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Flowers are the most beautiful aspects of plants, long appreciated for their shapes, colors, and fragrances. An often-overlooked aspect of flowers is their traditional medicinal uses, many of which are being confirmed by modern scientific research. From the lowly chamomile to treat Peter Rabbit’s upset stomach to more sophisticated medicinal applications, flowers can be good medicine. This presentation reviews medicinal flowers, some of which have graced the covers of the American Botanical Council’s journal HerbalGram and discusses the history of this publication as it describes the growth of the modern herbal medicine movement. We’ll kick the evening off with a celebration of the anniversaries of the American Botanical Council and HerbalGram.

Registration Required. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Refreshments.

Mark Blumenthal is the founder and Executive Director of the American Botanical Council (ABC). He is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of HerbalGram, an award winning international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal. Blumenthal has appeared on over 600 radio and television shows and has written over 700 articles, reviews and book chapters for many major publications. He has been a leader in the concern for more rational regulations of herbal and natural product manufacturing, and education on plant-based medicines for over 40 years.

Build your own bouquet in this colorful workshop! Nola Lee, owner of Petri’s Floral in Bellevue, leads us through the art of bouquet building and flower arranging. The floral offerings have been directly inspired by botanical illustrations in the Lloyd’s collection! All workshop attendees will take home their creations in a green ceramic vase. Space is limited, so book your spot now!

 

Running along Hamilton Avenue in Cincinnati’s Northside neighborhood lies a forest that has been left undeveloped since pioneer days. This 25-acre forest, known as Buttercup Valley Nature Preserve, is home to numerous 100’ tall trees that are nearly 200 years old. Beneath these great beings lives an exquisite plant community of wildflowers. These flowers, collectively known as “Spring Ephemerals”, bloom briefly in the spring before going dormant again as they become shaded out in the summer and they require mature, undisturbed forests like Buttercup Valley to exist. Join Naturalist, Horticulturist, and former President of Northside Greenspace Inc., Greg Torres for a guided hike through this woods to learn more about this these unique flowers living in a very special forest.

The earliest illustrated Caribbean botanicals remain among the most remarkable artworks from the 17th and 18th centuries and retain historical value for their identification of indigenous plant and insect species. In conducting this work, European botanists depended on enslaved people to carry equipment, clear forest paths, gather specimens, and identify plant uses.  Although the accompanying narratives sometimes acknowledge the involvement of unnamed workers and the medicinal use of plants by local people, those contributions are masked by the splendor and scientific objectivity of the illustrations.

Illustrated botanical works with  information on rare exotic specimens helped legitimize the colonial regimes in financing their printing. As the illustrations excelled in botanical exactitude, they obscured the skills of African herbalists on whose unseen labor these landmark books depended. This is the botanical color line, where these books’ qualities concealed the conditions of their production and secured the publications’ status as the epitome of the benefits derived from colonial rule. Join 2023 Lloyd Library Artist-in-Residence Mark Harris, as he addresses how the structure of Caribbean economies ensured this duality and how we should look at these illustrations today. 

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Mark Harris is a Professor of Art at the University of Cincinnati. He has an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Goldsmiths College, London. His artwork and writing concern the visual culture and literature of intentional communities and avant-garde groups. 

Join local herbalist Meghan Henshaw at the Lloyd Library to learn more about notable plant books that will enrich your knowledge of herbal medicine. She’ll be discussing books about a wide variety of topics such as herbal medicine making, plant identification, historically significant, pregnancy and children, medicinal plant cultivation, Indigenous authors, African-American herbalism, and more. Attendees will have an opportunity to look at many of the books in person and admire the beauty and usefulness of recently published gems.  

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Meghan Henshaw has spent many years studying the plethora of ways in which medicinal plants are woven into the fabric of everyday life. This has led her all over the United States and abroad to Morocco, England, Mexico, and Italy where she has worn many hats as a field researcher, wildcrafter, herbalist, and educator. She is passionate about herbalism being accessible to all and is inspired by the plethora of radical projects and people actively working to decolonize herbalism (and the world) in boldly creative and joyful ways. She is especially interested in social equity and sustainability in the herbal supply chain and endangered medicinal plants found in the Midwest region. Visit ocotilloherbals.com to learn more.