How rose can provide a herbal hug

Spotlight Diary

by Fiona Chapman

THE roses have just been outstanding. My Rambling Rector and Himalayan Musk made the whole garden smell delicious. Sadly, they are now almost over, but I do have some lovely flowers left and many of them are medicinal. I have a lot of difficultly harvesting them because I think it so sad when they have made all that effort to grow that I just take their flowers.

My Rosa damescena, a medicinal rose, is still flowering – the most stunning pink – and I have taken some of the petals and dried them. Really you should take the buds just as they are coming out, but I can’t bear to do that.

Rose is good for inflammation and heat in the digestive tract, among other things, and is also particularly good for emotional issues and lack of confidence – a herbal hug as I am sure I have mentioned before.

Wool

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I have harvested mint, as cutting it back anyway is a good thing, and makes it bush out and less leggy. On a dry day, I cut the mint, enjoying the wonderful fresh smell, and put it in paper bags and hung it in a north-facing room. This will be used for a mint tea – digestive, calming and good for gas. It can also be combined with dried elderflowers and yarrow, and if drunk in a hot tea, will induce sweating which helps bring out a fever. n Fiona Chapman is a naturopathic herbalist

The Hypericum – St John’s Wort – is also just about to flower. This is the wild and small-leafed variety that does not produce berries. It grows quite abundantly, and you can tell if it is the correct one by picking a flower and rubbing it between your fingers. If it leaves a red stain, it is Hypericum perforatum and can again be picked, dried in a paper bag and used in a tea for low spirits and mild depression. Or you can pick the flowers and dry them then put them in a good quality olive oil and leave it on a sunny windowsill. The oil should turn red after a few weeks and you have a wonderful medicinal oil for nerve pain.

I also have lavender and lots of it, and will be brave and harvest that as it too makes for a great tea, which again is cooling and relaxing and helps relieve anxiety. Probably not a coincidence that the midsummer flowers can be dried and stored and used to cheer the heart in the dead of winter.