My son, Dave Martin, is a Chinese medicine practitioner in Hood River, Oregon. He recently moved his clinic (Trinity Natural Medicine) to a better location in the small town and I decided that the new place might need a motherly touch so I spent the last 4 days there. My “motherly touch” turned out to be a super fun and exciting wall mural of Chinese herbs that I painted with his business partner, Stephenie.
She had already painted the wall a dark grey/ blue color and it was her idea to do stark white lines instead of trying to do it all in color. The results were dramatic – and I think – really pleasing.
Passion flower is not only part of the Chinese pharmacopeia but was also, closer to home, used by the Cherokee Indians to treat skin infections and to help calm and soothe nerves. American ginseng, has been used for centuries to help cure a variety of ailments including headaches, fevers, colic and rheumatism. Its Asian cousin is one of the most important herbs in Chinese medicine and has been revered for thousands of years as a general tonic. Gardenia, Japanese magnolia, cinnamon tree, lotus, hawthorn, ginger and even kudzu are herbs with medicinal properties.
It was fun for me to discover how many of our own familiar trees and plants are used in Chinese medicine and how many have been used medicinally in different cultures throughout the world. For example, fennel, which we primarily use as a culinary herb, was cultivated by the ancient Greets and Romans. They believed that eating the young shoots and the seeds gave one strength, courage and longevity. (Guess what I’m planting in my herb garden this summer!)
It takes years of study to understand the different herbs and how they need to be combined in formulas to be used most effectively. Fortunately for me, understanding the aesthetic beauty of each of these herbs was instant!
So, next time you’re in Hood River, stop by and see our wall of Chinese herbs – and talk with Dave about the power and effectiveness of these beautiful plants.