What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 2pm - 6pm Wednesday 2pm - 6pm Thursday 2pm - 6pm Friday 2pm - 6pm Saturday 10am - 6pm

Flower and Root, 84 Stirling Street, Alva (2026)

A short chat to learn more is free. See the website for more information.

06/09/2026

Hoping you all have enjoyed the summer days! I’m welcoming new clients for herbal consultation this autumn.

I have availability online by Zoom to anywhere in the UK and my in-person appointments are now from Dunblane village centre. You can drop me an email or book a short chat through the website to begin (link in bio).

Dunblane is well worth a visit. You can take in the Allan Water, the Cathedral, the museum, Scotland’s oldest independent library and the Scottish Craft School is a highlight in the high street.

This month I explored consultation in my root word series.

The word consultation comes from the Latin verb cōnsultō, meaning to consider, deliberate, reflect, take counsel and to take care. In a consultation there is usually a meeting or coming together, a purposeful and mature process, before an understanding, answer or decision is reached.

In herbal medicine a consultation is the meeting of a person, practitioner and the plants. And I like to think that the practitioner acts as an intermediary, helping the plants reach the person.

For me the meaning of consultation reflects how things are approached in herbal medicine: seeking, deliberation and taking counsel before reaching a way forward. So not always a speedy approach and different to an appointment or allotted slot in the calendar with a brisk solution or quick fix. I have often found that herbal medicine aligns with the curious seeker who is open to enquiry.

Join my Root Word newsletter for the full article and to get the series to your inbox (monthly or thereabouts):
https://flowerandroot.co.uk/newsletter

💬 THE ROOT WORD SERIES
Exploring and deconstructing the language we use in herbal medicine. You’ll enjoy this if you’re looking to learn about herbal medicine and how herbs are used.

Also included is -
📖 A HERBAL FOUNDATIONS PACK for beginners which includes
✔️ A free 30-minute intro webinar on the philosophy and approach
✔️ Main ways to take herbal medicine
✔️ Medicinal teas
✔️ Book suggestions
✔️ 5 ways to learn about herbs

16/07/2026

Herbal medicine can act as a messenger, guiding us to participate in renewal.

Renewal means the act of starting again or forming anew. A situation in which something begins again after having stopped for a time. Or a process where something changes and improves. The prefix of ‘re-' is from the Latin meaning back to the original place or again. Whilst niwe is the old English for new, similar to the Greek neos meaning new, youthful, fresh or to regenerate. So we have ‘again new’, hinting at a cycle or return.

The word renewal reinforces the cycles we experience on a human and planetary level. After the darkness of the night, the sun returns to rise in the east. Plants die back in winter, but there is renewal and regrowth with the return of the light each year. The astrological wheel of the zodiac illustrates these rhythms of nature, the solar cycle, and renewal as an inherent pattern of life. Herbal medicine knows that nature doesn’t pursue constant growth, but instead allows for periods of rest, and renewal.

For me a medicinal plant that embodies renewal is Chinese angelica (Angelica sinensis). Its traditional name dang gui translates as ‘state of return’ or more literally ‘expected to be back home’; it was said if you missed a relative who was away, sending them a piece of the root would mean they would come back.

Join my Root Word newsletter for the full article and to get the series to your inbox (monthly or thereabouts):
https://flowerandroot.co.uk/newsletter

💬 THE ROOT WORD SERIES
Exploring and deconstructing the language we use in herbal medicine. You’ll enjoy this if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of herbal medicine and how herbs are used in practice.

Also included is -
📖 A HERBAL FOUNDATIONS PACK for beginners which includes
✔️ A free 30-minute intro webinar on the philosophy and approach
✔️ Main ways to take herbal medicine
✔️ Medicinal teas
✔️ Book suggestions
✔️ 5 ways to learn about herbs

05/06/2026

Today's Root Word is Nutritive.

Nutritive can mean simply pertaining to nutrition. In Latin the word nutrio means to feed, but also to suckle or nurse. Nutritive to me does have connotations of nourishing and feeding oneself, choosing foods and herbs to nurture and care for the body.

In herbal medicine nutritive is used to describe and categorise herbs which contain significant amounts macronutrients, vitamins and minerals – our basic building blocks for life and health – as well as their numerous additional medicinal phytochemicals.

Nutritive herbs are often those which have a dual use as food and are usually considered generally safe. They are commonly used as a ‘base’ in formula with herbs directed towards symptom patterns, tissues or organs layered on top. Nettle, oat straw and raspberry leaf are examples of nutritive herbs.

Join my newsletter for the full article and get the Root Word series (monthly or thereabouts) to your inbox:
https://flowerandroot.co.uk/newsletter

💬 THE ROOT WORD SERIES
Exploring and deconstructing the language we use in herbal medicine. You’ll enjoy this if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of herbal medicine and how herbs are used in practice.

Also included is -
📖 A HERBAL FOUNDATIONS PACK for beginners
✔️ A free 30-minute intro webinar on the philosophy and approach
✔️ The main ways to take herbal medicine
✔️ Medicinal tea suggestions
✔️ Introductory book suggestions
✔️ 5 ways to learn about herbs

02/05/2026

Today's Root Word is Panacea.

The word Panacea means a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases; a cure-all. It originates from Panakeia, the Greek goddess of cures and healing. She was the daughter of Asclepius, the god of medicine, and often seen carrying a potion or poultice (a herbal paste or salve).

The mythology of the panacea is associated with potions for longevity and immortality, and the idea is found outside Western culture too. In China, Japan and Korea there is the folklore of the white rabbit, a creature associated with the moon, who is depicted pounding herbs for an elixir of life.

In One Thousand and One Nights, folklore tales from the Middle East, there is the story of an apple from Samarkand which can cure all disease – likely inspiration for the proverb ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

Join my newsletter to read the full article and get the Root Word series (monthly or thereabouts) to your inbox:
https://flowerandroot.co.uk/newsletter

💬 THE ROOT WORD SERIES
Exploring and deconstructing the language we use in herbal medicine. You’ll enjoy this if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of herbal medicine and how herbs are used in practice.

Also included is -
📖 A HERBAL FOUNDATIONS PACK for beginners
✔️ A free 30-minute intro webinar on the philosophy and approach
✔️ The main ways to take herbal medicine
✔️ Medicinal tea suggestions
✔️ Introductory book suggestions
✔️ 5 ways to learn about herbs

10/04/2026

Today's Root Word is Proanthocyanidin.

A word from the chemistry discipline for the blue-red pigments we find in plants. Learning a little about chemistry and categories can help us more fully understand a plants properties and medicinal benefits. This is especially true if the chemical is well researched, meaning lots can be deduced about how the plant acts and which patterns of imbalance it is suited to.

I find chemistry fascinating, seeing the world as being made of vibrating molecules and atoms participating in a cosmic dance of energy, as described by Fritjof Capra in his book The Tao of Physics, feels mystical. But as he says, the model is incomplete and not quite adequate to describe natural phenomena or take into account our sensory perception.

Join my newsletter to read the full article and get the Root Word series (monthly or thereabouts) to your inbox:
https://flowerandroot.co.uk/newsletter

💬 THE ROOT WORD SERIES
Exploring and deconstructing the language we use in herbal medicine. You’ll enjoy this if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of herbal medicine and how herbs are used in practice.

Also included is -
📖 A HERBAL FOUNDATIONS PACK for beginners
✔️ A free 30-minute intro webinar on the philosophy and approach
✔️ The main ways to take herbal medicine
✔️ Medicinal tea suggestions
✔️ Introductory book suggestions
✔️ 5 ways to learn about herbs

Address

84 Stirling Street
Alva
FK125EA

Opening Hours

Tuesday	2pm - 6pm
Wednesday	2pm - 6pm
Thursday	2pm - 6pm
Friday	2pm - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+447761236057

Website

http://www.flowerandroot.co.uk/

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