A wild and peaceful stroll along the Cape Horn trail along the Columbia River Gorge in Washington. We didn’t venture down to the cape itself, as the trail is closed half the year to protect Peregrine falcon nesting sites.
Beginning along the trail, enveloped in cow parsnip and larkspur.
Delightful tiger lily
Lovely maidenhair fern
Goatsbeard
Honeysuckle
A fairy’s garden of cow parsnip and larkspur
Breathtaking Columbia River overlook
Sparkly fringe cups
My old friend, western red columbine
Meadow Rue (Thalictrum occidentale)
Maidenhair fern (Adiantum sp.)
Scouler’s Corydalis (Corydalis scouleri)
On a visit home to the bay area to wish grandma a great 80th birthday as well as to give my blessings to my best friend’s soon-to-be little baby, I took a walk in the hills above Palo Alto with my sister and her two daughters. I had the great fortune to come across a plant in those rolling oak meadows that I love very much – California pitcher sage. It’s a tad stinky, on edge of fetid like clary sage can be, and it also has a rich balsamic sage scent that carries the overall essence towards the pleasurable.
It has a large, stature, with white bell like flowers on the ends of semi-herbaceous stems.
You can grow this amazing plant if you’re in the central California region- it’s easy to grow if you offer the conditions it loves – which include the gorgeous meadows edges along the hills encircling the bay area and likely beyond. Native Here Nursery offers plants for those of you in the East Bay – all their plants are propagated from locally collected seed, so each plant contributes to the overall genetic resilience of the species. A cousin, Lepichinia fragrans, occurs in Southern California.
I’ve never harvested it, as I’ve never found it in abundance – but the medicine I received from just a few minutes of inhaling its scent was all I needed to feel most blessed. Like its distant cousin white sage, it holds space for magic.
Learn about upcoming classes and current offerings ❤
This at-risk Appalachian woodland plant, blood root (Sanguinaria canadensis), is easy to grow in a small pot, or place it in a shaded place in your garden, preferably under the boughs of a deciduous tree. The tree’s leaves will mulch the ground in the wintertime and keep this little baby quite happy.
Have you ever been fascinated by the alchemy of creating the perfect body cream? Join us as we demonstrate how to create a luscious rose water and shea body cream that nourishes the skin and delights the senses. All participants will take home a sample of the cream made in class.
Pre-registration through EventBrite offering sliding scale $10-$30. No one will be turned away for lack of sufficient funds.
Class takes place at The Herb Shoppe, at 3912 N. Mississippi Blvd.
Class tonight at The Herb Shoppe!
Powdered herbs are effective, inexpensive, and easy to use! Together, we’ll prepare a milky coconut ashwagandha beverage, a chai honey paste, and a tumeric ghee using powdered herbs. You’ll get to taste samples in class! This may be just the key to building a sustainable habit of taking your herbs every day.
