The days are long and warm for now, but we all know that winter will return and with it – cold and flu season as well as all sorts of other general maladies we face across the year. There are many ways to keep the ills and chills away with wild plants!

Some helpful herbs that can be gathered from the wild now include:

Echinacea (Echinacea species): Echinacea is well-known for its abilities to help the immune system clear an infection. Gather the plant from the wild or even use the cultivated echinacea from the garden to prepare a homemade tincture or tea.

Goldenrod (Solidago species): This beautiful, showy yellow plant frequently gets blamed for everyone’s August allergies, when actually it’s the ragweed that causes the summer sneezes. Goldenrod can be gathered now and dried for tea or prepared fresh as a tincture to help stop the leaky, drippy allergy sniffles. A great cat allergy remedy! Goldenrod also makes a great salve to help rub out aches and pains and can be used similarly to arnica.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): Yarrow is a classic summer plant, and is nearly at the end of the harvest season. Gather the leaves and flowers of this plant to use as a tea for colds and flus. It mixes well with Monada and elder flower. Yarrow also makes a great salve to help rub out bruising.

Bonest (Eupatorium perfoliatum): Boneset is a traditional native plant that’s been used for viral infections and fevers. It can be gathered from the wild and dried for tea. It’s good blended with more aromatic (and flavorful) plants like

Monarda (Monarda fistulosa): Monarda is also known as bee-balm and all varieties – both the wild and cultivated – are wonderful to dry to a tea to ward of a cold. The tea is highly aromatic and can also clear sinus infections and clear a foggy head.

Elderberries (Sambus nigra): Great for supporting the body’s immune system to fight off viral infections like a cold virus or influenza. The berries can be gathered at peak ripeness and prepared into a homemade elderberry elixir.

For more information on these plants, view my recent segment on WZZM13 and pick up a copy of “Midwest Foraging!”