We’ve had an epic amount of rain here recently. It’s rained off and on every day for several weeks, leaving the gardens as green as Ireland, the Roses glorious and the slugs very happy.

Somedays it’s been a bit too much rain. Case in point was a storm last week that dropped five inches of rain on us in an afternoon, flooding nearby rivers and streams. Despite this rain constantly clearing our air, we continue to deal with serious smoke from the fires in Canada. Sometimes it’s a little unclear what is haze and what is smoke. Sometimes it is beyond obvious as the light is so peculiar and the air smells like smoke. Regardless of our discernment skills, mobile phones tell us constantly how bad the air quality is. Family members in nearby Montreal last weekend learned that the city was considered to have the worst air quality on earth because of the fires.

All this means I keep a spritz bottle of Breathe at the ready for the people, dogs and cats in my life. Healthy Coat too is great for irritated tissues like the eyes which really taking a beating from this smoke.

I mentioned in an earlier blog how helpful the Flower Essence combination remedy Breathe is for breathing concerns related to this smoke. This week the Angels had me upgrade this mix with a new Flower Essence.

Horehound.

I have always felt a deep affection for Horehound. As a small girl, I liked that this herb joined with sugar could become brown and dusty cough drops, always a comfort when I had a sore throat. I recall meeting Horehound plant in an herb garden at the living history museum of Sturbridge Village. Herbs have always been my friends, and even as a small girl, I felt a great loyalty to them and a great delight when meeting them in person. This loyalty showed not bounds. After our day in the village, when we were in Ye Olde Sturbridge Gift Shoppe, I would resist the temptations of striped penny candy sticks in every flavor to chose the Horehound sticks. On the drive home my siblings would enjoy more modern flavors like Watermelon, Cinnamon, Sour Apple and Lemon Lime but I stuck to my Horehound guns.

A few years ago, I grew Horehound for the first time. It was long overdue. Horehound sputtered along for a few years in a garden spot it really didn’t like then gave up the ghost one tough winter. I didn’t make in into a Flower Essence as I don’t think it bloomed.

Last summer I was guided to start Horehound from seed again and plant it in a different place. This time it grew robustly and overwintered just fine. All spring as I trotted around the garden with wheelbarrows of mulch, I frequently passed this beautiful family of Horehound plants. Come June, they blossomed abundantly. I admired its Flowers rising up the stalk in spheres of white blossoms and its wonderfully textured leaves….. but the penny did not drop.

Then one day it did. I recalled that Horehound was for throat issues and bronchial problems. There was a reason it was made into odd brown and dusty cough drops. So yesterday I made Horehound Flower Essence. Hopefully by fall I will have learned a lot more about Horehound as a Flower Essence and can share all I learned here on the website. But I know one thing for sure, its going into our Breathe mix right now.