Botanical Garden

It is cultivated by using offshoots on a light and slightly humid soil.
Parts used: The parts above ground, which are collected just before bloom, and subsequently dried in a shady place as quickly as possible, with temperatures below 35°C.
Usage: The essential oil is used externally against muscle pain and nerve pain.  Attention: Products containing essential oil must not get in contact with the face and nose. As an infusion, it is used against gastritis, bowel pain and indigestion.  It supports the secretion of bile (the digestive juice of the gall), but also sweating when in fever and having the flu. Inhaling the steam of boiling leaves helps with a cold.
It is used for cooking in the Mediterranean cuisine and is a basic aromatic plant.
Important in beekeeping, it predominantly gives pollen.
It blooms from November until May.

This Mediterranean bush propagates itself by means of sprouts that grow new roots, or from seeds. It can be collected all around the year.
Parts used: The dry as well as the green leaves. The leaves may be dried at a temperature lower than 35 °C.
Usage: External use against irritated skin and as a massage oil against rheumatism, as it provokes local hyperemia. Used internally, it acts as an energizer, as emmenagogue and abortifacient. The infusion may also be used against dandruff, as the last rinse after washing one´s hair.
Attention: It must not be used during pregnancy!
It is used in the Mediterranean cuisine, especially with fried fish or meat.
Important for beekeeping, as it gives pollen.
It blooms from November until May.

This wild growing bush grows in the mountains of Crete, from sea-level up to 1200 meter altitude.
Parts used: Its branches, which are collected before and during their bloom in summer. The plant is dried in a shady place and at a temperature below 35°C.
Usage: The infusion is used against infections of the chest and as an expectorant for bronchial mucus.
Thyme is used in the Mediterranean cuisine as a basic aromatic herb for sauces, pulses, meat, fish etc., but it also makes a very aromatic infusion to drink, either used by itself or in combination with other herbs.
Plant used in beekeeping.
It blooms from May until the end of August, depending on the altitude. Thyme makes especially tasteful honey, which has also healing properties.

A volunteer plant (i.e. it grows uncultivated) in Greece, but it is also cultivated with seeds.
Parts used: Mainly the parts above ground, but also its roots, which are dried at a temperature below 40° C.
Usage: The infusion is diuretic and emmenagogue.
It is used in the Mediterranean cuisine, as a basic aromatic herb for sauces, pulses, fish and pasta.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms during spring and gives mainly pollen.

A volunteer plant in Greece, but may also be planted with seeds.
Parts used: Those above ground, which are collected from July until August and then dried in a shady place.
Usage: The infusion functions as an appetizer, is wholesome for the stomach as well as anti-convulsive and diuretic. As a poultice with alcohol, it is used to clean wounds, as it also has healing properties.
In combination with MALOTIRA (an endemic bush, growing on the mountains of Crete), it creates a wonderful infusion, ideal against colds and problems with the respiratory system. It has invigorating properties and supports the regular function of the organism.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms during spring and gives mainly pollen.

This herb is known since antiquity. Modern research has shown its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is a volunteer plant on calciferous and siliceous grounds in warm regions, on poor soil pastures, on the side of roads, etc. It may be cultivated if the whole plant is transplanted.
Parts used: Those above ground, taken from the plant in bloom, dried in a shady place at a temperature below 35° C.
Usage: It helps against cough, bronchial mucus and in general with issues concerning the respiratory system. It works as a diuretic, with issues related to the urinary system, bowel pain and is also used as a gargle or mouth wash, as it has anti-inflammatory properties for the throat and the gums. Chewing on a stick of Oregano eases tooth-pain.
It is used in the Mediterranean cuisine, as a basic aromatic herb for sauces, pulses, meat, fish, etc.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms in the spring and mainly gives pollen.

This herb is connected to longevity. It is a volunteer plant of the Mediterranean region, but is also cultivated in gardens with seeds or parts of the root.
Parts used: Its leaves, which are collected during summer and used fresh, or dried in a shady place at a temperature below 35° C.
Usage: The plant has antimicrobial as well as astringent properties. The infusion is used externally against inflammations of the mucous membranes and internally against indigestion. Moreover, it is ideal as a gargle and mouth wash. In addition, its infusion is a very aromatic drink, by itself or in combination with other herbs.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms from March until May, depending on the altitude. It mainly gives honey, which is extraordinary in taste and aroma and also has healing properties.

A widely known plant in Greece. Sometimes it is cultivated with seeds, which are sown in late autumn or in spring. The wild chamomile blooms from June until September.
Parts used: The “heads”, dried in a shady place and at a temperature below 35° C.
Usage: It is used internally in case of an upset stomach as well as against infections of the mouth, the throat or the stomach. Externally, it is used for compresses against skin rashes and burns, but also against inflammations of the eye.
In addition, it makes a tasty infusion, by itself or in combination with other herbs, which also has healing properties.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms in spring and gives mainly pollen.

This is a rare plant, but one of the most important melitogenic ones, and especially known for its pain soothing properties. It is mostly found at the steepest mountains of Crete and at a high altitude of ca. 1400 m.
Parts used: Its heart-shaped fluffy leaves and its violet blooming tops.
Use: It has pharmaceutical properties in being an energizer, adstringent and anticonvulsant, in stimulating the peptic system, soothing headache, tooth-pain, stomach-pain and colitis. In addition, it is recommended for the removal of microbes in the mouth and against bad odour, but also against some skin diseases. It is a diuretic, cholagogue, emmagogue and hemostatic and it is said to help against nervous disorders.
Some historical facts:
From antiquity on, it has been known as a universal remedy for all kinds of diseases, but also as a healing agent. The plant had been dedicated to the goddess Artemis, as it was believed to facilitate birth; this is the reason why the goddess was usually depicted with a crown of dittany-branches. In older times, the plant was popular as the herb of “love and youth“, and was believed to enhance erotic stimulation. In the Middle Ages, the herb grew to fame for being used to produce the widely known liqueur Benedictine. Dittany is known for its hemostatic property, and one may observe injured wild goats on Crete eat this herb, in order to heal. There are even historic accounts about deer injured with an arrow, which came out of the wound after the animal had eaten dittany.
The herb may be used alone or in combination with others to make an aromatic infusion with healing properties.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms in spring and gives mainly honey.

This endemic plant grows as a volunteer plant only on the mountains of Crete, the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) and the Psiloritis, at an altitude of 800-2000m and in places near the herb marjoram. Malotira is a perennial evergreen herb that can grow to a height of 70 cm.
Etymological and historical facts, pharmaceutical properties:
Traditionally, malotira used to be the “breakfast drink” of the inhabitants of western Crete, but was and is also used as a pharmaceutical herb against colds as well as diseases of the stomach and the respiratory system. Its name has its origin in the combination of two Italian words, namely “male” (disease) and “tirare” (draw), resulting in “maletira”, stating its special pharmaceutical properties. Modern research has affirmed the Cretans´ beliefs concerning this herb: It has revealed the presence of valuable flavonoids, in the plant as well as the infusion, which have an important pharmaceutical-dynamic effect regarding the stimulation of the heart function, the lowering of blood pressure, the increase of urination as well as the protection from colds. Moreover, the essential oil has been found to be full of substances with antibacterial pharmaceutical properties.
It is a basic herb, alone or in combination with others, for the creation of aromatic infusions with healing properties, especially so in combination with marjoram.
Used in beekeeping.
It blooms in spring and gives mainly honey.