After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages pervaded and the economic and agricultural systems that stemmed from the Romans crumbled. Most of the aesthetic gardens in the Roman colonies went to seed, leaving only those that provided food, such as vegetables and orchards. Ironically it was during the Dark Ages that the science of herbal medicine made great strides and the unique trustee of ancient Roman and Greek scholars’ knowledge was the Catholic Church.

This was the time when monks pioneered agriculture. Each monastery had its own orchard, vegetable garden and a hortus conclusus, or closed garden. The closed garden was used to grow herbs that were both spiritual and curative. Lilies and roses formerly woven into the wreaths of the Roman gods Isis and Aphrodite were now used to worship the Madonna. The importance of these gardens was such that around the year 800, the emperor Charlemagne sent each of his intendants a list of those plants that were to be cultivated in his empire. The document was known as De Capitularis and of the ninety plants listed the iris and rose were first and second respectively; followed by several other commonly known herbs such as sage, rosemary, cumin, mint, mallow and coriander. These plants played important roles, both culinary and medicinal. They often conferred taste and color to foods and perhaps most important, they preserved foods and masked the taste and odor of overaged meats.

As much as the history behind rose petals and buds is interesting, we think that consuming this delightful tea with a group of friends is far more refreshing. Drink up!