Honeysuckle, isn’t it beautiful. All mad hats and frivolity. Pretty as a picture and as fragrant as fairyland.
Bet you thought it was just a pretty garden plant, there to look good and smell divine. Aha, wrong, wrong, wrong – it has been used for centuries for fragrance in pot pourris, but most importantly as a healing herb.
It has been widely used for treating coughs and mild asthma. So simple to use, just make an infusion of the flowers and steep for ten minutes before drinking.
Dry the flowers for later use during the winter months. I dry mine in these hanging wire baskets. Just make sure that plenty of air can circulate around them, toss them around regularly as they dry.
Once dried thoroughly store like any other herb in a glass container with tight fitting lid and store in cool dark place.
Not just a pretty face, honeysuckle is delightful and useful and as sweet as its honey style name.
Honeysuckle Tea For Caughs;
Use 1 teaspoon of dried honeysuckle per cup of boiling water. Leave to infuse for 8 minutes. Sweeten with honey (or coures!) if you wish.
Karon x
Jane says
July 26, 2011 at 4:25 pmI love the smell of honeysuckle, also known as woodbine. My grandaddy used to smoke woodbines…..no, they certainly didn’t smell the same!!!!!
Jane x