Nature's Gift

Our herbal bouquets are carefully composed of selected herbs like those below:

Lavendel

Lavender is one of the labiate group of plants. It forms a shrub 30 to 60 cm tall with narrow leaves and is most at home in Mediterranean conditions, but it is cultivated as a garden plant in Holland and Belgium. The flowers form spikes on long stems and the violet blooms appear in July and August. Lavender oil is extracted from the scented flowers and the plant is grown for this purpose in Southern France, Spain and Italy.

Hop

The hop is a member of the hemp family. It is native to Europe including Belgium and the Netherlands, and is grown as a flavouring in many countries. It is found in the wild in deciduous woodland and hedgerows on fertile land. The plume-like male flowers appear between July and September and the fruits have an oval form and are called hop bells. The protective bracts of these hop bells bear a bitter resinous substance and are used in brewing beer. The cultivation of male plants is prohibited by law in Belgium, to prevent the production of seeds which give the beer an undesirable taste. Ripe hops, that is hop bells where the resin glands have ripened, contain lupine from which hop oil is obtained.

Camomile

Camomile belongs to the compositae family. The most common variety is true camomile, a 15-30 cm tall plant which is grown for the curative properties of the dried flowerheads. These have a tall, hollow conical flower base with yellow disk florets and white ray florets, from May to June. The flowerheads of the true camomile contain an etheric oil that is used in soap and perfume. Dried camomile flower heads are used primarily in folk remedies, as a mouthwash for inflammation of the mucosa (camomile tea, 10% infusion) and in herbal shampoos.

Anise

The anise plant, which is not known to occur in the wild, has been cultivated since ancient times for its curative properties and as a culinary herb. It is one of the umbellifers and related to the Pimpernel. The fruit of the plant, called aniseed, is used in making aniseed tablets, in bread and the popular Dutch confectionery , “muisjes”. Anise oil is also obtained from the seeds.