“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” (from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet)

Hidden behind tall, brick walls, the Chelsea Physic Garden in London is like a secret garden. This place has everything -- from plants used as herbal remedies to carnivorous plants that eat insects. The garden beds are marked for medicinal purposes, like psychology and cardiology. Michael Holland runs the education department at the Chelsea Physic Garden and offered to show us around. He told us that the Garden has been here for a few hundred years and was originally set up to train apothecaries.

We learned about conservation and renewal. After hearing about the long history of plants and flowers in medicine, I considered how integral they are to our lives and how protecting them is important to our well-being.

Did you know that some of the same plants and herbs used to treat sickness in Shakespeare’s day are still used today? Shakespeare even mentions plants in his plays, such as the potion used in Romeo and Juliet and the poision used in Hamlet.

Remember the mandrakes that screamed when plucked from the ground in Harry Potter? They have those here as well, and the myth of this screaming plant has been around for a very long time.

There was also a statue of Hans Sloane in the garden. Hans Sloane who is responsible for combining cocoa and milk to make a chocolate drink. It’s like he’s the original Willie Wonka!

From Chocolate Drinks To Afternoon Tea: An important English tradition that also relies on plants and flowers is tea drinking, which made its way to England around the time of the plague. The popularity of tea led to the creation of new jobs manufacturing lots of tea accessories: teakettles, teacups, teaspoons, and more.

Fancy a cuppa?

That’s Entertainment! Learn about the theatrical world.

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