Sleep Infusion

WHERE IT LIVES

A fast-climbing vine native to the south-eastern United States, at home on woodland edges and fence lines, where its purple flowers open for a single day.

THE HARVEST

The whole aerial plant, leaf, stem and flower, is cut at flowering in summer and dried for tea.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Its name comes from sixteenth-century Spanish missionaries, who saw the instruments of the Passion in its flower. In the herbal practice that followed, it became a remedy for the restless mind at the end of the day.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises passionflower as a traditional remedy for mild stress and to aid sleep. A trial of a standardised extract found improved total sleep time; in a tea, the claim stays at traditional.

WHERE IT LIVES

A slender perennial of the mint family, at home in the damp woods, riverbanks and wet meadows of North America, with small blue flowers held along one side of the stem.

THE HARVEST

The aerial parts are cut in flower in midsummer and dried gently.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Its name comes from the tiny cap-shaped cup behind each flower. The nineteenth-century American Eclectic physicians prescribed it as a nervine, for restlessness and nerves worn thin.

EVIDENCE NOTE

There is no European Medicines Agency monograph for skullcap. One small randomised, placebo-controlled trial in healthy volunteers found it improved mood; for sleep, the evidence is traditional. Older reports of liver harm were traced largely to products adulterated with germander, so it is bought only from a verified supplier.

WHERE IT LIVES

A bushy perennial of the mint family from the eastern Mediterranean, long at home in English cottage gardens, where bees crowd its small white flowers.

THE HARVEST

The leaves are cut just before flowering, in early summer, and dried quickly in the shade to keep their lemon scent.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Its name is the Greek for honeybee, and beekeepers once rubbed their hives with it. In seventeenth-century Paris, Carmelite nuns made a lemon balm cordial that was taken for the nerves.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises lemon balm leaf as a traditional remedy for mild symptoms of stress and to aid sleep, in adults and young people over 12. Here it rounds the blend as much as it calms.

WHERE IT LIVES

A low, silver-leaved shrub of the sunny, stony mountain slopes of the western Mediterranean, long naturalised in English gardens.

THE HARVEST

The spikes are cut in July, when the lower flowers have opened and the upper ones are still in bud, and dried for their scent.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Laid among sheets and pillows for centuries, lavender has long been the English scent of rest. Its oil was once distilled commercially just south of London, in Mitcham.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises lavender flower as a traditional remedy for mild stress and to aid sleep. A meta-analysis found lavender oil aromatherapy improved sleep, though those trials used the oil, not the flower in a tea.

WHERE IT LIVES

An ancient hybrid rose long grown in Persia and Syria, named for Damascus, and today cultivated in Bulgaria’s Valley of Roses, in Ta’if and in Iran.

THE HARVEST

Buds and petals are picked by hand at dawn in early summer, when the scent is strongest, and dried in the shade.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Persian physicians perfected the distillation of rose water a thousand years ago, and the rose has carried a reputation for calm and comfort ever since. It is said to have reached Europe with returning Crusaders.

EVIDENCE NOTE

No sleep evidence was found for rose petals in a tea. Trials of rose oil aromatherapy suggest benefits for mood and sleep, mostly in hospital settings. Here it is scent and softness, and nothing more is claimed.

DOSE

Infuse 1-2 teaspoons in freshly boiled water, covered, for 10-15 minutes. Adults and children 7+: one cup 30-60 minutes before bed.

CAUTIONS

Not for children under 7. Not for use in pregnancy or breastfeeding. May cause drowsiness; do not drive or operate machinery after drinking. Speak to your practitioner if you take sedative or sleep medicines. Avoid with an allergy to the mint family (skullcap, lemon balm, lavender).

DURATION

Up to two weeks. If sleep has not improved, seek advice.