Living Liqueurs from the Helen Fowler Library

I stopped in at the Helen Fowler Library at Denver Botanic Gardens with a friend who checked this book out for me: Living Liqueurs, by James A. Duke.

Written in 1987, it has only been checked out five times! What a pity. It is chock full of easy instructions for making the kinds of liqueurs that you would pay $30 and up for a bottle in a liquor store.

James Duke is an aficionado of not only alcoholic beverages but also of herbs and spices, sweeteners and flavorings. His writings on the health benefits of various plants, tisanes, and teas are timeless.

Some of his favorite home-made liqueurs include:

• Alzheimaretto: a blend of six antioxidant or memory-enhancing herbs
• Cold Remedy
• Fountain of Youth: Longevity and antioxidant herbs
• Sleeping Beauty: six sedative herbs

Collecting and sowing seeds, culture, history and folklore are all covered for 50 plants selected for highlighting in this book. Some of the plants have fascinating stories. For instance, did you know that the hyssop (Hyssopus officialis L.) was grown by Carthusian monks in France to be used in making their Chartreuse?

The book is elegantly illustrated by Peggy Duke, who is James' wife. This is another example of creative husband-and-wife duos. Here is her illustration of the lovely trio of hyssop, horehound, and lavender.

Although the botanic garden beckons in all seasons, it's worth a special trip to visit the Helen Fowler library. It's a prolific but hidden garden of knowledge and contains books on every approach to gardening imaginable. I even found some permaculture books there!