YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE!

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE!


This was the sentiment expressed by feverfew in the Victorian language of flowers. But feverfew has a long history of being used as medicine more than anything. This sweet, daisy-like flower originated in the Balkans, Anatolia (Turkey), and the Caucasus, and had been valued by the Ancient Greeks as a cure for fevers and headaches. With modern interest in homeopathic medicine, feverfew is enjoying a resurgence that began in the 1970’s and has carried on up to the present day.

The name “feverfew” is taken from the Latin “febrifugia” (“driver out of fevers”), and has earned the nickname “medieval aspirin”. Boiled and ground into a tincture, feverfew has been known since ancient times as a cure-all, assisting in pain reduction for fever, headache, migraine, hangover relief, cramps, inflammation, arthritis, and pain in childbirth. It is also used as a digestive aid, appetite, and for kidney cleansing. And since it contains natural pyrethrins, it is the perfect plant for insect repellent - for centuries, people have planted feverfew in amongst their vegetable gardens.

In the medieval era, it vied with willow bark in apothecaries’ cabinets as a common headache and fever medicine, with Charlemagne recording its use as a fever herb as early as 825 AD. The reason feverfew is so effective is due to the fact that it inhibits inflammatory substances like prostaglandins, histamine, and serotonin.

Nowadays, feverfew is used as a tall, adorable garden flower that can be used as either a focal or filler flower in arrangements. It is perfect to use in wildflower style arrangements!