Garden Display: Healing Garden

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The desire to harness the healing power of plants is centuries old. Throughout the course of history, we have often turned to our own back gardens to provide relief from our ailments. Lemon balm, honeysuckle, marjoram and mint – there are many plants that we grow at home that throughout history have been put to medicinal use. Details of treatments can be found in botanical encyclopaedias, known as ‘herbals’, which promoted the use of plants for culinary purposes but also for health and wellbeing. Containing a fusion of classical teachings, folklore and practical observation, they make for a compelling read – but how much of their advice has stood the test of time? 

The early printed herbals of the 16th to 18th centuries feature many familiar plants that still grow in and around our gardens today. Separating medicinal uses from medical myths, this small display at RHS Garden Hyde Hall will look at how our understanding of these plants has changed and investigate their use for healing today.

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Image: (partial view) Daffodil. Hand-coloured engraved plate from John Edwards 'A select collection of one hundred plates', 1775. RHS Lindley Collections.