• Beautiful calendula is just one of several annual herbs with medicinal properties.calendula image by Igor Zhorov from Fotolia.com
  
  Although medicinal herb gardeners often limit themselves to perennial herbs, a handful of annual herbs also possess healing properties. If you'd like to devote a garden just to healing herbs, set aside a few bare patches in your perennial garden bed or use several decorative containers which you can restock with annuals yearly.
  
  

Basil

• Traditionally cultivated for culinary purposes, basil does possess properties utilized by some herbalists. Basil's most common medicinal use involves taking it as a digestive aid, according to herbalist Lesley Bremness. She suggests infusing a handful of leaves in boiling water for 20 minutes to ease an unsettled stomach, or steeping a few leaves in red wine for several hours. Strain the basil from the wine and drink it as a mild tonic. Research presented at the 2009 British Pharmaceutical Conference suggests that Asian varieties of basil may help ease arthritic pain when taken in supplement form--or even when used fresh or in teas, if consumed regularly. Give basil your warmest, sunniest location in the herb garden or on your patio, and keep it well-watered.
  
  

Borage

• Gardeners can can emulate the ancient crusaders, who steeped borage leaves and flowers in wine to ease their nerves and bolster courage before setting off on their dangerous missions. The leaves seem to work on the adrenal gland, which controls stress levels, according to Bremness. A preparation of borage leaf tea or borage leaf-infused red wine may help ease frazzled nerves, while preparing a poultice from the leaves helps soothe irritated or bruised skin. Plant borage in a sunny part of your garden and give it room to spread; it grows 1 to 2 feet tall and has arching, flowering branches. The purple-flowered herb makes a handsome ornamental plant for herb or flower gardens.
  
  

Chamomile

• Chamomile's effectiveness as a soothing, gentle herbal tea is well-known, especially to fans of the Peter Rabbit stories. The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) notes that the perennial (Roman chamomile) and annual (German chamomile) forms of the herb can generally be used interchangeably. Taken internally as an infusion made from its dried or fresh flowers, chamomile tea calms nerves, soothes nausea and relieves gas and heartburn. Give no more than 1 to 2 ounces of tea (store-bought or infused from your own garden flowers) to a child, or 4 cups to an adult, over the course of a day. The flowers can also be infused in oils or creams to apply to the skin for minor irritations, including diaper rash, eczema and even swollen gums. Grow chamomile in a sunny spot where the low-growing herb won't be shadowed by taller plants.
  
  

Calendula

• Calendula (calendula officinalis), that cheerful staple of the annual flower garden, also stars in many herbal skin creams. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, researchers are not sure what active ingredients in calendula are responsible for its healing properties, but it appears to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial effects. Use dried, rather than fresh, calendula petals in topical creams and oils. Use these preparations for eczema and dermatitis, and for burns, cuts and wounds. Grow calendula in window boxes, containers or the front of a flower bed. The flowers--often called marigolds, but not related to the common marigold (tagetes)--grow between 12 to 20 inches tall and prefer a sunny location.