Chelsea Physic Garden

The Chelsea Physic garden is the largest collection of medicinal plants in the world and dates back until 1673. Last week I met head gardener and others for a tour of the garden.

Weeds? Horrors? It turns out weeds are gardener’s best friend.

What have weeds got to do with design I hear you ask?

Weeds, like some humans, are not always looked upon as being the perfect plant. Many would say they are not plants. In fact you will see many gardens now in England cementing over weed-prone areas and weed killer, ready for the cracks in the pavement. But beauty and usefulness are in the eye, of the third eye.

Society likes to pave over the ‘cracks’ in society. The people who don’t toe the line, the ones who take a different path. The analogy may feel lofty but I think human beans are much closer to weeds than what we once thought.

Oxalus, sticky willy, and sour thistle could sound like Musk’s alter ego or alternative punk rock band names. In the medicinal plant world, they are pretty interesting. Weeds have a huge role in shaping the garden eco-system. They shield plants from the sun, they draw up nutrients from the earth, improving soil quality and nutrient retention! And thale cress is used for experiments; it’s like the LAB RAT of the plant world, helping plants help other plants, and humans. Read this article by Shi En Kim, a nano-physicist who discusses the value of Thale Cress.

Ultimately plants serving other plants. Doesn’t that sounds like peace?!

To make life, is to feel alive.

Buzz words like ‘sensory gardens’ and ‘Mental wellbeing gardens’ are evidently silly phrases, according to one participant in the tour. ‘Just stick your fingers in the soil!’. That’s it. ‘Plant some things and propagate’, she said, ‘Producing life helps mental wellbeing’.

Use horticept or fairy liquid to disinfect pot plant containers before propagating? Or just leave them to do their thang, said the rebel.

Facts

I enjoyed learning about the medicine quad which houses all the original plant derivatives for modern medicine.

• Madagascan Karriwinkle (Catharanthus) was used as the base plant gene for the cure for Childhood leukaemia. A diagnosis of Leukimia meant a 90% chance of death, now, with the invention of medicines using this as a base, it is a 90% chance of living.
• Digitalus — is the basis, used for heart medicine
• Atropa beladona — a deadly nightshade plant of protective nature — rabbits can eat it, but if humans eat it you will die.
• Sweet Sicily — something interesting here.
• The Arts and Culture garden was particularly interesting. The Cactus needle was originally used to create music, to allow the vibration to travel through the needle — the original gramophone demanded!
• James Wong — Kew Gardens / Unearthed podcast. Apparently it’s interesting.
• I learnt about how trainees get to work in the garden and how they learn on the job, identifying plants and give presentations back to the group.
• Our Head gardener chatted to us about the importance of labels or else you won’t recognise or remember them. Labels used in 1950s. This starts with the botanical name, the latin name and then the common name.
• Rocket is classed as a weed.

Here is the emblem of the Apocethary — a very fitting, Apollo — ‘God of Healing’, straddling serpent of disease and fighting rhino horn!

The Global Exchange of seeds across countries is a practice that has existed since the 1600s. New seeds would be exchanged for learning purposes.

During COVID one of the oldest practices of all time stopped — the sharing of seeds. Now every seed packet within the UK must be shipped with a sanitary certificate and international shipping has stopped altogether. This made me think about our need to exchange, to cross-polinate, to share information, across time zones and generations. If the last few months has taught me anything, it’s that it’s not enough to sit on Zoom and learn stuff. Going out and doing it, helps cement the good stuff in.

I used to run a gardening club at Equal People in Kensington and Chelsea MENCAP’s activity project. And to be fair our runner beans and cherry tomatoes were as good as anything from out of Sicily. But my 21 year old self was still developing the patience! I look forward to a time where gardening can take a bigger role in my life.

The visit to Chelsea Physic garden left me so inspired! Go if you can!

Other resources

Real seed company seeds

Information about the Chelsea Physic Garden