Hanging herbs

All forms of nightmares roam the night. In rural areas, where there is not much protection, the people must rely on what they have at hand to defend themselves. It became tradition to hang bundles of drying herbs around the doors of houses in rural areas, and even in some more populated areas, as a way to fend off evil creatures.
Sage, rosemary, thyme, tumeric, dill, bay, garlic, onions (actuallly a vegetable), parsley, cilantro, marjorim, and many others, are all hung around the doors and windows of houses on the side to protect against any number of nasty spirits, insects, pests, and even monsters. While the true effectiveness of all of these hanging is arguable, specific herbs might have an influence in stopping some pests or spirits. For instance pine bows help to prevent mosquitos, and vampires hate garlic.
This ritual came about as the rural people needed to dry their herbs, and considering the doors of many rural houses face east, it makes sense to put the herbs on the east face of the house to catch the morning sun and heat to help expedite the drying process.
The possibility exists that other herbs, such as medicinal herbs were hund on the side of someones house and actually drove away some spirit or beast, but the exact type is unknown. Therefor hanging any herbs is considered to drive off unwanted beings, spirites, or beasts.
Wolfsbane is definitely a good herb to hang, even if you don't need to use it as it will ward off were creatures or lycanthropes such as werewolves, wearboars and wererats, even if they are in their human form. It also wards off wild dogs and wolves in the world of Plane of Karenth.
That being said, drying herbs can be found on the outside walls of many houses throughout the world as they are easy to grow, harvest, preserve, and add wonderful flavor to foods. Others are protective, but the extent is still truly questionable.