News that a herbologist at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh would be very pleased to hear from any members in Scotland who can help with her study.
Helen Fowler (Helen.fowler@greyfriarcommunications.com) is a herbologist studying at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
‘I am getting in touch because I am a qualified herbologist studying at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, putting together a group of accounts from modern Scots of how they grew up with plants and herbal remedies. My aim is to look at the part those same plants and herbal remedies play in their lives today.
I am interested in speaking with people from a variety of geographical backgrounds to reflect the diversity of modern Scottish culture, in particular as it relates to plants and herbal healing.
For example, I have already spoken with a lady (now living in Scotland) who grew up in Greece, where she learned about using chamomile for an upset stomach and rosemary as a facewash. She knew how to extract pectin from the seeds of a blood orange to make marmalade and was taught never to fall asleep under a fig tree, for fear of the plant’s noxious gases. She learned to use thyme as an antiseptic and that basil should always be grown outside a house where people lived.
Is there anybody Scotland-based who might be willing to speak with me about their background with plants and herbal remedies?
Please contact me if you would like to help I would be tremendously grateful.’
Helen Fowler.
