Rosemary Gladstar is one of the most influential voices in modern herbalism, having educated generations of herbal enthusiasts through her teaching, books and lectures around the world. This week, she joins me to explore the rich history and benefits of herbalism.
Rosemary is a community herbalist, wild plant enthusiast and director of The Science and Art of Herbalism, a home-study course that has attracted thousands of students worldwide. She founded Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary in Orange, Vermont, where she lived for three decades before moving to Waitsfield. A native of the West Coast, Rosemary opened her first herb shop in Sebastopol, California, in 1972, and it remains in business today. She also founded the California School of Herbal Studies and helped launch both Traditional Medicinals Tea Co. and Mountain Rose Herbs.
Rosemary Gladstar is the director of The Science and Art of Herbalism and a renowned herbalist, author and educator.
Photo Courtesy of Rosemary Gladstar
In speaking with Rosemary, her energy, enthusiasm and vitality are immediately apparent.
As she explains, herbalism is the world’s oldest healing tradition. “It’s not the only system of healing. It doesn’t work best for everything by any means,” she says, “but it complements modern medicine.”
Rosemary learned that firsthand after a serious accident left her with compound fractures in both legs. When advised to have a metal plate implanted, she chose a different path, relying on a lengthy recovery supported by nutrient-rich herbs. Eighteen months later, her leg had healed well, and she remains pleased with the outcome.
When considering treatments, Rosemary weighs not only what is best for the body but also what is least harmful to the environment.
Her latest book, “The Generosity of Plants: Shared Wisdom from the Community of Herb Lovers,” is a collection of insights from many contributors, with Rosemary serving as the book’s “gatherer.”
My own appreciation for herbs deepened during a visit to the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, founded in 1673 as a medicinal garden. Spending hours among the plants, reading their histories and uses, gave me a new understanding of herbs as more than garden plants. It was a memorable reminder of the remarkable benefits they have provided to people for centuries.
For comprehensive show notes on my conversation with Rosemary, you can see the post from the original airing in 2025. Or read on for an abridged version that is a quicker read while retaining the key takeaways.
Get to Know Rosemary Gladstar
Rosemary grew up on a small dairy farm in Northern California in Sonoma County. She recalls she was surrounded by plants.
Her grandparents on both sides of the family lived close by, and one of her grandmothers, Mary Egitkhanoff, was very plant-wise. When Rosemary began teaching herbalism in the 1970s, her grandmother would cook up wild herb stews for the students.
“She had a very profound influence on all of the grandchildren’s lives because she was such a remarkable human being,” Rosemary says.
Mary Egitkhanoff credited plants with saving her life. She and her family came to the United States in 1924 as refugees and were very poor.
“My grandmother was a survivor of the Armenian genocide, as I mentioned in the book, and they were able to survive because my grandmother knew a lot about the wild plants,” Rosemary says. “… She knew all the plants and knew how to make medicines from them and how to eat them.”
Rosemary is the gatherer of the wisdom found in “The Generosity of Plants.”
Precautions Concerning Using Herbs
Rosemary notes that herbs can interfere with certain medications, just like how someone taking statins is supposed to refrain from drinking grapefruit juice. She always recommends consulting a doctor or a clinical herbalist.
“You want to be very mindful of whatever other medicines you’re taking, whether it’s over the counter or herbal,” she says.
There is a large group of herbs that are considered tonic herbs or food herbs that are cooked along with greens like dandelion greens, nettle, amaranth or chickweed, Rosemary says. “All these weedy plants that grow in our gardens, they’re food herbs. Those are the herbs my grandmother survived on, and our ancestors that survived on. So you don’t have to worry about those herbs.”
But those who haven’t studied herbs won’t know which plants are the strong, medicinal herbs, she adds.
What Is an Herb – and What’s Herbalism?
Webster’s dictionary defines an herb as a non-woody plant, but Rosemary takes a much broader view.
“Herbalists define all plants that are useful as herbs, and basically, I would say that’s all plants on the planet,” Rosemary says.
Even toxic plants have value in nature. “Herbalists look at plants, whether they’re culinaries or medicinals or healing the earth because they’re high in nitrogen, as being all herbs.”
Herbalism itself is broad. While many people associate herbalists with treating illness, Rosemary says, “I define herbalists as people who work with plants on any level.”
She notes that modern research has confirmed much of what herbalists have known for centuries. Yet, she says, “The other aspect of herbalism is, to me, the more fascinating part. It’s really the art, and art is not defined by rules so much.”
That art is especially important when helping people with health challenges. “Every single individual is different, and they’re going to respond to the medicines — whether it’s pharmaceuticals or herbs — in a different way,” she notes. So herbalists always say, ‘We treat individuals not disease.’”
For her, herbalism is also about connecting deeply with plants. Sacred plant communication involves “going beyond the mind of what you know, and beginning to converse actually with the plants themselves.” Gardeners experience this, too, she says, as plants communicate their needs, beauty and readiness for harvest.
Rosemary says what excites her most is simply immersing herself in the beauty of plants and getting lost in it.
Rosemary with Echinacea, an herb popular in herbal cold remedies. Photo Courtesy of Rosemary Gladstar
Herbs and Pharmaceuticals
Many modern medicines trace their origins to plants. Ephedrine was originally derived from ma huang (Ephedra), while morphine comes from poppies.
“Many of the important drugs that are used today were originally from the plants, and then now they synthesize them,” Rosemary says.
She explains that pharmaceutical companies isolate an active ingredient, while plants contain many other compounds that work alongside it. In concentrated form, that active ingredient becomes a drug.
Rosemary also notes that botanical medicine was once more widely accepted in the United States. The American Medical Association, founded in 1847, sought to eliminate medical “quackery,” and eclectic medicine — which relied heavily on plant remedies — gradually fell out of favor. The last eclectic medical school, the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, closed in 1942.
“The Lloyd Library, which is the largest collection of medical herbal textbooks and eclectic textbooks in the world, is still open in Cincinnati,” Rosemary notes. “A lot of doctors and herbalists and people who are studying medicine go there to research because the books are still available.”
Why Gardeners Should Grow Herbs
“Most herbs are fairly simple to grow,” Rosemary says. “They’re vigorous. They’re not fussy. Most of them are going to be pretty hearty.”
She points to common culinary herbs like mint, oregano, thyme and marjoram. “There’s just nothing that sparkles a meal like fresh herbs from the garden,” she says.
Some culinary herbs also have strong medicinal uses, including garlic and dill.
“Kitchens would be boring without garlic,” Rosemary says. “And yet here you have one of your most incredible immune-supporting herbs. You have an herb that’s really excellent for people who have high cholesterol, have heart problems. It’s great for warding off colds and flus. It’s an amazing immune supporter. It’s great for warding off people you don’t want to be around. Just eat a lot of fresh garlic.”
Dill seeds help ease gas and bloating, while lavender is used for relaxation and nerve relief. Its flowers can be infused in oil for baths, used as body oil, or steeped lightly in tea.
“We call lavender ‘first aid in a bottle,’” Rosemary says. Mixed with honey, its oil can also be used as a natural antiseptic for burns and insect bites.
Yarrow is often seen as a weed but is a powerful medicinal herb, especially for digestion and cramping. “It can also be applied to a wound to stop bleeding externally. Then we can also use it internally for bleeding. I’ve used this plant for serious situations and have seen it work wonders.”
Yarrow’s scientific name is Achillea millefolium. Rosemary notes its historical use by Achilles in the Battle of Troy and later in World War II for treating battlefield wounds.
Replace Sugary Drinks in Your Diet with Herbal Tea
Soda is full of sugar. Herbal teas are refreshing with no sugar needed.
“You can make your teas with all the herbs growing in your garden, and they can be delicious but they can also be so health giving,” Rosemary says.
At night, fill a wide-mouth quart jar up a quarter of the way with herbs, then add boiling water. The next morning, strain it. That leaves you with four cups of nutritious tea.
“Herbs can be incredibly nutritionally packed. In fact, almost all of the herbs are higher in vitamins and minerals than the garden vegetables,” she says.
For example, nettle is a rich source of calcium, iron and protein.
Peppermint or spearmint can be added to any tea to elevate the flavor.
Herbs do great in containers, so even those without a lot of space or a garden can grow a variety of herbs. (photo: Amy Prentice)
United Plant Savers.
Rosemary helped found the United Plant Savers, nonprofit organization based in Ohio on a botanical sanctuary.
“Of all the things I’ve done in my life, that would be the thing that I’m most pleased with,” she says.
Rosemary moved to a wilderness area in Vermont in the late 1980s — a 600-acre herbal retreat center that abutted 25,000 acres of wilderness.
“It was a big strip of wilderness, and I was really excited about seeing a lot of the herbs that were native to the Northeast that were very primary herbs in our materia medica — herbs that were very popular herbs used medicinally.”
But she found very few plants where they would be expected to grow. “It kind of alarmed me,” she says.
She started thinking about how herbalism was becoming popular, but there was no conversation about where the plants were coming from.
“So in 1994, a group of herbalists came together — there were about 13 of us — and we decided to form a nonprofit organization to address the issue of plant conservation,” she recalls.
They purchased a 370-acre ranch in southeastern Ohio. Today, it has a learning center, a library and a glass conservatory.
“It’s been a really incredible work that we’ve created that’s really, I think, a gift to American herbalism and a statement for American herbalism,” she says.
Sage is a woody-stemmed herb with culinary uses and said to improve memory and brain function, soothe sore throats and combat cavity-causing bacteria. (photo: Amy Prentice)
If you haven’t listened to my conversation with Rosemary Gladstar on practicing herbalism, you can do so now by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking the Play icon in the green bar under the page title.
How do you use the herbs in your garden? Let us know in the comments below.
Links & Resources
Episode 190: Growing Herbs: The Workhorse Plants for Every Garden, Outdoors and Indoors
Episode 423: Understanding Herbalism, with Rosemary Gladstar
joegardener Blog: How Do I Grow Herbs?
joegardener Online Gardening Academy™: Popular courses on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, diseases & weeds; seed starting and more.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Organic Vegetable Gardening: My new premium online course. The course is designed to be a comprehensive guide to starting, growing, nurturing and harvesting your favorite vegetables, no matter what you love to eat, no matter where you live, no matter your level of gardening experience.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Seed Starting: Everything you need to know to start your own plants from seed — indoors and out.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Beginning Gardener Fundamentals: Essential principles to know to create a thriving garden.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Growing Epic Tomatoes: Learn how to grow epic tomatoes with Joe Lamp’l and Craig LeHoullier.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Master Pests, Diseases & Weeds: Learn the proactive steps to take to manage pests, diseases and weeds for a more successful garden with a lot less frustration. Just $47 for lifetime access!
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Perfect Soil Recipe Master Class: Learn how to create the perfect soil environment for thriving plants.
GGW Episode 309: Wildlife Gardens
The Science & Art of Herbalism online course
“The Generosity of Plants: Shared Wisdom from the Community of Herb Lovers” gathered by Rosemary Gladstar
“Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use”
“Herbs for Common Ailments: How to Make and Use Herbal Remedies for Home Health Care” by Rosemary Gladstar
“Herbal Healing for Women” by Rosemary Gladstar
“The Nation of Plants” by Stefano Mancuso
“Lab Girl: A Memoir” by Hope Jahren
Rosemary Gladstar on Instagram | @rosemarygladstar
Rosemary Gladstar on Bluesky | @rosemarygladstar.com
Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbs & Earth Awareness on Facebook
Rosemary Gladstar’s Science & Art of Herbalism on YouTube
California School of Herbal Studies
Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary
Territorial Seed Company – Our podcast episode sponsor and Brand Partner of joegardener.com
Dramm – Our podcast episode sponsor and Brand Partner of joegardener.com
Milorganite® – Our podcast episode sponsor and Brand Partner of joegardener.com
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