At Wintergreen Botanicals, ‘good health grows in nature’
Published: 06-11-2025 8:00 AM
Modified: 06-11-2025 9:52 AM |
Plants have superpowers, and Maria Noël Groves wants everyone to capitalize on that.
Groves, a registered western herbalist, runs Wintergreen Botanicals out of her home, nestled among the woods of Chichester where diverse plants grow in her garden and in plastic pots on wheels.
“So, defining herbalism, it’s basically working with plants as one of our primary forms of medicine and healing, to bring the body into balance,” said Groves. “Whereas pharmaceuticals usually kind of force an action on the body, herbs are usually more nourishing and nudging and supporting.”
Groves’ work focuses on three main things: classes, consultations and writing. In her classes, she instructs students who want to practice home medicine, and occasionally receives aspiring herbalists. They learn how to make teas and tinctures, topical remedies like herb oils and creams, and different extracts, like honey and vinegar. They also study body systems, herbs to treat specific issues, herb-drug interactions, and what they can grow from the comfort of their homes.
“Being able to just go out in your yard and pick a plant and make something with it, eat it and feel better, is really exciting, but also very empowering,” said Groves. “Generally, plants are safer and have fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals. So, where it’s appropriate to potentially turn to an herb first and see if that works, that can be nice.”
Most of her classes have been recorded and are available on demand. Prices range from $25 for single classes to $2,000 for the ‘At Your Own Pace Full Advanced Series’. Every now and then, she teaches a course in person. This summer, she’s teaching her Beyond the Home Herbalist Series from her home, which consists of nine three-hour classes and will cover “new body systems, health concerns and remedy-making techniques.”
In her consultations, women are her primary clinical group.
“Many of my clients are pre or post-menopausal, plus folks who are still kind of cycling,” said Groves. “And so a lot of reproductive hormone balance stuff there, as well as gut healing and digestive problems.”
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Groves also works with clients on stress, anxiety, and day-to-day sleep issues by recommending herbal combinations. She says benefited from the effects of such herbs like Kava, which is made from the Piper methysticum plant, for anxiety support. She’s used Valerian – a Eurasian flowering plant – for help sleeping.
“I had a really stressful experience in college, and that was what sort of launched me to go from the theoretical, of writing papers about herbs without actually really working with them, to saying, ‘Oh hey, I’m now having panic attacks. I’m now having insomnia,’ ” said Groves. “I walked into an herb shop. They set me up with an herb to help me be calmer, and an herb to help me sleep better, and they worked.”
Groves grew up in Derry and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism from the University of New Hampshire. She worked at natural foods stores and in supplement departments, which served her as an informal training ground, and after college she interned for a natural health magazine, covering their herb beat. Once she was finished, she decided to get trained as an herbalist.
“I was always fascinated with the plant side of things,” said Groves. “So then I started to go to school for herbalism and gradually worked my way towards clinical practice, teaching and eventually writing.”
Writing – the third focus of Wintergreen Botanicals – is instrumental for her classes, since her books serve as supplemental instructional materials. Published in 2016, Body Into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care, explains how to interpret their body’s signals and support wellness with herbal remedies and natural treatments. She wrote Grow Your Herbal Remedies in 2019 andHerbal Remedies for Sleep in 2024 in response to demand.
“I am hoping to take a break for a little while from writing more books so that I can do more clinical work and continue to teach,” said Groves. “Those are some of my favorite things to do.”
She stresses the importance of correctly identifying ingredients because not all plants have beneficial properties.
“I always recommend students research a plant in at least three good sources,” said Groves. “So you really get a better understanding of what the sources say as far as how is that plant used, what’s the plant part, what are the cautions, what the doses are, and then also simultaneously be listening to their body and their intuition. There are a whole bunch of ways of approaching herbal medicine.”
Groves also emphasizes that herbalists cannot diagnose or cure conditions but can form part of an individual’s medical care team. She collaborates with primary-care doctors, professionals and specialists, referring her clients to them if needed. It’s reciprocal, with some practitioners referring clients to her as well.
“We all have our different roles to play,” said Groves. “So it’s not ‘us’ or ‘them’.”
“We should be really grateful, we are very fortunate to be in a state that’s pretty nice and diverse,” said Groves. “We go through a lot of seasons, but we can grow a lot of things, it’s not too harsh of a climate, and we have access to so much green space to get to know our wild plants and to cultivate a variety of plants.”
■Holy Basil for stress relief: It’s best if it’s added to “teas, tinctures, vinegar, honey, capsules, glycerite, hydrosol, water and seltzers.” Holy Basil “lifts mood, eases anxiety, improves focus, reduces blood sugar and stress-related food cravings, decreases inflammation, and more.”
■Nettle for environmental allergy relief: It’s strongest when it’s juiced or in tinctures and it’s also beneficial in tea, broths and in food when it’s dried, cooked, or juiced.
■Calendula for itchy skin: Works best in oils, in baths, in creams and in salves.
YaaBame can be reached at ybame@cmonitor.com