Why You’ve Got to Learn the Latin Names

Why You’ve Got to Learn the Latin Names

by | Jan 14, 2019 | Yarden Notes

Ever since my parents started dating, they’ve called each other, “Buddy.” Whenever my dad was in his home office and my mom needed his attention, she’d yell up the stairs, “Hey, Buddy.” One day, when I called home to talk to Mom, Dad went to find her in the backyard garden and yelled from the porch, “Hey, Buddy.” I know this because I could hear it through the receiver.

Cards will be addressed to “Buddy,” and the two of them will even say, “I love you, Buddy,” before leaning in for a kiss.

The thing is, no one else calls either one of them Buddy. Since I’m an only child, I call them plain ol’ Mom and Dad, and no one else does that either (except for Mom’s adopted aroma-kids!).

I share this odd and personal tidbit to emphasize that we do the same thing with plants—give them names that we know them by—even when they have proper names.

What’s important to understand here is that every essential oil you work with comes from a plant that has an official Latin binomial. Also known as a botanical name, these identifications help us know exactly what plant we’re dealing with.

It’s like the difference between asking to talk to “Buddy,” which could refer to either one of my parents (or the millions of other people out there known as “Buddy”) and asking for Sylla Sheppard-Hanger (Latin for amazing aromatherapist and Mom to Nyssa).

Now, you might think each plant has a Latin name, like our first and last names, and possibly one or more common names, right?

Well, not exactly. Sometimes plants have more than one Latin name.

Before you think plants are just trying to keep us on our toes, keep this in mind: we’ve only been officially classifying plants since about the 1700’s. And since Carl Linnaeus laid the foundations of binomial nomenclature, we’ve learned a lot more about how to study plants and better classify them. So plant names may change species, genus, or much less often, family, and it takes time for everyone to catch on. That’s why many resources (like your books) will list several names if present.

Watch Sylla and Nyssa explain why they love Latin names in the video below.

Now we want to know, what’s your favorite botanical name?

Which one do you just love to say?

Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Using Herbs from the Garden

Using Herbs from the Garden

by | Sep 29, 2018 | Yarden Walks - Public

 

One of the things I remember most about growing up with my mom is her herb garden.

 

Our friend Billy came and installed a raised bed with cinderblocks and bricks when I was four years old. It wasn’t long before I was pinching the Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, and Sage to smell their unique aromas.

 

It’s so amazing when I think about it—how we’ve figured out that we can distill these plants and collect concentrated essences of what we smell. I’ve worked with oils in bottles for a long time. I’m familiar with how to dilute them and use them in blends, but I’m just now starting to get to know the herbs themselves.

 

It feels like coming home.

 

In the Atlantic Aromatic Library, we regularly walk with Sylla through her garden (or as she calls it, her “yarden”) to see what’s going on. I love how the garden contains so many life lessons.

This time around, Sylla explains that you’ve got to cut back the abundance of growth from the summer. That way, you can get rid of what’s run its course or isn’t growing, to make room for what’s yet to come.

 

Here’s the great part about cutting back: you get to enjoy what you reap! For Sylla, this means collecting and drying all the herbs that she’s been growing.

Herbs de Sylla’s Yarden

Ever since her trip to France in the 90’s (and presumably after she ran out of the herbs that she got there), she’s collected and dried her yarden herbs, calling them “Herbs de Sylla’s Yarden.”

This time around, she’s got:
  • Oregano
  • Marjoram
  • Basil
  • Fennel
  • Peppermint
  • Spearmint

 

Some, like the mints, she’ll use in tea. Others, like the Oregano and Marjoram, she’ll dry and sprinkle on meals. The rest she will save and give as gifts to her friends.

 

 

What a simple and fun way to use what you’ve got! What herbs will you cut back and use in your kitchen? Leave us a comment below!
How to Grow and Harvest Vetiver

How to Grow and Harvest Vetiver

by | Jul 27, 2018 | Yarden Walks - Public

Vetiver is one of our favorite essential oils. (We’ve used it in a number of our Recipes and Blending Guides in the Atlantic Aromatic Library.) In a blend, it offers a deep, rich, earthy tone. Therapeutically, it also has great anti-inflammatory and grounding properties.  

It’s always an incredible experience to get to know the plants of the oils we love so dear. Being a member of the Grass Family, Vetiver is pretty easy to grow here in Florida, so I have enjoyed growing it, harvesting it, and sharing it with friends!

My first harvest was a couple of years ago, yielding one little ball, which we gave to Timothy Miller when we met him for lunch in January of 2017. We told him it was to help bring him back to Florida soon, and it worked! He ended up teaching a class here that October.

I replanted the stalks from that harvest, and they produced three giant plants, so I began digging up around them. I’ve seen videos of a much larger Vetiver production, where they used a tractor to chain off a 10-foot wide plant and lift it after a six-foot hole had been dug around the roots. My smaller, three-foot plants were difficult enough. Next time, I’m putting the roots in a pipe, so that I can retrieve the roots more easily.

My friend Rehne in LA got me started on growing Vetiver by sending me some of my first stalks. Rehne plants her Vetiver in a 12-inch galvanized pipe that’s been cut and put back together—placing it partially in the ground. With this method, harvest is easy. Pull out the pipe, open it, and voila!

Where are those pipes when I need them? At least I know now and will try that this year.

Now, harvesting is quite the experience. The smell of the Vetiver is instant—as soon as the shovel hits the soil. The sound of breaking roots was inevitable, and as I dug deeper, the roots revealed themselves.

Once the roots are washed, they are white and plump, and they smell of earth. This smell permeated my porch for the next week.

Once trimmed of their leaves, I cut the roots off. Then I began to separate them into stems with a bit of root for replanting. Once the roots were free, they got several soakings, power squirts, and more soaking to clean them of dirt. Drying overnight, they easily dropped the dry sand the more I cleaned the stalks. I separated the rootless and now they’re ready to replant—this time in pipes. It was a messy job separating the stalks; once done, I gave the roots a final trim and collected a few small pieces that I can use for incense!

I made one ball for a friend, a tradition we started with the first harvest last year. Tried to do another, but I may end up weaving these fibers to make a fragrant basket! Perhaps with a bit of Lavender?

 

Have you ever grown Vetiver? If so, what did you do with it? Leave us a comment below!

If you’d like to grow your own, I have plenty to share! Contact me and I’ll send you one while they last.

Memorial Yarden Walk for Summer Solstice

Memorial Yarden Walk for Summer Solstice

by | Jun 21, 2018 | Yarden Walks - Public

Right after we filmed our Summer Yarden Walk for the Atlantic Aromatic Library, we found out about the passing of our good friend and plant-brother, Billy Daniel. We decided to share this Yarden Walk with everyone in memory of his passing.

In Sylla’s Words:

My entire yarden began with a single 20×3-foot bed, put in by my friend Billy, an herb-grower, about 30 years ago. Sweet William Herbs was what he called his business, as he grew and sold plants. Over the years, my garden grew, expanded to raised beds, and eventually became what it is today: fruit trees, herbs, and aromatic and butterfly plants. It even expanded to the Upward Spiral Center. Billy brought us dirt, compost, mulch, and so much joy. He returned yearly to take cuttings from my rosemary and collect lemongrass seed to replant in his greenhouses.

We will dearly miss this funny musician plant-grower. We dedicate this Summer Solstice Yarden Walk to him, my friend Billy.

In celebration of the Summer Solstice, Sylla filmed her own Yarden Walk. And guess what …

It’s Lavender harvest time! At the height of summer, Sylla decided that it was time to harvest her Lavender. In this special video, she also reminisces to about 20 years ago, when she visited France and experienced a Jasmine Harvest.

In this video, you’ll see:

  • Sylla gathering Lavender with her scythe.
  • Rare aromatic footage from 1997.
  • Echinacea going to seed.
  • A plump avocado.
  • What the squirrels are up to.

“Yesterday” …

Sylla is reminded of her trip with Michael Scholes to France in 1997. You can hear his voice in a funny moment with the Italian migrant pickers in Grasse in the Provence Region. Michael hosted this tour of the Perfume district, which he called, The Espirit de France. Read Sylla’s review of this tour here. 

Our group of students got to help harvest and witness a moment of unity with the singalong of a cherished Beatles tune.

We had already filmed this Yarden Walk before we heard about Billy’s passing. It makes the singing so much more sweet. Not just the words of the song but how it so aptly represents Billy’s nature; he was one that was always known to break into song.

Sylla was planning to visit Billy the next week to film his greenhouse and plants. The last time she saw him, he gave her 18 new Rosemary plants and said “I’m getting it cleaned and ready for you.”  Though we won’t get to share Billy’s humor and wisdom in the way we planned, we hope his spirit shines through in all we do.