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What if a flower bloomed between worlds—between poison and medicine, madness and healing, death and rebirth?

In this episode of Gathered: Storied Botanicals, I offer a retelling of the Greek myth of Melampus and the daughters of King Proetus, whose divine curse drives them into a feral madness that only a mysterious “black flower” can cure. Woven through this story is the hellebore: a winter-blooming plant steeped in ancient medicine, witchcraft, folklore, and superstition. Revered and feared in equal measure, hellebores have been used to ward off spirits, extract fairy curses, treat melancholy, and—at great risk—purge the body of madness.

From ancient Greece and Rome to Celtic lore, medieval medicine, and modern gardens, this episode explores the hellebore’s paradoxical nature and why it continues to captivate us today. You’ll learn how this resilient, shadow-loving flower became associated with protection, possession, and transformation—and why its beauty feels especially potent in the depths of winter.

A story of terror, resilience, and uneasy cures, this episode asks what it means to heal, who bears the cost of that healing, and how a poisonous flower became a symbol of survival.

To bring more flowers into your life, consider joining The Botanical Post. Each month, members receive a floral art print, a poem, a flower postcard, and a personalized letter from me. You can join and learn more here.

And for all things words, flowers, and art, head over to here.

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In this short, poetry-centered episode of Gathered: Storied Botanicals, host Allison B. Young shares a poem, Waking This First Night Sharing My Bed. First drafted years ago and revisited after surviving a house fire, the poem reflects on intimacy, home, breath, and the unseen ways we are connected.

A Botanical Reading marks a new mini-episode in between the usual podcast format and offers a quiet moment to slow down, listen, and sit with words.

The poem featured in this episode is part of The Botanical Post, a monthly floral art mail club and Substack offering that delivers floral art, poetry, postcards, and letters directly to your mailbox — another way of bringing more flowers into your life.

Learn more about The Botanical Post and subscribe here.

To explore more about Gathered: Storied Botanicals, visit:
gathered-storiedbotanicals.com

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After lots of tech issues, the final podcast episode of the year is here! In this episode, I offer a strange harbinger of hope: the mushroom. Across the globe, folklore casts these fruiting bodies as symbols of mystery, death, and decay. But what if they can stand in for something more uplifting in our collective understanding of them?

I reference "Mycoremeditation: The Under-Utilized Art of Fungi Clean Ups" by Jacob Dykes in this episode, an article worth checking out!