Lavender Tea

Lavender Tea is another popular herbal tea. No herbal healing garden would be complete without at least a small place dedicated to the lavender.  Lavender is to healing pain what Echinacea is to the immune system:  indispensible!

One of the most effective topical creams I’ve ever used had lavender as its main herbal ingredient! You can also make a hot cup of Lavender Tea.

The health benefits of lavender are many. In addition to relieving pain, it’s noted for it relaxing effects — the remarkable ability to relieve anxiety.  Partly because of this ability, it’s used by many as a “cure” for insomnia as well as a muscle relaxant.

But beyond that, they may be some hard scientific evidence that lavender may also help support healthy blood pressure levels.

If you’re not familiar with what the plant looks like, you’ll recognize it once you see it.  It has needle-like, foliage that’s bluish-grey in color, topped with violet-blue slender-looking flowers.  The long-blooming flowers are sure to delight you throughout the entire growing season.

This plant is, thankfully, drought tolerant, making it easy to care for.  Don’t try to start this herb from seed though.  Your best bet is to go to your nursery to buy a flat of small plants that were cuttings from another plant.

 If you insist on trying your hand at starting lavender from seed, then grow the seeds in small pots early in the spring.  The drawback with this method is that the seeds may die before they fully germinate.

Even if you get some seeds to survive, the next obstacle you need to overcome is the slow sprouting of the seeds — in some cases more than two weeks.  This invites the growth of fungus on the small plants.  In some cases, these poor things actually rot before they get the chance to grow.

Once you have a successful plant in your garden, make sure it’s in an area that is well drained.