<![CDATA[Botanica Fabula]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tV09!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd7392c40-fff3-43c2-b5cd-d2edc060df0c_803x803.pngBotanica Fabulahttps://botanicafabula.substack.comSubstackFri, 04 Sep 2026 07:02:11 GMT<![CDATA[Dark Fae and Dangerous Potions]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/dark-fae-and-dangerous-potionshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/dark-fae-and-dangerous-potionsSun, 19 Jul 2026 12:28:47 GMTOriginally recorded for ‘Scary Fairies’ with the Centre for Folklore in Todmorden during lockdown in 2020, Verbena’s ‘Fairyland Summer’ seems like the perfect time to share this first in a short series of films where I look at some of the traditional fairy legends and folklore of Scotland!

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]]><![CDATA[Collected Curiosities arrives in the world!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiosities-arrives-inhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiosities-arrives-inTue, 30 Jun 2026 18:10:21 GMTIt’s the official book launch day for Collected Curiosities, an invitation to step back into the herbal time spiral we encountered in The Time Traveller’s Herbal…so I thought on this special book day we’d travel back just 40 odd years back in time to take a little look at one of the formative stories I encountered, one that has stayed with me ever since…

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]]><![CDATA[The Pechts of Rutherglen]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-pechts-of-rutherglenhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-pechts-of-rutherglenThu, 04 Jun 2026 11:42:04 GMTIn 2026, the Scottish town of Rutherglen, just south-east of Glasgow, marks 900 years since being granted Royal Burgh status by King David I of Scotland in 1126. The burghs were given royal charters which amongst other things allowed them to freely embrace trade with other countries, so they became places were spices, silks and travellers with stories t…

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]]><![CDATA[A Curious Herbal and Dandelion Wine!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-curious-herbal-and-dandelion-winehttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-curious-herbal-and-dandelion-wineThu, 21 May 2026 11:41:40 GMTI was imagining asking you to walk along a city street, or maybe through your village or a meadow nearby, knowing that somewhere, eventually, you will encounter Dandelion...but then I needed to tap into dandelion magic myself and time passed in a breath of wind...

I remember cycling my red tricycle fast down Polmuir road in Aberdeen aged about 3 or 4, my…

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]]><![CDATA[Herbal heart bags for Collected Curiosities]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/herbal-heart-bags-for-collected-curiositieshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/herbal-heart-bags-for-collected-curiositiesSun, 12 Apr 2026 19:54:51 GMTI noticed after drinking hibiscus tea that the discarded flowers dyed the dishcloth pinky purple - aha — needs further investigation - so I bundled up some cotton and silk scraps with rusty iron scraps and dried hibiscus flowers - and sure enough after a day or 2 - beautiful pinky purple scraps with dark markings from the rusty metal.

My daughter Amanda

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]]><![CDATA[Spring flowers and Dusty Bluebells]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/spring-flowers-and-dusty-bluebellshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/spring-flowers-and-dusty-bluebellsSat, 28 Mar 2026 14:02:36 GMT

Spring is here. Now, bear with me I’m an optimist and as soon as March blows in, whether lion or lamb-like, I get a blossoming of energy, a bounce in my step and I start coveting bunches of daffodils and dandelion tea! I was a March baby so maybe it’s that vibrant buzz of birthday essence that sparks me to life, or maybe it’s just a natural response to …

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]]><![CDATA[Witch?]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/witchhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/witchSat, 21 Mar 2026 08:30:46 GMTI’ve loved reading the article over on my publisher substack over the last two days about the importance and essence of witches.

I was asked to contribute with my thoughts and feelings along with other Verbena authors to add to the article. So I started to ponder on the meaning for me, of witch.

I confess this is a subject I’ve looked at and worked with…

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]]><![CDATA[A Very Curious Herbal]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-very-curious-herbalhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-very-curious-herbalSun, 08 Mar 2026 17:53:41 GMTIt’s International Women’s Day and it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge and be very grateful for the work of Elizabeth Blackwell, in 1737 this incredibly resilient pioneering Scottish woman became the first woman to publish a herbal.

She drew and learned about plants in the amazing Chelsea Physic Garden, sharing pictures and notes on 500 medicinal…

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]]><![CDATA[How Botanica fabula works]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/how-botanica-fabula-workshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/how-botanica-fabula-worksSat, 07 Mar 2026 18:04:35 GMTI've been forming, creating, collecting, my whole life, but it came together and became Botanica Fabula fifteen plus years ago. Knitting my own job if you like, finding folklore and traditional tales that share the way we use plants and then collecting and sharing the plants from the stories to add another layer for the people that choose to listen.

Weav…

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]]><![CDATA[A Herbal Storyteller's Guide to Seduction!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-herbal-storytellers-guide-to-seductionhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/a-herbal-storytellers-guide-to-seductionFri, 13 Feb 2026 08:01:17 GMTBack in 2024 I created a special Time Traveller’s Herbal event for The National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, it was sold out and lots of folk got in touch to ask if I would run the event again online…so of course I said yes!

If you’ve read the Time Traveller’s Herbal you may have already spotted a love potion (or antidote) or two amongst the recipes and in this 45 minute session, recorded live, you will discover that in love, not is all as it may seem…

You have been warned!

So please, grab yourself a tomato based snack or two and a warm cup of lavender tea and join me for A Herbal Storyteller’s Guide to Seduction!

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]]><![CDATA[Merlindale Meadow explorers.]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/merlindale-meadow-explorershttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/merlindale-meadow-explorersTue, 10 Feb 2026 20:23:54 GMT

Merlindale Meadow Explorers was a project created by Amanda with Connecting Threads: Tweed River Culture | Southern Uplands Partnership

Amanda and animateur Emily Cropton worked with children from Broughton Primary school over the course of a term to engage with and share the magic of Merlindale Meadow in Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders, over 2022 and…

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]]><![CDATA[Bannocks to beckon in Beltaine]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/bannocks-to-beckon-in-beltainehttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/bannocks-to-beckon-in-beltaineSat, 31 Jan 2026 10:01:32 GMTIf you’ve read The Time Traveller’s Herbal you will be familiar with my Gran’s favourite cookery book, I introduce you to it’s world as you step into the first pages.

It’s been eight years since I first embarked on a deeper relationship with my Gran’s treasured copy of The Scots Kitchen, first for a piece for an Armistice Day writing piece, then for ‘Fe…

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]]><![CDATA[Pre order launch joy!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/pre-order-launch-joyhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/pre-order-launch-joySun, 25 Jan 2026 19:08:14 GMTToday’s the day!

Pre-orders open with two unique limited edition launch party packages available as well as signed first edition copies of Collected Curiosities direct from my website.

I confess I was going to launch these on the first day of Spring, but I woke up on New Years Day with a twitch, a sense that something somewhere had dislodged itself...I opened the internet and knew just where to look...sure enough A****n had jumped the gun and launched pre-orders 6 weeks earlier than expected and within days this triggered Waterstones and Barnes and Noble to do the same.

This put me in a strange position, because I love it when you buy books directly from me, I love sending out the personalised packages and seeing where in the world they’re going, I also get paid more that way and as a freelance artist that can be really important, but I also know if I launch a pre-order page you all have to wait til mid June at the earliest to get your books and whilst A****n don’t have any worries about that, I feel like it’s a long run in!

So I spoke to a few folk who are in my facebook group: Botanica Fabulousness, friends and family and everyone agreed...create a pre-order page and share with love

There are just ten of the first package which includes not only a signed book, but a one of a kind hand dyed and printed Botanica fabula tote bag, made with hibiscus by my mum textile artist The Hidden Dancer Press, along with a new unique story, a secret story of scrying women, that explains why HIbiscus has crept into the world of Collected Curiosities, there is also an invie to a special online launch party for the book to be held in June, along with a menu of recipes to create for the party, three handprinted envelopes of herbs to start your recipes off and a surprise element I’ll share later!

Or you may opt for the second package which includes the book, herbs and a launch party invite and menu, or you could just order a signed copy of the book...and honestly if the pennies are tight right now and the discount that the book retail giants can offer makes a difference then please do buy from them, the links are included!

I’ve got a few plans cooking to help US folks out and I’m talking to independent bookstores there, so I’ll keep you posted on that one, but I am still very happy to ship and you’ll find that option on checkout.

I also have big news forthcoming about in person book launch events in Scotland, England and hopefully North-east U.S. but that’s all still in the mix, so I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready!

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]]><![CDATA[Collected Curiosities]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiosities-a14https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiosities-a14Sat, 24 Jan 2026 19:31:49 GMTThe big cover reveal happened over in the paid subscriber space last week…and I’ve been working hard with my lovely occasional collaborative partner Em, who I first encountered when she came along to an event at The Scottish International Storytelling festival and literally said one sentence that changed the view of the audience and rather wonderfully c…

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]]><![CDATA[Collected Curiosities]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiositieshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/collected-curiositiesSun, 11 Jan 2026 19:32:53 GMTSo excited to be able to share, the cover of ‘Collected Curiosities’!

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]]><![CDATA[Time Traveller's Herbal news]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/time-travellers-herbal-newshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/time-travellers-herbal-newsSun, 11 Jan 2026 18:40:22 GMTFor all the lovely new folk who have joined me here…one of things I do over in Botanica fabulousness group is the Sunday Booklist…occasionally I share secrets and stories from my own books, but mostly the intention is to share wonderful books that add to everyone’s library of plant knowledge, folklore, art and stories.

I regularly invite folk and fellow …

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]]><![CDATA[The Big Reveal!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-big-revealhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-big-revealSat, 10 Jan 2026 20:35:18 GMTThe exciting Time Traveller’s Herbal news is on its way!

For all of you who came to the fabulous Time Traveller’s Herbal launch at The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow back in 2023 (picture by Euan Cherry photography...and YES that is Joseph Lister’s robes in the case behind me, many of you will be aware of his groundbreaking work on t…

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]]><![CDATA[(re)introduction!]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/reintroductionhttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/reintroductionThu, 08 Jan 2026 16:15:15 GMTHello!

Stepping back into the real world as 2026 begins to unfold

... and as I have an exciting reveal to make this weekend, it seemed like the perfect time to (re)introduce myself!

The lovely folk who follow me on several platforms please do excuse me if you read this elsewhere, but I’m currently covered in children🤣 one daughter is navigating the start …

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]]><![CDATA[The Second Gift, one from the trees.]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-second-gift-one-from-the-treeshttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-second-gift-one-from-the-treesFri, 19 Dec 2025 13:05:39 GMTIf you’ve read The Time Traveller’s Herbal or indeed been to any of my in person storytelling workshops you will probably heard me mention or tell the story of the gifts from the trees. Now the observant among you may have also noticed that sometimes I take poetic licence with the significant folkloric day the trees are said to dance and you can find so…

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]]><![CDATA[The First Gift, Wild Swans, Nettle Shirts and Enchantment.]]>https://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-first-gift-wild-swans-nettlehttps://botanicafabula.substack.com/p/the-first-gift-wild-swans-nettleWed, 17 Dec 2025 18:14:42 GMT Read more

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