The Aromatherapy Garden: Growing Fragrant Plants for Happiness and Well-Being

by Kathi Keville

Overview

“Kathi guides you to all the joys of an aromatic garden with wonderful tips, fascinating facts, and sumptuous photos.” —Mandy Aftel, author of Essence and Alchemy and Fragrant

Fragrant plants can be as therapeutic as they are intoxicating, and it is easy to add them to gardens large and small. The Aromatherapy Garden reveals the scents, secrets, and science behind fragrant plants, and shows you how to successfully create your own plant-filled sanctuary of health and happiness. Detailed plant profiles provide guidance on the full benefits of a range of plants and include comprehensive details on how to grow and care for them in a home garden. Also included are recipes for restorative aromas, oils, sachets, teas, and more.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604695496
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/27/2016
Pages:	276
Sales rank:	1,114,678
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kathi Keville is an internationally known aromatherapist and herbalist. As an author and speaker, she conducts seminars in North America and Europe, and operates Green Medicine Herb School in Nevada City, California, where she grows nearly 500 species of medicinal herbs and fragrant plants. Keville is the director of the American Herb Association. She received honors from the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy, is a founding member of the American Herbalist Guild, and a member of United Plant Savers. 

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
Aromas fill my garden and my house. This is nothing new. I have always loved fragrance. Since I was child, I have looked forward to the first aromatic spring flowers. There were also the outrageously fragrant roses in my grandmother Irene’s porcelain potpourri jar. Her clothes were scented by the sweet lavender sachets she kept in her drawers. Grandmother Janna had a ceramic jar of freshly baked cookies. I could guess which treat was in store when she opened the lid and scents of cinnamon, almonds, or lemon floated out.

I was blessed with a good nose, but also a green thumb. I certainly developed a passion for garden plants and design at a young age. My favorite haunts were the Los Angeles Arboretum and the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden, where aromatic plants bloomed year-round. I became fascinated with how intriguing plants from around the world were used by different cultures. This early exploration of ethnobotany evolved into university studies in art, psychology, anthropology, and history. What really paved the way for my life’s work were my first botanical books—all from the 1930s. They were Louise Beebe Wilder’s The Fragrant Garden, Helen Fox’s Gardening with Herbs for Flavor and Fragrance, and A Modern Herbal, by Maude Grieve. These are books written for a different era, but they inspired my next forty-five years of plant work as an organic gardener, herbalist, aromatherapist, and researcher.

All of this inspiration and years of gardening experience pour into my writing. In these pages I will cover some of the fascinating science and history of our olfactory sense, and the ways—subtle and not-so-subtle—that it influences virtually all aspects of our human experience. From there, we’ll touch on design and cultivation ideas that will help you make the most of fragrant flora. One of the most endearing aspects of many aromatic plants is their ability to carry and impart scent and flavor long after harvest, and I will suggest ways to put those long-lasting benefits to use. Finally, I’ll share some of my favorite scented plants for gardens large and small.

It is a pleasure to share my experiences with fragrance, and the stories and uses of aromatic plants with you. May it encourage you to bring more fragrance into your garden and your life.

 

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2016
Keville (Herbs for Health and Healing) reveals the “scents, secrets, and science” behind plant aromatherapy, persuading readers to grow flowers and shrubs for the stress-reducing smell as much as for sight and touch. She first describes the tradition of aromatherapy and then covers designing, cultivating, and harvesting plants for their scents. The last third of the book profiles fragrant plants, from angelica to yarrow. Keville weaves references to studies about healing and invigorating smells into short cultural histories of each plant, and includes a hodgepodge of facts and stats (nine pounds of tuberose buds equal one ounce of essential oil; moths smell honeysuckle a half-mile away). Most admirably, Keville rises to the challenge of describing each scent (“Basil’s spicy clove scent, with its hint of mint and pepper, makes it delightfully sweet, hot, and sharp all at the same time”). With such rich descriptions, readers will long for the actual aroma. Color photos. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Another intelligent and stunningly beautiful book to delight and tickle our senses. . . . Anyone interested in gardening, medicinal herbs, aromatherapy, or who just loves beautiful books will treasure this truly original book by one of the great herbalists of our times.” —Rosemary Gladstar

“Kathi Keville’s beautifully illustrated aromatic garden and infectious love of plants and distillation are redolent in these pages, while her enviable depth of knowledge about all things, such as how plants communicate, makes her book an intellectual delight to savor. Every page is a journey into the nature of nature.” —Robert Tisserand, author and essential oil researcher

“Beautifully done and immensely helpful.” —Jeanne Rose, author and executive director of the Aromatic Plant Project
 
“Whether you are a beginner to gardening and/or aromatherapy, or a more seasoned expert, Kathi’s newest book is sure to delight all of your senses!” —National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy

“A breath of fresh aromatic air, artfully and tastily presented.” —Jim Duke, author of The Green Pharmacy

“Keville weaves references to studies about healing and invigorating smells into short cultural histories of facts and stats. . . . Most admirably, Keville rises to the challenge of describing each scent (“Basil’s spicy clove scent, with its hint of mind and pepper, makes it delightfully sweet, hot, and sharp all at the same time”). With such rich descriptions, readers will long for the actual aroma.” —Publishers Weekly

“Kathi Keville fills the reader’s medicine chest with information on how to grow your well-being with plants.” —Garden Design Online

“The book’s 200 stunning color photos show off featured plants accompanied by poetic descriptions of their signature scents, histories and gardening tips.” —The Union

“If you are a gardener who enjoys fragrant plants, then Kathi Keville's new book The Aromatherapy Garden: Growing Fragrant Plants for Happiness and Well-Being, should be on your reading list. . . . this book is full of lovely, colorful photographs and great information on aromatic plants and creating you own fragrant garden.” —Vegetable Gardener 

From the Publisher