Sometimes it is so cheering to see the sun shine. This morning the yellow globe in the skies
(which I believe has been working overtime in the Northern Hemisphere), braved
the shower clouds and sent some glorious rays of bright sunshine down into my
little garden.
However the clouds took their revenge and this afternoon is
dreary and grey again, but I did manage to sit outside and soak in the sun for
a little while.
That was when I noticed that my Sweet Violet (Viola odorata)
is flowering.
I first fell in love with violets when my eldest son
suffered croup as a toddler. The doctor
advised holding him in a bathroom full of steam (running the hot tap into the
bath) to help him breathe, but there was little else he could do for him.
Around this time, almost by accident, I found a book on
herbal remedies that explained how Sweet Violet flowers can help with whooping
cough. With croup being so similar – and
having violets flowering in our garden at the time – I decided to try it
(recipe below).
That was one of the best things I have ever done. The results were fantastic – the syrup cut
through the croup and halted it immediately.
He still coughed, but the frightening croup was gone.
For many years afterwards, I kept violet blossoms in our
freezer ready to use (both of our boys got croup but our daughter never did).
Nowadays, I just appreciate the sweet scent of the flowers.
Margaret 😊
This was the original Violet Syrup recipe that I made up:
Put 3oz of fresh violet flowers into a jug and pour on 5 fl.
oz. of boiling water. Cover the jug and
let it stand for 24 hours. Strain out
the blossoms. Add 4oz white sugar to the
liquid. Bring to the boil, stirring
until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Cover, and keep stored in the refrigerator.
I used to use a teaspoonful at a time and sometimes would administer
another one if needed. It kept quite a
long time in the refrigerator, although now I don’t remember quite how long
that was!