Melanie’s Herb Diaries

St. John's Wort, freshly picked, laid out to dry on the Weekend FT.

Here are a selection of pictures I took at Chelsea Physic Garden yesterday. I hope you enjoy them! (NB once you've pressed play, remember to click the fullscreen icon in the bottom right-hand corner if you want to see the photos in full size)

I was fascinated to see that there was a whole section devoted to plants that are currently being used (or researched) for the purposes of 'land restoration'. We were told that after the Chernobyl disaster, rafts of sunflowers were floated out upon bodies of water contaminated with radioactive materials because it was found that sunflowers literally draw the uranium, caesium and strontium up out of the water through their roots. Apparently similar methods are being used in Japan now. Plants are amazing!

When I visited a friend for dinner yesterday, we sat out in her lovely garden and this plant was practically taking over the shrubbery! It is traditionally considered a medicinal herb, but is not one I currently use. However, it is a good example of something called the doctrine of signatures.