This garden is inspired by ethnobotanical heritage of Bosnia and Hercegovina and herbal medicine practiced by traditional women in the region.

Two days before I left for a Fulbright in Bosnia last year, I found letters my grandmother and I wrote to a woman we sponsored in a refugee camp in 1995. I was reunited with this woman twice in her repatriated village, which had been ethnically cleansed and turned into a rape camp during the war. This front image is the view of her village from her rebuilt home and garden.

This garden is dedicated to overcoming the trauma experienced by women in war.

--Melissa Potter

Yarrow (Achillea collina) ó Decoct (M) for blood purification and as roborantium for strengthening the corpus. 

Stinging nettle (Scientific name) óDecoct (SC) for anemia, blood purification and renal ailments. Decoct (M) for blood purification and asthma. Fresh pressed juice (SC) for anxiety. 

Calamint (Calamintha alpina) ó Verem was used to make tea which was drunk by people who felt sorrow or melancholy. Especially susceptible to depression in the past were women of various age to whom it was suggested to drink tea from Verem and to go to a creek or river every day and dragging a cloth across the surface of the water to utter: ìO dear water if you only knew how I feltî she would confide to the water and listen to the calming sound which would psychologically calm and relax them.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) ó Tea (M) for stomachache and throat inflammations. Decoct (SC) for blood purification. Tea (SC) and powder (M) for stomachache and stomach spasms. Tea (SC) for influenza. Tincture (SC) for sedation. Decoct (M) for blood purification and as roborantium for strengthening the corpus.

Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) ó Tea (M) for spasms and regulation of menstruation.

Wild Chamomile (Matricaria discoidea) ó Powder (SC) for hemorrhoids. E: Collar (SC) for stomachache.