Blog and Recipes

Enjoying Valentines Day with The Plants of Romance

The Plants of RomanceAlmost 2,000 years ago Ovid lamented, “Alas, there are no herbs to cure love.”

This may have  well been true, but the addition of herbs certainly enhances many sweet pleasures that are important to a well-lived life.

On a personal level, I have reached an understanding of herbs that reflects a relationship with others-in who I once was and who I will become. I call herbs the plants of romance.

As I’ve come to know herbs, they have twined around my hearts’ qualities and preferences.

Herbs grow up close and personal. They are not just flowers, but calendulas, nasturtiums and roses. They are garnishes, but cinnamon and lemon  basil, apple mint and chocolate mint, parley and lavender and thyme.

They are not bulbs, but garlic and chives, dill and fennel.

Come and visit us at URBANherbal to discover something new, time for little sprigs and blossoms of beauty and grace. Herbs can make your meals more flavorful, your work more enjoyable and your life more pleasurable.

Wishing you herbs, health & happiness,

Bill Varney

P.S.  Watch for our new class schedule coming soon from March 2013 – March 2014

Blog and Recipes

Turning despair into hope: The symbolism of herbs

Symbolism
Rosemary for Remembrance

It’s likely that most people don’t know that even in death, herbs offer so much symbolism to turn despair into hope.

My father passed away earlier this week and, like so many people, my family’s grief with losing a loved one is at odds with the relief we feel because the loved one is no longer suffering. Roy Gene Varney struggled for more than 15 years with Parkinson’s disease, and the last few years with dementia. We have many memories of a man who remained true to his conviction that life was still worth living.

In my own herb garden, I am using a little symbolism here and there to cope. To begin with, here’s rosemary – for remembrance of my father and all the other people we love but are no longer with us.

Herbs, health and happiness, Bill Varney

Basil: Best wishes, warm friendship

BayHonor, unchanging affections

Chamomile: Patience, meekness

Eucalyptus: Openness, trust

Geranium: Comfort, consolation

Holly: Foresight

Lavender: Distrust

Lemon Balm: Sympathy

Lemon Verbena: Purity

Marjoram: Happiness, joy

Mint: Wisdom

Myrtle: First declaration of love

Narcissus: Egotism, conceit

Rose: Love

Rosemary: Remembrance

Sage: Esteem, friendship

Thyme: Activity

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

–Robert Louis Stevenson

Rosemary for Remembrance