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Spring is fully here — you can feel it in the longer days, the birdsong, and the first green shoots unfurling into blossoms. It’s a season that calls us into action, motion, and growth.
And just like the plants — stretching, seeking, emerging — we, too, are in a season of growth.
At Wild Rose College, this past winter has been a time of deep reflection. We’ve turned inward, asking ourselves important questions:
🌿What are we really good at?
🌿What are we most passionate about?
🌿And where can we bring the most value to those who walk the plant path with us?
This exploration brought us to the sweet spot where our strengths, our love for the work, and the needs of our community intersect. And what we found was both affirming and illuminating.
We recognized areas where we’re thriving — like offering trusted, evidence-informed herbal education that’s rooted in tradition and taught by people who truly live this work. We also saw places where we could grow stronger, clearer, and more aligned.
“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.” — Meister Eckhart
Growth isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it happens in quiet meetings, long conversations, and honest moments of clarity. Over the past few months, we’ve made some bold changes. We’ve re-aligned our focus, re-evaluated our offerings, and made some tough decisions to let go of what no longer fits.
Most notably, we’ve permanently closed enrollment for our Clinical Herbalist Program. This was not a decision made lightly, but one rooted in our desire to ensure we’re offering the most impactful and sustainable paths forward for our students. We’re also in the process of reevaluating our continuing education offerings and the broader professional development landscape, with the goal of providing more meaningful, relevant support to our graduates as they move into practice and community work.
We’re expanding in exciting new directions — including the recent launch of the Wild Rose Podcast. Now streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, This platform will allow us to connect herbalists from all walks and fields — clinicians, community herbalists, researchers, wildcrafters, growers, and more — to our students in meaningful ways.
Through thoughtful conversations and storytelling, the podcast will enrich and expand students’ understanding of what it means to work with plants, offering inspiration, practical insights, and real-world applications of herbal knowledge. It’s a way for us to continue supporting diverse learning and foster a sense of connection across our wider herbal community.
Check out our inaugural episode, “Inclusive, Practical, Radical – Herbal Wisdom with 7Song,” where we explore inclusive men’s health, accessible herbal care at Rainbow Gatherings and Standing Rock, and decades of experience in community clinics. Listen now on Apple or Spotify!
As most of you already know, we also welcomed students to the new Wild Rose Herbal Village. We moved off of Facebook and onto our own dedicated platform — giving us the freedom to shape our community in ways that truly resonate with our herbal folk. The Village is your virtual herbal learning hub, filled with multimedia resources, exclusive content, and an ever-growing circle of like-minded plant lovers.
Whether you’re deep into your herbal journey or just starting out, you’ll find inspiration, support, and fresh ways to explore the plant path. In the coming months we’ll be exploring and then implementing new, interactive ways to learn — from playful challenges to tech-integrated tools designed to deepen engagement and curiosity.
Internally, we’re working to align and strengthen our team to ensure a smoother, more connected experience for every student who walks through our digital doors. These changes reflect our enduring commitment to those who choose to learn with us — and our desire to grow with you, not just as an institution, but as a thriving herbal community.
One of the biggest things we’re looking forward to this season? Our 50th Anniversary Herb Conference, happening June 6–8 in stunning Kananaskis, Alberta. This special 3-day gathering will bring together herbalists, students, teachers, and plant lovers to celebrate five decades of Wild Rose College. With forest walks, fireside tea chats, hands-on workshops, and wisdom from some of the most respected voices in Canadian herbal medicine—including our own alumni and instructors—it’s a true celebration of everything we’ve grown together.
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” — James Cash Penney
Now we emerge. With roots stronger than ever and new branches reaching skyward.
This new season brings a renewed commitment to our mission: to support, educate, and empower herbalists — from the curious beginner to the seasoned practitioner. We’re refining what we offer so that it’s not just bigger, but better — more engaging, accessible, and relevant, and more deeply aligned with the plant path and the people we serve.
We know we’re not walking this path alone. Our community — you — have been with us every step of the way. Your passion, your feedback, your patience, and your presence have helped shape where we’re headed.
This spring, we invite you to continue to grow with us.
To explore the new.
To root deeper.
To trust the emerging.
It’s a season of growth, reflection, and reconnection—and we’re just getting started. 🌱✨
With gratitude and green blessings,
-The Wild Rose College Team
From the Wild Rose Podcast with Dr. Susan Leopold, Executive Director of United Plant Savers What does it really mean to care for the plants we use? Herbalism brings us into relationship with plants in a very direct way. We learn about them, grow them, gather them, make medicine with them, and depend on them. […]
There’s a cultural expectation that spring arrives like a light switch. One day we’re tired and inward, the next we’re energized, motivated and ready to “detox.” But the body doesn’t work that way. Spring is not an instant awakening. It’s a transition. And for many people, that transition is messy, uncomfortable and misunderstood. The Awkward […]
Winter draws us inward. The days are shorter, the air is heavier, and for many of us, the heart feels a little more tender this time of year. In herbal medicine, the heart is never just a pump. It is the seat of emotional circulation, connection, rhythm and warmth. In the dark season, when external […]
At Wild Rose College, we believe winter isn’t a pause in learning, it’s an invitation to go deeper. While the world around us is rushing into resolutions and to-do lists, nature continues to rest. The plants are still holding their energy underground. The light is just beginning to return. And within this quiet, there’s space […]
