When I first started studying herbs over two decades ago, I learned herbs (like many people do) by memorizing herbal actions, memorizing lists, and then throwing it all together. But I found that choosing herbs for people using these memorized lists didn’t always work, which was incredibly discouraging!

Luckily, I found out about herbal energetics, and that’s what I’ve based my herbal practices on ever since.

Instead of a usual podcast this week, I’m inviting you to join my free mini Herbal Energetics Course so that you, too, can begin to experience the world of herbs in a whole new way.

You can join the mini Herbal Energetics Course here.

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Get more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

What happens when a playful kid turns dandelion fluff into mischief?

Spoiler alert—those days of early herbal mischief may just turn into a lifelong passion for the plant world, as it did for my good friend Mason Hutchison.

In this episode, Mason discusses the many virtues of the much-maligned (though not in the herbal world!) dandelion, Taraxacum officinale. From stories of childhood antics to his first taste of this “gateway herb,” Mason shares how dandelion has shaped his path as an herbalist and community builder. Along the way, we taste-test dandelion creations (all delicious, though some are decidedly bitter!), dive into its surprising nutritional and medicinal powers, and celebrate the joy this sunny little plant brings. You’ll never look at a patch of dandelions the same way again!

Along with several other tasty dandelion beverages, Mason and I said cheers over a warm cup of my Spiced Dandelion-Chicory Herbal Brew. This is a new recipe that I’ve never shared before—and a personal favorite of mine!

Check out the beautifully illustrated recipe card here, and enjoy this crowd-pleasing dandelion drink with your own friends!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How to tell dandelion apart from its many look-alike cousins

► The many nutritional and medicinal benefits of dandelion roots, leaves, stems, and flowers

► One fun way to work with dandelion seeds (aside from the inevitable wish-making, of course!)

► The surprising reason behind dandelion’s French nickname, “pissenlit”

► and so many other reasons to love this humble weed!

For those of you who don’t know him, Mason Hutchison is the founder of HerbRally, an herbal community hub that promotes herbalism education and events. He is also the host of The Herbalist Hour, a podcast and YouTube series where he interviews a diverse array of plant people. Mason is a proud father, avid chess, basketball and ping pong player, spring water gatherer, and an enthusiast in the art of frugal nutrition.

I’m so excited to share our conversation—and plenty of dandelion love—with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and...

What hidden stories of women are tucked inside this humble herb—linking old folklore, a touch of alchemy, and even today’s healing practices?

My guest today, Alyssa Dennis, invites us into the world of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla spp.), a plant whose cloak-shaped leaves hold both practical healing gifts and threads of ancient story. From her experiences in urban herbal sanctuaries to a life-changing encounter on the sacred isle of Iona, Alyssa shares how this humble herb invites us to see plants not just as remedies, but as storytellers and companions on the path of reconnection.

Alyssa’s favorite way to work with lady’s mantle is as a tincture, using just the right amount of glycerin to sweeten it up and draw out the toning, astringent nature of the plant. You’ll find a beautifully-illustrated recipe card for Alyssa’s Lady’s Mantle Tincture here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why lady’s mantle is such a trusted ally for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum healing

► How the downy leaves of lady's mantle collect dew—and why alchemists once revered this process

► What makes lady’s mantle both an ancient wound healer and a modern digestive ally

► How myth, folklore, and modern ecology can come together to shape our understanding of plants

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Alyssa Dennis is a dedicated earth activist, educator, interdisciplinary artist, and clinical herbalist devoted to the movements of peace, justice, and ecological kinship. Her work has been to reawaken to her ancestral traditions of plant medicine in order to guide her community back into relationship with the living world.

Alyssa has two fine art degrees, advanced training in clinical herbalism, and spent years within the natural building profession. She is the founder of Eclipta Herbal and steward of a vibrant herbal sanctuary in Baltimore City—a living classroom home to over 100 species of medicinal plants (and counting). This space is a heart-centered venture of ecological conservation—of both the human body and the land body—which serves as gathering ground for plant medicine education, community building, earth skills workshops, and collaboration.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book