Lantana is a bright, cheerful annual in Pennsylvania. Woody stems and sturdy leaves give one the impression that it could be a native of the Northeast, and then it flowers.
Clusters of small flowers, in exotic jewel- like colors, unmistakably mark Lantana as a tropical transplant, one that nursery centers have been introducing for several years now. Pinks, yellows, oranges, even lavender, all look battery operated. Lantana is so bright, so very very tropical, that it should just about come with a sign, "Hi! I don't belong here!" Something about it hardly every blends well in the planters I often see. It has the perfect growth habit, low but not trailing as much as filling in those mid-height gaps, dark leaves that provide a great backdrop to its own flowers as well as its other neighbors in the pot. But it is so startlingly bright that it often seems out of place, a parrot that landed among sweet potato vine or ivy, grasses and begonias and impatiens- very pretty, but not quite right. And yet, I love it! I love its brightness, its tropical-ness. Summers here are hot hot hot- 90's all this week and it's only the end of June- and Lantana thrives in this heat. You can gorge yourself on color. It feels like we're in the tropics, it looks like we're in the tropics... hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Lantana seems like a fad plant that hasn't found its place yet. Over time, nurseries will figure out how to showcase this summer beauty, instead of sticking it where it doesn't belong. I liken it to shea butter! (I know, but stick with me here.) Years ago, it was a treat to find a product with shea butter- thick and rich and nourishing and special. Then, shea was 'discovered' and made the new big thing, and shea butter was everywhere, all over the place, in all sorts of weird products. I can't really see the point of putting it in, say, dishsoap. Pretty much defeats the purpose and cancels each other out, don't you think? But now, the craze has calmed down and while shea is here to stay, it's popular in uses that honor its own properties instead of in everything that wanted to use its name to move sales. I think Lantana will also find its niche, especially as more tropicals become easier to grow in this area and become available for experimentation in our pots and planters. For now, I smile at the flash of bright, and try not to look too closely.
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I love summer! Long days, warm evenings, fresh from the garden food, drinks with friends in the breeze, bare arms and loose hair. It's a happy time. Summertime comes with its own challenges, though. Here are the top 5 remedies you can easily find in and around your home and garden to help you navigate sunburns, bee stings and other not-so-fun experiences. 1. Calendula Calendula officinalis Calendula is a bright, cheerful flower that does wonders for your skin. Infuse the flower heads in oil, like olive oil, and you will have an ointment that works on cuts, scrapes, bruises, hangnails, dry cuticles, and other wounds that need healing. Half-fill a jar with flowers, cover with oil, and give it a stir with a clean chopstick to let air bubbles release. Now label it, and let it steep for at least 4 weeks, or up to 2 months. Strain through a clean cloth and store in a dark, cool place. If you want a more solid ointment, beeswax will give you a spreadable salve- just remember this will melt in a hot car, purse, or beach bag! In general, melt about 1 tablespoon grated beeswax in 1 ounce warmed oil. Test for hardness by cooling a drip of the mix on a plate, and add more oil or wax to reach your desired state of spread-ability. (This isn't a great remedy for fresh burns, however, because oil will trap heat and you need to let burns cool. More on them later.) Calendula also moves lymph, so it's great to add to teas for stuffed-up summer colds, and to foot baths when you want a spa treat. The flower heads produce a resin at their base that is the source of their healing properties, so it's not just a matter of using the petals but rather the entire top of the flower. Calendula is a pretty garden plant, and it readily reseeds itself every year, spreading around and filling in between your perennials. There are many varieties, but many are bred for color and not medicinal quality. Horizon Herbs offers several kinds that are both colorful and useful. 2. Lavender Essential Oil Keep a bottle of this in the kitchen, and near the grill. Lavender EO is an analgesic- it takes away pain- and it stimulates cell repair, both VERY necessary for burns! It is also antiseptic, should you develop a blister. Use sparingly, a drop at a time, until the whole burn is treated gently. A drop massaged onto your temples is also wonderful when headaches strike, from too much sun or too much fun. Buy the good stuff, from a reputable company that doesn't cut their oils to make them cheaper. Mine is from Peace Valley Lavender Farm. Saturday May 4 was Herb Day! How did you celebrate?
I dragged My Man with me to Barefoot Gardens in Doylestown PA to see what the American Herbalists Guild Eastern Chapter were offering. We got there just as my teacher Maia Toll was heading out. She gave a talk earlier in the day (here she is in an AHG Facebook picture) and I was very happy that she and My Man finally got to meet. One of my classmates was also there at the same time, and it was nice to see her outside of class too. AND she had a fabulous "I Love Herbs" sticker on her shirt! As we walked up to the collection of tents and tables, herbalist Cindy Koser was just beginning a talk on Herbal First Aid that we joined. She reviewed some basic herbs, and went into more advanced ones that included some I don't know well or at all. One was Spilanthes, or Toothache Herb. Well, My Man was the first to volunteer to taste that, he had bit his lip pretty good the night before and it still was painful. Most of us took a small leaf and laughed as our lips and tongue went numb. There were about 8 of us listening to Cindy, and I think we all had something to share or good questions to ask. It was a great We met the owners of Barefoot Gardens, Eric and Linda, and Eric invited us to peek in a cute shed they just use for storage- it's 16x16 with a loft over the porch, and it's just fun. My Man and Eric were joking (I think) that Eric and Linda should move in there and rent out their real house. Linda was selling plants, and between them and the used book sale happening I was all a-twitter. New herbs I got for my studio garden: Lavender Motherwort Hyssop Elecampane Spilanthes (of course!) Curry Plant Skullcap Yarrow Marshmallow The Yarrow was a freebie, Linda had sold out of the new starts but had a few from last year on the Intensive Care shelf, pretty dry and unhappy-looking, as unplanted plants tend to be. We'll see if they pull through, and if they do I look forward to making something fun and sharing with them. Oh, and I scored an "I Love Herbs" sticker AND one that says "Make Tea Not War"! I love the snow. I know, cue the vehemence. Snow is a polarizing topic. My parents moves thousands of miles away to avoid it. People fly to exotic places to find it. The locals here, around Philly, are never iffy about their opinion of the stuff. Me, I love it. It grounds me. I watch it, and my eyes follow it down, down to the ground, down to the earth where it coats and blankets and covers and quiets. Hopefully, tonight or tomorrow I have a chance to add a few end-of-season pics, but for now, here's lookin' out my kitchen window, from a few storms ago: Isn't it dreamy? That top one says, "Aren't you glad you're standing here making that hot cup of tea?" The bottom one invites me outside with the birds and squirrels, promising that the sun won't reflect too brightly into my eyes. Lovely.
We have been studying with an Ayurveda practitioner in the Advanced Herbalism class, and I'm beginning to see the world in terms of Vata, Pitta and Kapha a little bit. This week, Vata really came up and introduced itself.
The weather: It has been COLD. I was talking to a girl who just graduated from Syracuse last May, and she thinks its cold! I was dog and house sitting for a friend over the last week and a half, so being forced to go outside several times a day put me in close contact with the temperatures and the wind and the dryness. Oh the dryness. It snowed a little at the beginning of the week, and by morning it was all gone. I don't think the temperatures made it to 20 degrees, and it got very windy. The snow evaporated into the dry air! It didn't blow away, there were no drifts or piles. And it stayed DRY. My self: I started with the back of my right hand drying out, that's completely common. Then my cuticles. Then I got a rash/dry area at the base of my tail bone. I started paying attention- that area's directly opposite my digestion! Well, the next day (TMI alert!) came the gas and bloat, which is extremely UNcommon, and it lasted for 2 days. Now we're at the end of the week, and I have my morning off. I was super sluggish and lethargic, not tired but not motivated or inspired at all. Man-in-my-life mentioned he was concerned about my iron intake, and that got me thinking- all that intestinal upset, the dry and windy conditions that mimicked outside so well, would also cause poor absorption of what I was eating. I actually had some ground beef this week, iron should have been good, but I was such a mess who knows! Enter kichari. I made a pot that day, and my breakfast oats with yogurt for the next day, and kept on with tea. It had cinnamon and echinacea among other things. so it felt great to drink. And I rested. Hey, here I was dog sitting with cable and a gas fireplace. Why not indulge! I felt MUCH better by the next day, still down mentally but ok energy-wise. I've also been having intense dreams that are like movies close to or up to when I wake. People: All week I noticed my pilates clients doing silly things, especially when I asked them to do something with their right or left hand. Many more people than usual had to pause and really think about which side to use. I teach a private mat pilates class to a group of friends, and in the 3+ years I have been with them I don't think they have EVER been so chatty. I've also seen more and unusual cramping- feet, shins, calves, hips. So, from the Characteristics of Each Dosha handout we have, I find:
I tend to think in terms of "I wonder what next year will bring?" rather than "This is how I will be different next year!" But last year I made a resolution, based on how I saw myself acting and reacting, to Say What I Mean, and Do What I Say. I wrote that inside a little notebook- an awesome one that has a little zip pocket on the front for little pieces of paper that I end up with all the time- and I began making my To Do lists for myself, my pilates studio and my herb ideas. I saw that quote often in the beginning of the year, and am proud to say that it doesn't really apply anymore- I learned to be more authentic, at least towards myself.
As I look over that first page, labeled 1/1/12, I see the same things written there that I would write now. How can that be? Did I do anything this year? Well, yes and no. This year will be remembered as the Recuperative Year, and I'm hoping next year brings Restorative and Rebuilding energy. I have a lot of work ahead, and I feel ready and able to do it. The name of the game for 2013 is Balance. I know it's a cliche: work, rest, friends, hobbies, chores, exercise, books to read, movies to watch, places to go, everything we do we need to balance so none of it gets left out, and everybody struggles with this. I think I'm really really poor at this, however. I know I put off the time-consuming pleasures like calling a friend or going for a walk because I don't deserve it yet, I need to get more accomplished first, I'm still too behind on all those responsibilities and obligations. I'm not sure how to reset that thinking- yelling at myself doesn't work, making lists or schedules doesn't either. I know better, yet it's a pattern that's all to easy to follow. I've begun the barest steps already. After dark I tend to hole up in my warm bedroom, so I've begun getting up earlier (I am still on holiday break after all, and finally getting enough sleep!) and making sure I get chores done in the other parts of my house, where I can see the windows and the outside. It's too cold out for me to just go for a walk, but today I plan to trot the garbage up the hill to the dumpster on foot! I tend to easily lose my connection to the outside world, both with nature and with people. I call myself an Outgoing Introvert, and these days at home reinforce that. Maybe if I had all the time in the world to rest and relax I would start getting out more, but for now since I don't have to, I revel in being home alone! My days will be happily people filled very soon, and this time to myself is healing to my soul. 2013 is starting off with a bang- I have major work to do to strengthen my pilates business, I will be celebrating the 5 year anniversary of my studio in a couple weeks, and next week marks a personal anniversary with the special man in my life. After tomorrow, the studio re-opens and all the planning and expectations I have for myself come due. I can't wait to check in on this Check In after a month and see what's what. |
Fun Fact: I'm an herbalist and a movement coach. Not a doctor, or a pharmacist, and not pretending to be one on TV.
This is a public space, so my writing reflects my experiences and I try to stay general enough so it might relate to you. This does not constitute medical advice, and I encourage you to discuss concerns with your doctor. Remember, however, that the final say in your wellness decisions are always yours- you have the power to choose, you are the boss of you. And, some of my posts may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them I'll earn a few cents. Thank you for supporting my work. This website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical, mental health or healthcare advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure or prevent any illness, medical condition or mental or emotional condition. Working with us is not a guarantee of any results. Paula Billig owns all copyrights to the materials presented here unless otherwise noted. Categories
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