(September 28, 2006) - In celebration of HerbDay 2006, the American Botanical Council (ABC), an Austin-based educational nonprofit, will host a free event on Saturday, October 14, 2006 from 10:00AM until 4:00PM. The event will be held on the grounds of ABC’s headquarters at 6200 Manor Road in Austin and will include herb walks, lectures and demonstrations.

Speakers at the ABC event will include Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC who will speak about Western Herbalism from 2:00PM until 3:00PM. Charlotte Jernigan will speak on Ayurvedic Medicine from 10:00AM until 11:00AM and William Morris, president of the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin, will speak on herbs used in Oriental medicine from 12noon until 1:00PM. Garden tours will be led by local herbalists, Carlos Hernandez, Ginger Webb and Ellen Zimmermann at 11:00AM, 1:00PM and 3:00PM respectively. Demonstrations will take place on the front porch of ABC’s headquarters throughout the day. Kara Kroeger, owner of Body Ritual Herbs, will demonstrate aromatherapy. Nicole Telkes, founder of the Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine, will demonstrate medicine making. ABC staff and interns will demonstrate tea making. Books and plants will also be available for sale.

HerbDay, a new national event, will be celebrated all across the nation on Saturday, October 14, or during the weeks before and after that date. Retail stores, schools, farms and botanical gardens, and public parks are hosting a wide range of activities and site-specific events, including lectures and workshops, book signings and talks by renowned authors, guided plant identification walks with experienced botanists, in-store demonstrations, seasonal herbal handcrafts, in-store product demonstrations, children’s activities, and more.

Five national nonprofit organizations are working together as the HerbDay Coalition to launch this event - American Botanical Council, American Herbalists Guild, American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, American Herbal Products Association, and United Plant Savers. More information about HerbDay activities and resources, and event registration forms are available at: http://www.herbday.org.