PLANT ALLIES

PLANT ALLIES

HARVEST & CARE

At CRONE, we harvest from trees responsibly as part of local forest stewardship helping to reduce brush and small overgrowth that can fuel wildfires while allowing the elder trees to continue thriving. This practice honors both ecological balance and the well-being of the forest itself.

Our evergreens are responsibly gathered from family land in Fieldbrook, California, as well as from the diverse forest canopy across the Humboldt and Northern California mountain regions. We collect from naturally fallen branches and through gentle seasonal pruning, always with intention and respect. Only small amounts are taken, allowing the forest to thrive untouched.

Each collection is a small ritual of thanks, a moment to honor the living spirit of the trees and the sacred energy that protects, uplifts, and restores balance to the whole.

PLANT ALLIES

HEALING AND KNOWING

The forest teaches us that healing is not a single act, but a relationship. This unification is one of listening, reciprocity, and reverence. Each plant ally featured in CRONE Self-Care page is gathered, grown, or wildcrafted with respect to the land, honoring the living energy that sustains us. These herbs and evergreens hold their own distinct properties and stories, woven into the CRONE blends that nurture body, mind, and spirit.

At the heart of CRONE, our Plant Allies are more than ingredients, they are living teachers of healing and knowing. Each carries a unique energy property that supports physical and mental being. Our Plant Allies page honors these companions through personal story, education and science, and sacred relationship: their common names, scientific names,medicinal properties, and the personal connections shape how they are used within CRONE Self-Care.

PLANT ALLIES: MEET THE FOREST

REDWOOD: THE ANCIENT GUARDIAN

Scientific Name

Sequoia Sempervirens

Medicinal & Energetic Properties

Redwood is grounding, strengthening, and deeply restorative. Known for its high vitamin C content and gentle astringency, it supports skin health, immune vitality, and emotional endurance. Energetically, Redwood holds the energy of resilience, standing tall while remaining interconnected through a vast network of unseen roots. It reminds us that true strength is both individual and collective.

A Personal Story

I grew up on six acres of land surrounded by towering Redwoods. My bare feet nestled into the fallen, aged brown needles that carpeted the earth. During windstorms, the air would fill with a cascade of redwood needles, what I believed were redwood needle fairies, gliding through the air to rest their wings from the power of the wind. These moments of magic shaped how I see the forest, as alive, watchful, and wise. Today, Redwood remains the heart of CRONE: a plant ally of endurance, reflection, and timeless knowledge , the very essence of our Redwood Wisdom tea.

PINYON, MONTEREY & SUGAR PINE, THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE FOREST

Scientific name

Pinus edulis (Pinyon Pine), Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine), Pinus lambertiana (Sugar Pine)

Medicinal & Energetic Properties

The Pines are the breath of the forest, cleansing, uplifting, and ever renewing. Their resins and needles are rich in vitamin C and antiseptic compounds that support the lungs, sinuses, and immune system. Energetically, the Pines hold the energy of illumination and renewal. They clear stagnation, lift heaviness, and remind us that healing is both grounding and expansive, a return to light after darkness.

A Personal Story

The Pines remind me of camping at Trinity Lake, California. These summers were filled with family laughter, shared meals, and the occasional rain storm on our canvas tents. Back then, I didn’t always appreciate camping; the preparation left me weary. But over the years, I’ve grown to love the quiet communion that follows the breath of the trees, the sparkle of the stars, and the sacred simplicity of belonging to the land.

Monterey Pine holds a piece of my story untold, all of its own, one of unsuspected transformation. The name carries a piece of who I am today. In Humboldt, the Monterey Pines grow all around me, symbols of a time of pain, of healing, and now, of acceptance. They stand as witnesses to my becoming, tall, slender sentinels of endurance and grace.

And then, there is Sugar Pine, my favorite of them all, with cones like sculpted treasures. The Sugar Pine embodies the essence of CRONE, ancient, generous, and filled with wisdom. When I first presented CRONE, it was to my beloved group of “Herb Scouts,” a circle of women with whom I studied with at Dandelion Herbal Center for over a year. These women are my kin in spirit, and we still gather each month to shine light and love upon one another. It was on an adventure with them to Horse Mountain that the foundation of CRONE was quietly spun as a web of forest medicine, and calling. The Pines were there as witnesses, their golden needles shimmering in the mountain light, whispering reminders of strength, belonging, and becoming.

The Pines, in all their forms, remain to me a symbol of family, of holding space for one another, of celebrating the light that filters through even in the wildest weather.

INCENSE CEDAR, THE GUARDIAN FLAME

Scientific name

Calocedrus Decurrens

Medicinal & Energetic Properties

Incense Cedar radiates a grounding, protective, and uplifting energy. Its aromatic wood and needles hold purifying and antimicrobial properties, long used to cleanse the air and strengthen the body’s natural defenses. Energetically, Cedar embodies sacred masculinity steady, bold, and unwavering. It brings courage where there is fear, clarity where there is confusion, and a comforting sense of safety that anchors the heart.

A Personal Story

While many evergreens in my world hold a balanced blend of masculine and feminine energy, the Incense Cedar stands apart. Its presence is strong, bold, and deeply protective, the living embodiment of the men in my life who have shaped my story with love and steadfastness.

I have been profoundly blessed by precious men, by my Dad, who married my mom when I was two years old and has loved and nurtured me as his own; my “Daddy of all dads.” By my father-in-law, whose tenderness and pride remind me of the strength found in acceptance. By my husband, my rock of thirty-one years, who has supported every dream, every wild idea, and whose love protects and grounds me like the cedar roots anchoring the forest floor. By my five sons, both by blood and by unity, who show me daily what it means to be kind, gentle, strong, and truly good men of heart and purpose. By my Grandpa Elmo, who twirled me around the living room with vanilla ice cream in hand, making laughter its own kind of prayer. And by the many uncles who carried both playfulness and protection in equal measure. These men, these guardians of my story, are the spirit of Cedar itself. When I harvest Incense Cedar, I pour their love, humor, and strength into every touch. The scent of cedar smoke, the sharpness of its needles, the warmth of its wood all mirror the embrace of those who have protected and inspired me.

Through Ignited in the Cedars, the CRONE Forest Bathing Hydrotherapy blend, this ally carries their essence: a loving, gentle masculine energy that uplifts the soul and reminds us that strength and tenderness can coexist beautifully.