Garden plants that help you relax

There are several common garden plants that can be used to help you relax. One of the most common is lavender with its intoxicating scent. Lavender essential oil is used in many ways to help ease tension but you do not have to have an essential oil of lavender to enjoy this benefit.

If you only have a couple of lavender plants like we do then you won't have enough to make essential oil but you can pick the flowers and hang them upside down in a shady place to dry for about a week. Once the flowers are dry, they can be added to a bath either straight in the water or tied in a cotton bag to help ease away the stress of the day.

You can also add a few lavender flowers to your tea, or add to some potpourri or even slide some of the dried flowers into your pillow case as a mild relaxant.

Cut flowers before they fully bloom with plenty of stem to hang upside down for drying.

Passion fruit is another plant that is well known for helping you to relax.

Immature passion fruit

Passion fruit itself is high in vitamin C, carotene and fiber which are all great for a boost to your health but it is the leaf that is used to make a relaxing tea.

Passion flower leaves and flowers

If you are growing passion fruit then you know there are plenty of leaves to chop and you probably need to prune the plant regularly to keep it in line because it is a very fast growing plant. When you prune it back then give the leaves and stems a good rinsing to clean them and hang the vines upside down in a shady place for several days or until the leaves have dried. You can store the dried leaves in a glass container with a good lid and then steep a couple tablespoons worth for several minutes in a cup of hot water to make your relaxing tea.

Valerian

Valerian is one of the strongest sedatives you can grow in your garden. It is a pretty plant that has wonderful smelling flowers in the summer but the part of the plant you want to use is the stinky root. After the plant has been established for at least 2 years then you can harvest the root by cutting down the leaves on part of the plant and digging out the tuberous roots. Cut the roots into evenly sized pieces and allow to dry in a shady location until they feel hard and dry, not rubbery. Then the root can be ground into a powder and used in a tea or you can put the powder in capsules if you can't tolerate the awful smell from the tea.

Be careful of using too much valerian because it is quite strong and you may end up looking like Gidget does here.