Green London: London's First Botanical Garden
Visitors to Chelsea Physic Garden today can find plants for healing and hygiene, perfumery and cosmetics, religious practices, and even poisons. When it first opened in 1673, Chelsea Physic Garden was where the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London grew medicinal plants and trained apprentices. Nowadays it is a charity with a mission “to demonstrate the medicinal, economic, cultural and environmental importance of plants to the survival and well-being of humankind.”
If you’re wondering why poisonous plants have long been part of the collection, it’s because people training to be herbalists need to know the difference between ones that can cure and kill. An information board gives an example: Conium maculatum, hemlock, is poisonous. However, when it is young, the green leaves and white flowers resemble Myrrhis odorata, sweet cicely, a medicinal plant.
The gardens are a beautful place to visit, covering four acres on the Thames Embankment. You can wander around the flowerbeds and greenhouses, or sit on a bench and enjoy a little relaxation in nature. Normal admission is £13.50 for adults, but there’s a March ticket offer of £5 tickets on Mondays and Tuesdays – so you could pop along today or on Monday 31st.
I took the photos on this page last weekend, when there was also a special £5 entry price. The one at the top is a general view. The one below shows a daffodil in the poison garden, a seasonal reminder that however beautiful these yellow flowers of springtime are to look at, they are not edible.
I’ve been blogging regularly about London’s green spaces in an effort to dispel a prevalent myth that the city is all just concrete. You can see links to some of my other Green London posts below:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/03/green-london-japanese-gardens-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/11/green-london-victoria-park-in-autumn.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/10/green-london-ancient-woodlands-around.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-richmond-park-national.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-riverview-walk-river-pool.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/06/green-london-lincolns-inn-fields.html
To read more posts like this visit A Bad Witch’s Blog at www.badwitch.co.uk
Source: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/03/green-london-londons-first-botanical.html
