Old Folk Remedies; The ten native plants below are all flowering plants that are native to the United States and have a rich history as folk remedies. With natural remedies being brought to the forefront, these can be planted to make a healing remedy garden.
Southern Blue Monkshood – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Buttercup family, Aconitum uncinatum, has violet blue flowers and gets four inches tall. They love any sun choice, full sun to partial shade, and a moist soil. This flower is used to make a neuralgia and a sciatica drug.
White Baneberry – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
A member of the Buttercup family, Actaea pachypoda, it has white flowers and gets two feet in height. It is a perennial herb that likes partial shade. It has been used to make a medicine for rheumatism in aborigine locales.
White Snakeroot – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
A member of the Aster family, Ageratina altissima var. altissima, it has white flowers on dark brown stems that are up to six feet in height. It likes moist drained soil with full to partial shade. It has been used for an old folk remedy for colds, fever, and liver disease.
Black Bugbane – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Buttercup family, Cimicifuga racemosa, has white flowers and gets up to eight feet tall. It is great in deep shade and for borders. It is a popular healing remedy for menopause and as an alternative to estrogen therapy. The US Pharmacopoeia had it as a drug from 1820 to 1926.
American Umbrellaleaf – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Barberry family, Diphylleia cymosa, has white flowers and gets to three feet in height. It likes afternoon shade and has berry like fruit that are blue in color. It was used by the Native Americans as a sweat inducing root tea.
Robin’s Plantain – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Aster family, Erigeron pulchellus, has white flowers or lavender flowers that eventually fade out to white. It has two foot stems and likes well drained soil and full sun. It has been used as a folk remedy to be an astringent and a diuretic.
Virginia Strawberry – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
A member of the Rose family, Fragaria virginiana, it has white five petal flowers and gets up to one foot high. It is also a perennial. It is a natural remedy for gout (the fruit) and for an astringent (leaves).
Jewelweed – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Touch-me-not family, Impatiens capensis, has red or orange trumpet like flowers and self sows. It should be planted in full to partial shade and an acidic moist soil. You’ll also want to use the best grow room dehumidifier to create the perfect growing environment. It has been a folk remedy for razor burn, bugbites, and for poison ivy.
Lyreleaf Sage – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
This member of the Mint family, Salvia lyrata, has lavender flowers that are on a plant that reaches fifteen inches in height. It prefers full sun or partial shade. It has been a folk remedy for cancer and as a Native American healing remedy for colds and asthma.
Ohio Spiderwort – Old Folk Remedies: Native Plants- Healing Gardens
A member of the Spiderwort family, Tradescantia ohiensis, it has blue, white, or lavender flowers and gets up to three feet high. It prefers full sun or partial shade and is drought tolerant. It was a Cherokee Indian healing remedy for kidney and female problems. As a tea it can be for digestive issues, as a root poultice it is used for cancer, and as crushed leaves it is used for bug bites.
