Louisiana Healing Garden - by Corinne Martin (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this follow-up to Louisiana Herb Journal, herbalist Corinne Martin continues her exploration of Louisiana's plants and their capacity to provide healing in a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty. Louisiana Healing Garden is an herb book, a garden guide, and an introduction to the web of wild lives that make up our home state. Featuring 50 medicinal herbs, the book is an invitation to co-participate in what Catholic priest and ecologist Thomas Berry called "the Great Work" of finding ways to live that benefit both humans and the places we inhabit. As the state struggles with increasingly severe storms, land subsidence, rising waters, salt water intrusion, and the loss of iconic trees, clinical herbalist Corinne Martin suggests that the recognition and careful use of medicinal plants may help to stabilize at-risk species and areas, reduce the use of toxic applications to aggressive weeds, and support everyday health. Martin asks us to re-think the concept of a garden, and notes that it is more than something we create: it can also be something we discover. Throughout the book, personal reflections recount the author's experiences of finding the herbs, and she offers poignant commentaries on some of the gifts and challenges of living in the state of Louisiana. For each herb, plant identification features, habitat, distribution, medicinal properties, risks, and preparation methods are included. Martin also shares cultivation recommendations to aid home gardeners in considering the introduction of healing plants into their landscape plans. As the author notes, this is not just an herb book. It's an invitation into a place that is complex, wide, wet, shifting, old, and ever-new. With Louisiana Healing Garden as a guide, we can awaken to the many small gifts that surround us, shore up our health, and help to support positive changes in the places we call home"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Louisiana Healing Garden offers a guide to the medicinal properties of everyday plants such as crape myrtle, gardenia, and sweet olive, encouraging readers to learn about these plants and their uses while maintaining a healthy ecological balance in their home spaces.

In this follow-up to Louisiana Herb Journal, herbalist Corinne Martin continues her exploration of Louisiana's plants and their capacity to provide healing in a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty. Louisiana Healing Garden is an herb book, a garden guide, and an introduction to the web of wild lives that make up our home state. Featuring fifty medicinal herbs, the book invites readers to participate in what Catholic priest and ecologist Thomas Berry called "the Great Work" of finding ways to live that benefit both humans and the places we inhabit.

As the state struggles with increasingly severe storms, land subsidence, rising waters, saltwater intrusion, and the loss of iconic trees, Martin suggests that the recognition and careful use of medicinal plants may help to stabilize at-risk species and areas, reduce the use of toxic applications on aggressive weeds, and support everyday health. Throughout the book, she offers personal reflections on her experiences of finding the herbs and poignant commentaries on some of the gifts and challenges of living in Louisiana.

Each herb listing includes plant identification features, habitat, distribution, medicinal properties, risks, and preparation methods. Martin also shares cultivation tips to aid home gardeners who are introducing healing plants into their landscapes. As she notes, this is not just an herb book. It's an invitation into a place that is complex, wide, shifting, old, and ever new. With Louisiana Healing Garden as a guide, we can awaken to the many small gifts that surround us, shore up our health, and help to support positive changes in the places we call home.

Review Quotes

"In Louisiana Healing Garden, you will find both plants that feel familiar and plants that you've never encountered. With each plant story, you will deepen your understanding of the connection of nature to community and health. This book is a refuge, inviting you to discover your own healing garden where you will dig down into the earth and plant seeds."--Jennifer Blanchard, LSU instructor of horticulture

"Through personal anecdotes and vivid vignettes, Corinne Martin sweeps you along to riverbanks, bayous, woods, cow pastures, and fields of Louisiana to meet the most amazing characters--the healing plants. Louisiana Healing Garden is packed with unforgettable scenes and information. You will learn the plants of Louisiana like never before."--Tammany Baumgarten, founding president of the Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans

"What some folks call a weed, the author sees as a gift, full of purpose, history, and healing. In Louisiana Healing Garden, Corinne Martin teaches about the many benefits of the plants around us. But she doesn't just teach about the herbs; she gives them character, story, and soul. You'll never look at the green world around you in the same way."--Bayli Quick Brossette, curator of the Briarwood Nature Preserve

About the Author

Corinne Martin is a clinical herbalist and amateur naturalist who has worked with medicinal plants for more than forty years. A retired instructor of holistic and integrative health, she has a passionate love for nature and for the lush and threatened environment of her home ground of Louisiana. She is the author of Louisiana Herb Journal (LSU Press, 2022).