WE GROW GREAT HERBALISTS
Ready to get your hands dirty?
The beginnings
In 2003, founder Nicole Telkes, took her passion for plants, healing, education, and nature and created the Wildflower School. As curriculum grew and teachers were added, we've remained dedicated to inspiring, empowering, and building a strong herbal community. The original, onsite offerings were developed in and around Austin, Texas. The school follows a bioregional Western, holistic tradition. Read more about our business philosophy here
Core Values
We work to be of service to the plants and our community. We use herbalism as a tool to build a stronger and healthier world. Social and environmental justice plays a strong role in our evolving curriculum . Read our statement of inclusivity here.
- Learn and use bioregional medicinal plants
- Weedcrafting and wildcrafting for the future
- Deepening our connection to plant spirits
- Making herbalists and herbal medicine accessible to all parts of our community
- Honoring oral tradition and multiculturalism in herbalism
- Teaching our families and community the responsible, ethical, and safe use of herbal medicine
Where we are Heading
Every year we grow and improve our curriculum based on student and teacher feedback. Over the last 15 years, our small apprenticeship-style program has blossomed into a to a large, year-round herb school with basic, intermediate, and advanced offerings and over a dozen core teachers and staff . We keep our onsite classes small, but are excited to have more and more online resources and offerings as we grow.
Upcoming Classes & Apprenticeships
Herbal Medicine /// Community /// Flower Essences /// Traditional Healing /// Spirit /// Fresh Plant Tinctures /// Permaculture /// Science ///Folk Remedies /// Art /// Self Care/// Botany/// Free Clinics /// Holism /// Vitalism /// Natural Health /// Human Life Skills /// Medicine as Resistance /// Plant Walks /// Gardening /// Body Systems /// Mystery /// Self-Empowerment ///
Join us on the green path, to learn about plant-based healing of body, mind, and spirit. Our education philosophy incorporates Vitalism and Deep Ecology into Traditional Holistic Western Herbalism. Connect to plants and other people like you, who are searching for herbal wisdom.
- Main Onsite Campus: Austin TX
- Pacific NW and Desert SW Retreats and Classes
- Online Learning
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHATS COMING UP
In DEPTH PROGRAMS
We offer beginning, intermediate and advanced training in holistic western herbalism with a bioregional focus. No matter where you are on your herbal journey we are here to facilitate you going deeper, whether its foundational materia medica, outdoor skills, clinical training or herbal first aid. Next Program begins Sept 19, 2019
iNTENSIVES
Want to increase your knowledge on a certain subject in holistic Western Herbal Medicine? We offer intensives throughout the year on herbal preparation making, properties & actions, body systems and first aid, plant identification and harvesting, and more. Next Intensive begins Sept 27, 2019
APPRENTICESHIPS & RETREATS
These are open to small groups of committed herbalists that want to spend more time with the plants or learning hands-on skills in specific areas of focus. These are an additional charge and open to all with apriority given to our program students.
4 weeks ago by wildflowerherbschool //S U M M E R. H A R V E S TS// We have so much gratitude to the rain gods for the extended wet weather into late June, which means abundant gardens!!! We have been picking vervain and calendula since February, and now we move on into summer harvests of red spiral mallow, red clover, and passionflower. Pictured is our lovely garden elf Fay who has lovingly tended the gardens with us since January, now getting to reap the rewards of harvests. We are finishing up putting the plants to bed for summer out at our botanical sanctuary,
3 days ago by wildflowerherbschool TO ALL THE FERAL HERBALISTS It is not enough to know the plants, or know how to use them. As we watch our Earth struggling with human impact, we as herbalists must also fight to protect the wild. As I have sat in wild places over the years and studied nature, I have found less and less of a desire to take. When I go out to a wild space, full of native medicines, I offer gratitude for being able to see them in all their glory. Successful wildcrafting is not measured by how much I can take, but how
3 weeks ago by wildflowerherbschool HERBAL GODDESS //Meet Caroline Caswell// One of our teachers in the beginning Home & Family herbcraft program in Austin. I caught her in the classroom today! Caroline works as a teacher at the Wildflower School and for the American Botanical Council----in other words, she works for the plants all the time. Caroline is a great herbalist and specializes in growing and propagating medicinals, making remedies, and seeing clients. She wears many hats, and leads classes and plant walks for the school. Early registration is happening now for September classes that meet on Sundays from 2-5pm. Join us at the link
2 weeks ago by wildflowerherbschool ///ROADSIDE BOTANIZING:SACRED DATURA/// Herbal Migration....Going North for the rest of Summer!!! I am driving up the West Coast and through the SONORAN DESERT. All along the sides of the roads at @anzaborregodesertsp I passed some really special blooms, still kickin it in the extreme heat of 110 degrees. Here we have the native Moonflower, our sacred Datura. It is toxic but I use the essence to inspire dreams and visions. This bud is about to open to the night and a very sweet scent will offer itself to nighttime pollinators. If you are lucky enough to find one and are
3 weeks ago by wildflowerherbschool NATIVE MEDICINAL MILKWEED Asclepias tuberosa. AKA Pleurisy Root. Abundant rainfall has led to amazing roadside botanizing!!! It is a rare thing to see blooms in July in Central Texas. Generally, everything gets burned out and dies back, waiting for Fall. This year, with rain and storms almost a daily occurrance, we have all sorts of green and blooming things that have survived. Here in Cedar Creek, this is the first time since we opened our botanical sanctuary our here in 2014 that I have been graced by this Milkweeds' presence. In the same stretch of road I also saw a
Online Learning
A warm welcome to those of you following the green path! We are excited to offer online herbal education to you through our site. Here are our 2019 offerings
- free online library with a blog and resources for students
- Live Single Online Class webinars listed here
- Audio Only downloads
- Recorded Webinars
Creating Sanctuaries in our Community:
Sowing the seeds of the herbal revolution one wildflower at a time!
Our herb school has educated students in holistic Western Herbalism since 2003. As our students and alumni thrive and grow, so has the school. In 2014, we stretched our wings and added a new campus. We now steward Big Moon Bee Farm, 8.5 acres just east of Austin as a botanical sanctuary, and are proud part of the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network. In 2016, we received a grant from the Native Plant Society of Texas to build garden beds for offering important plants for all phases of the Monarchs life cycle. In 2017 we installed honeybee hives and are now establishing our apiary. We remain a part of the Austin community with our partners at the American Botanical Council in East Austin, and participate in community outreach through our Wildflower Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders. Join us on your path as a herbalist, either online or in person. Learn how to seed herbalism in your own and be part of the important calling of protecting plants and people through herbal medicine
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