Valerian

Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Hippocrates described its properties, and Galen later prescribed it as a remedy for insomnia. In medieval Sweden, it was sometimes placed in the wedding clothes of the groom to ward off the “envy” of the elves. Today it is primarily used as an herbal sedative. With its lovely dissected pinnate leaves and its tall stems of musky sweet-scented tiny pinky-white flowers, valerian is a great addition to any herb garden or perennial border.