Echinacea

It’s hard to believe that in one and a half years of sending out this newsletter I have not yet included one of my favorite, the most beautiful and useful, Echinacea purpurea, Purple Coneflower.  The world’s most popular herbal remedy, Echinacea is one of our very own native Texas wildflowers.  It is now time to scatter the seeds, along with other wildflowers, just by tapping them into the ground and wait for the fall rains to help them germinate.  If you miss this fall planting, not to worry, you can still scatter the seeds in very early spring.

 Echinacea is a tall, stately and valuable plant to include in your medicinal herb garden.  The dark pink blossoms will bloom in summer (some of mine are blooming again this fall) and at this time of the season the energy of the plants travel down in to the roots. That is why fall is the ideal time to dig up your Echinacea roots and make tincture for you and your family to have available all winter long. I make an Extra Echinacea tincture made from flowers, leaves and seeds harvested and tinctured in the summer, and then I add the roots in the fall to make a powerful medicine.

 Echinacea is an immune system booster.  The herb should be taken at the onset on any cold or flu symptom.  It will assist your own immune system and increase bodily resistance to infection.  It also acts as an Alterative (blood purifier), an astringent and is useful for many inflammatory conditions.  I like to take Echinacea tincture as a preventive when I am flying on an airplane, going on vacation or if I am going to be around people who are sick.  I take it for about 5 days before I leave for a trip and for the entire time I’m away.  I find that the herb works exceptionally well when used preventatively.

 Echinacea purpurea is listed as an “At-Risk” plant by the United Plant Savers organization.  This valuable plant has been over-harvested from the wild and it is not as readily available and plentiful as it once was.  This alone is a good reason to get viable seeds from a friend who has grown the plant, and cultivate it yourself.  It is important to put these “At-Risk” plants into our gardens for our own harvest, or to buy only organically cultivated herbs when purchasing Echinacea as a tincture or tea.

 When thinking about what to plant in your garden this fall, why not choose Echinacea, as it is beautiful, easy to grow, medicinally beneficial and a native to our state.  Echinacea grows easily in most parts of this country as well.  So when you think of EZ Herbs, think of easy Echinacea.