Spring is in the air and it’s always nice to see the snow
retreat from the valleys to the highest peaks of the mountains. I also enjoy seeing tulips emerge from a
snowdrift on the north side of a home.
Or what about the appearance of green sprigs of grass that start to show
up among the brown and the dead from the winter months giving you that glimmer
of hope that warm days are just ahead?
Just the other day I was out enjoying the sunshine and
trimming trees and shrubs that had become a bit overgrown from our short
winters we have here in California. I got out the pruners, the air blower, and the electric
hedge trimmer and started the work that needed to be done.
First project…a tree that has some amazing
red flowers on it that bloom for about six to eight weeks each spring. I love the look of the tree and am still
learning plants native to the region of the Bay Area, but this tree is really a
huge MESS! For six to eight weeks each
spring, this tree continuously drops HUGE RED FLOWERS. I can clean up all the flowers the day before
and then in the morning, I will go back outside to leave for work and it will
appear as though I have done absolutely nothing. The worst part of these flowers on the ground
though is if you accidentally step on them or run over them on your way to
work, the red that makes the flower’s pedals so RED and VIBRANT becomes a gooey
dye that also stains your pavement for weeks afterwards. I would say "YEARS" afterwards but I have not been in this home long enough yet. It really is something to behold.
After finishing up with the tree, I then moved onto another
area in my yard that has some other trees and several small bushes. As I began to trim one of these bushes, I was
overwhelmed with a fragrance I have known before. I had to think for a minute but it finally
came to me… this fragrance is none other than one of the most common spices…Rosemary.
I then thought how “awesome” it would be to have my own
fresh spice instead of paying close to $10 for a small bottle of Rosemary. I
started to do some research on how to dry the plant and was amazed to find out
much more about the many uses and the history of this particular spice.
“Rosemary
is an herb that is native to the Mediterranean. The Romans called it ‘sea dew’
after the habit of growing it by the seashore, but it was later changed to the
Rose of Mary, in honor of the Virgin Mary…. In Spanish lore, Rosemary blossoms
were white in the beginning, but turned a beautiful blue color after the Virgin
Mary spread her cloak over a Rosemary shrub to hide from the Romans who were
searching for the Holy Family as they fled Egypt…Rosemary was also carried by
mourners during funerals and tossed into the graves of the deceased as a sign
of remembrance. During weddings Rosemary was worn by bridal couples as a sign
of fidelity and couples dipped branches of rosemary tied with ribbon into gold
and gave the sprigs as wedding gifts to the guests as a sign of love and
faithfulness. Rosemary oil is a primary ingredient in Hungary Water, which has
been attributed of restoring Queen Elizabeth of Hungary's paralyzed legs. Anne
of Cleves is said to have worn a wreath of Rosemary when she married King Henry
VIII. During the Plague in the 15th century, hospitals and commoners burned
Rosemary and wore little pouches of the herb around their necks as they
traveled to breathe through to help protect them from the spread of the
disease. In France, hospitals burned both rosemary and juniper to help keep the
spread of infection in check.”
In
addition to what was mentioned above the medicinal evidence is endless…
-Did you
know that Rosemary oils have antibacterial and antifungal properties? During
World War II, European countries dressed wounds with the oils of Rosemary,
which did control bacterial infections --including foot rot --which was common
for troops in the trenches.
-Rosemary
has long been prized as an herb that increases memory. Greek students wore
wreaths of Rosemary to help them during exams to keep their heads clear and
their memory sharp. Some current research is also confirming this fact.
-Studies
also have shown that Rosemary oil increases circulation to reduce headaches and
pains.
-If the
oil is mixed in a tea, it can help with sore throats and gingivitis.
-In one
study, it even showed that Rosemary caused inhibition to the progression and development of
cancer cells at an efficacy of 87%.
-Also
adding a few drops of this oil into a steamer have been known to clear up sinus
problems and have eased cold symptoms.
-Lastly researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have discovered that
even a .02% solution is a more effective food preservative than BHA and BHT with
NO chemical side effects? …I would definitely say its ability to preserve is
true. Did you know that Rosemary has also
been identified as some of the artifacts found in the ancient Egyptian tombs?
So the next
time you see a simple plant in your garden, think twice about what it may or
may not do for you. I guess I need to do
some more research on my tree that drops those “DARN” red flowers that
continually plague me in the spring as they fall to the ground. Who knows…maybe, just maybe, the dyes in
these flowers that stain my pavement could be the next best “thing” to hit the
market as an all-natural anti-wrinkle cream, an antibiotic to accelerate
healing, an agent to cure leg paralysis or could even become an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph and be preserved in the
tombs with Rosemary? ...or on my DRIVEWAY!
… JUST SOME “FOOD" FOR THOUGHT!
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