Garden Design magazine recently called the Robison York State Herb Garden one of the best in America. Herbs are plants valued as flavorings, medicines, and fragrances, as well as those put to other practical household or commercial use. Rather than being staples of life, like our basic food crops, herbs contribute to our quality of life and enhance its pleasures.

The Robison York State Herb Garden has diverse and thematic presentations. It is, in essence, a reference collection of living plants that have been important in human culture throughout the ages. Mingled within its beds and borders are plants of the ancient world, plants used by Native Americans, and culinary plants from every corner of the globe. Let your senses explore fragrant herbs, edible flowers, and scented geraniums. Linger on the stone seats for an intimate view of the herbs in the raised beds. Learn more from the labels on every plant.

Herbs made life livable. People first used the native food and fiber herbs for sustenance and shelter. They learned by trial and error, since some plants could kill. Those who survived learned the power of the seed. We shall never know who first observed a plant sprouting in the refuse heap next to a hut and witnessed the lesson of life's renewal; or who first scratched the earth, planted a seed, and started us along the path to agriculture and horticulture.

Herbs made life endurable. Who was the first to discover that chewing on a stalk of yarrow eased an aching tooth? Through the ages, people found the healing plants - sometimes by accident, sometimes from observing the habits of animals. From this, the sciences of medicine and botany were born.

Herbs made life pleasurable. Throughout the ages, fragrant and colorful herbs were valued perhaps because they brought beauty, joy, and growth to the human spirit.

[link to the herb garden website]