First Aid Kit: 5 Essential Healing Plants for Summer - Gardenista
On Instagram summer is on steroids–a season of endless backyard lawn parties, with a slant of sunlight at just the right angle to showcase the flowers, grass, and mojitos. The season can feel like a slog if you have allergies or have to slather moisturizer over a nasty sunburn. For more, see 5 Veg Plot Must-Haves. One of the most-used medicinal herbs in history, calendula has been the stuff of legend, and not just for ailments. Photograph by Howard Sooley. Even if you’re not interested in conversing with sparrows, calendula is a standout choice to cure summer-related ailments such as chapped lips and dry skin. Photograph by Meredith Heuer. To make a salve, place some slightly wilted calendula flowers in a jar with olive oil and put in a warm, sunny location; shake once a day to speed the infusion process. Often dismissed as a weed, plantain is likely growing within a short walking distance of where you’re sitting. This is a bold claim, but the plant is magnificently ubiquitous, even in the cracks of city sidewalks. Photograph by Ernst Schütte via Wikimedia. For more, see Field Guide: Nettles. Although not as prevalent as plantain, it’s still fairly easy to find nettles in many parts of the country, and they’re easy to spot thanks to their sawtooth-type leaves. Photograph by Jim Powell for Gardenista. Nettles are very effective for seasonal allergies, and are usually used in tea form or can be lightly steamed or blanched to throw into culinary dishes. To create an allergy-busting tea, pick the leaves and set out to dry for a few days. Photograph by Aran Goyoaga. Photograph by Marie Viljoen. Sometimes described as “the woman’s herb”–even though that sounds like a cheesy 1970s filmstrip–raspberry is a potent tonic for ailments such as menstrual cramps. Planting a couple of different types can keep you awash in raspberries as well as medicinal leaves, which can be dried and stored to be used throughout the year. Although most people think of catnip as the equivalent of kitty marijuana, the herb has been valued as a medicinal for humans since it was cultivated in Roman times. Photograph via Coneflower Tarot. In a presentation at the American Chemical Society, researchers noted that catnip is 10 times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET, the controversial compound used in most commercial insect repellants. Backyard Pharmacy is $18.88 from Amazon.