimes can be a pleasant addition for both the sound they provide and the visual appearance of wind moving through the garden.  

Once the hardscape has been planned, it is time to move on to the plant material, which is, of course, the fun part. Plants should be chosen for the special values they possess to enhance the sensory experience of the children. Below are some examples of plants that may be used in a sensory garden: 

Salvia (Sage)

Bee Balm

Garlic Chives

Purple Coneflower

Basil

Sight: lavender, nasturtiums, English thyme, anise hyssop, sage, and other Salvias 

Sound: pollinator plants, including Mondarda spp. (bee balm), that will encourage bees to make their happy buzzing sounds (of course, special instruction and close supervision must be in place to protect children and bees!). Balloon flowers and false indigo could be included for sound, as their seed pods make popping and rattling noises as they mature.  

Smell: Any strongly scented herb would be a good addition. Some of the most popular are rosemary, hop, fennel, thyme, sage, basil, chives, and, of course, scented geraniums.

Touch: lamb’s ear, yarrow, coneflowers, rosemary, and lemongrass 

Taste: basil, dill, and anise hyssop 

As you can see from the examples above, there is a lot of crossover as far as the plants go; they can provide multiple sensory experiences. Children should be supervised closely when in the garden to ensure their safety. While you want the fullest experience, the safety of the children is the most important factor. 

While the best way to provide a sensory garden experience is outdoors, children can have a satisfactory adventure using enclosed areas such as an enclosed courtyard or even a container garden. These are both good options for populations of students with a tendency to bolt or elope from the area.

The photograph depicts a newly created sensory garden in Maryland’s northern Baltimore County farmland. This garden was designed to be a part of the agricultural tourism initiative that is taking hold in rural areas. “The Farmyard” is a new agriculture venture started by a local farming family to introduce children to all aspects of a working farm, not the least of which is allowing children to sponsor farm animals and help in their care throughout the year. “Farm School” runs all year long offering classes in animal care and upkeep, crop growing, food preservation, and self-sufficiency. As part of the farm school, a class on herbs and their uses is taught. The sensory herb garden is a part of the education of students in the knowledge of herbs in daily life. All students are encouraged to touch all the herb plants, smell them, and taste them. An herbal educator is available during public events to guide children through the garden and explain the uses of the different plants. The focus in this garden is useful herbs in everyday life. (Though all of the senses are considered in this garden, touch, taste, and smell probably are better represented than sight and sound.)

The design of this garden was limited to the structures already in place, which worked out well as the terraced beds allow children of all heights to view at different levels, and the beds are also shallow enough to allow visitors to reach into the entire garden—all tiers are accessible. To increase the visual appeal of the gardens, snapdragons and zinnias, with their colorful flowers, were added to each garden section. Some of the other plants that were included in the gardens are: 

Rosemary

Sage

Fennel

Dill seed

Lamb’s Ear

Marigold

Basil

Rosemary—scent, touch, taste 

Sage—scent, touch, taste (The turkey in the pen next to the garden was a bit uncomfortable with the Thanksgiving herb right next door!) 

Fennel—scent, sound (for the wind moving the fronds and the pollinators that they welcome); visitors were invited to dig up the bulbs and taste them in the fall

English thyme—scent, sight (pointing out that the little flowers are used for baby fairies’ sleep!)

Dill—scent, sight (the full seed pods are beautiful!), and of course, the taste (just like dill pickles)

Lamb’s ear—touch, sound (the bees love this herb) 

Marigolds—sight, smell 

Basil (sweet and Thai)—scent, taste, sight 

This sensory garden is a work in progress, and it is expected to welcome children of all ages and circumstances for years to come. It is the long-range goal to have schools target this farm and garden as a field trip destination once schools resume a normal schedule.  

While the herb sensory garden at The Farmyard is on private property and maintained by dedicated volunteers, this is not the case in most public gardens. While public gardens often attract groups to plan and build sensory gardens, ongoing maintenance during the planning stages, as well as after the garden is established, is often performed by staff of the public facility. 

Gardens are an important element in many people’s lives, and sensory gardens, in particular, can add an immeasurable richness to the lives of children and especially children with special needs. We encourage you to explore supporting a sensory garden in your area.

Photo credits: 1) Sensory garden at The Farmyard (Candace Riddle); 2) Children in the National Herb Garden (Chrissy Moore); 3) Herb collage (Chrissy Moore); 4) Tiered sensory garden, The Farmyard (Candace Riddle); 5) Herb collage (Chrissy Moore); 6) Children and chaperones visiting the sensory garden (Candace Riddle).

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Candace Riddle is a retired educator and an herbal enthusiast for forty years. She has been a member of The Herb Society of America for over twenty years and is a founding member of the Mason-Dixon Unit. She lives in Maryland.

HSA Workshop: The Basics of Propagating Pelargoniums and Other Plants

By Jen Munson

Thanks to a renewed interest in self-sufficiency and pandemic gardening, seed starting has enjoyed a resurgence. Fedco Seeds and Baker Creek Seeds have already indicated that they are experiencing difficulties with keeping up with seed demands. Those fighting online shopping carts for seeds may be pleased to know that expanding your plant collection can done through cuttings.

Join HSA Member, Mary Maran on February 25th from 2pm – 2:30pm EST for, “The Basics of Propagating Pelargoniums and Other Plants.” Mary will share her propagation techniques so you can make more of the plants you already have or obtain a cutting from a friend’s plant and grow your own plant from it. Propagation by cuttings allows the grower to increase the number of plants in their collection while ensuring the characteristics of the “new” plant remain true to the parent plant. Some plants are just easier to replicate with cuttings, such as bay, scented geraniums, lavender, rosemary, and many others. 

This interactive workshop is $5.00 for HSA members and $7.00 for guests. Not a member? Join today and automatically be entered into a drawing for a registration to our virtual conference being held June 10-12th. To register visit http://www.herbsociety.org/hsa-learn/workshops.html  Please note that this program will not be recorded.

Cuttings can be taken at any time of the year but ideally when the plant is in its growing season. In its most basic form, plant cutting is simply cutting a stem of a plant at an angle, dipping it into rooting hormone, and then inserting it in potted rooting media which is kept damp until roots grow, about a month. Sounds simple enough; however, this rudimentary method has a success rate of between 40-60%. During this interactive webinar Mary will share her tips and tricks to increase your success rate to well over 80%.

Photo Credits: 1) Pelargonium cuttings dipped in rooting hormone (Canva) 2) Cuttings potted up in rooting media (Canva) 3) Mary Maran (courtesy of Mary Maran)

(Source: Pandemic Gardeners Contribute To Growing Demand For Seeds : NPR) (Cronin, 2021)

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About Mary Maran: Mary is a long-time member of The Herb Society of America. She started her membership as a member of the Long Island Unit and in later years moved to Pennsylvania where she is an active member of the Philadelphia Unit. Mary is an avid grower of pelargoniums. For years she has donated specimens from her diverse and superb collection to numerous plant sales including the Long Island Unit’s Annual Symposium and the Horticultural Alliance of the Hampton’s Annual Garden Fair.