The International Herb Association selects the Herb of the Year.  This professional trade association provides educational, service and development opportunities for those involved in herbal endeavors.  www.iherb.org 
PENNSYLVANIA HERB & GARDEN FESTIVAL


Herb of the Year 2024 – Yarrow (Achillea)

Featured Speaker Linda Shanahan, MSN, RN 



One of the first herbs that many people studying plants learns about, Yarrow is exactly the kind of energy that we need more of in our lives: Wild and Weedy.  A plant that has managed to find a home in fields around the globe throughout the Northern Hemisphere.  Yarrow establishes easily in even some of the most inhospitable places, reaching out with her aromatic leaves and stretching up with her beautiful while flowers.  Easily recognized as a common summer roadside plant, humans and insect species alike utilize this plant as an amazing ally.  Butterflies, moths and beetles find the flowers irresistible for her nectar and humans have a long history of using this plant for support of wounded and bruised skin, inflamed mucus membranes, and for gently bitter and astringent digestive support.  The aromatic leaves and flowers are distilled to create a beautiful blue essential oil, highly valued for use in skincare applications. Linda will talk about this and more.  She will cover the joys and ease of growing and harvesting this plant, as well as how she uses it in her daily life.

Submitted by Linda Shanahan, MSN, RN