The Chelsea Physic Garden in London (by Robin Gale-Baker)

[In 2024, Robin visited the Chelsea Physic Garden in London and this is one of several articles over the next few months on her observations of food related projects in the UK.]

The Chelsea Physic Garden was established 350 years ago in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London. It is by the Thames River in the Chelsea district of London and covers an area of 4 acres, though it is so compact that it seems smaller. The garden was established by the Apothecaries to grow medicinal plants for their professional use but today it grows around 4,500 plants that include edible plants, useful plants, poisonous plants, plants from around the world, threatened plants and woodlands.

In London, herbal stores or herbal apothecaries are common, and there is even a homeopathic hospital, indicating that alternative medicine is alive and well in the UK. Herbal remedies must have Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) before being marketed as a herbal medicine and can only be used for minor complaints that do not require modern medical management.

The Chelsea Physic Garden enables the public and professionals to identify the particular plants in a family that have medicinal or culinary properties. These herbs can be identified by the use of the word ‘officinalis’ in their name, for example, salvia officinalis (sage) and valerian officinalis (from which valium is derived). ‘Officinalis’ (or ‘officinale’) is derived from the Latin word ‘officina’, the store room that monks used to store useful herbs.

Herbs and medicinal plants remain important today as the active ingredient in a quarter of modern medicines derives from them. In addition to that, the Chelsea Physic Garden views food plants as medicinal in their own right.

Just inside the garden entrance are some 100-year-old wood-framed heated glasshouses which have been recently renovated with as much of the original wood as possible being retained and with sustainable systems for heating and watering incorporated. These contain a large collection of geraniums/pelargoniums and succulents from around the world that have medicinal uses (most commonly, the medicinal part of pelargoniums is the root). The collection includes some Australian specimens.

The poisonous garden contains a number of common plants, including hemlock-water dropwort, which could easily be mistaken for various fine, ferny-type leaves such as chervil, parsley and tansy or a number of herbs in their seeding stage. All parts are deadly and signs abound about not touching plants in this garden. There are also foxgloves, hellebores, aconitum, datura and myrrhis odorata (sweet Cicely). Interestingly, Agatha Christie completed her pharmaceutical training with the Worshipful Apothecaries in 1917, subsequently using her knowledge of poisons in many of her murder mysteries.

The main garden of medicinal herbs contains many plants that you would know and many that you would not suspect as having medicinal values. On a personal note, I was pleased that my herb identification was 100% accurate (I did run a herb nursery for 10 years in Tasmania so it should be, but nevertheless it is reassuring). All labels are botanical with no common names so you do need to know your Latin to get the most out of the garden.

Onto the useful plants, and these include one that has waterproofing qualities that is being tested for water run-off on breathable fabrics used in outdoor gear; others for soil detoxification including common sunflowers for gold harvesting via their leaves and removal of radioactive strontium from soil via their roots; and yet others for the production of fabrics, paper, rope, cosmetics, dyes and for scientific research.

The edible and tea gardens contained mostly plants familiar to all of us but of interest to me were a number of plants from different parts of the world that could be grown in Australia but are not. One of the suggestions I saw was that various fruits and vegetables from poorer countries including Madagascar be promoted in the UK to provide an export income for those countries. I immediately thought of the food miles that would generate but, compared to the distance to Australia, these would be relatively minor. It’s all a balancing act between improving the economies of poorer countries and the impact on climate change.

The final stop was the cacti house containing magnificent cacti from around the world, some with medicinal usages and some highly hallucinogenic.

To summarise, the Chelsea Physic Garden is a beautifully curated and relaxing oasis in the heart of a city of around 11 million people. Should you be lucky enough to visit London, the Chelsea Physic Garden is well worth a visit but, if not, there is still plenty to explore online.