Flowering osha (Ligusticum porterei). Courtesy photo

SGC News:

At the Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, Summit Garden Club meeting, Jessie Emerson, RN and certified herbalist, will speak on herbal medicine, with emphasis on plants used by the Native Americans and Hispanics for centuries. The meeting will be held upstairs at Mesa Public Library. There will be refreshments at 1 p.m., and the meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m., with our speaker first on the agenda.

This talk will be for people interested in local herbal lore, history and remedy knowledge. One of the plants we will discuss will be osha, Ligusticum porterei. Native people used the plant and shared its medicine with the Spanish settlers. Osha is used today in Northern New Mexico. Participants will see the root and taste its tea.

Mullein will also be on the visual menu. While osha has been in the mountains worldwide, since the last glaciers receded, mullein, Verbascum thapsus, is a relative newcomer to our country. We will feel its soft leaves, drink tea and explore how it can be used as medicine. There will be tips on how to integrate native plants into our gardens.

Jessie Emerson worked as a practicing RN for 57 years and has been a certified clinical herbalist since She was awarded certification in the principles and applications of botanical medicine from Michael Moore’s Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. In addition, she has studied with various native American herbalists and healers.

The public is welcome. We hope to see you there.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Courtesy photo