Wealden Times | WT245 | October 2022 | Kitchen & Bathroom Supplement inside

Garden
Herb
Appeal
Sue Whigham explores the rich history of herbalists
istockphoto.com/ botamochi
So where to start. Perhaps with
John Gerard, 16th century
naturalist and herbalist (1545-
1612) who had responsibility for many
important British gardens including
the Physic Garden at the College
of Physicians in London. Gerard
also had a garden ‘in the suburb of
Holborn’ where he cultivated over
a thousand rare plants. His Great
Herball or, Generall Historie
of Plantes was published
in 1597 and although he
was accused of plagiarism
amongst other things, his work
became a popular gardening and
herbalists reference book in the
17th century. Gerard was known as
‘one that greatly delighteth in strange
plants’ but his lack of horticultural
education and knowledge led him to
make mistakes which included his
description of the barnacle tree that
apparently brought forth geese!
We went to Dungeness last week as I
wanted to introduce my grandchildren
to the garden at Prospect Cottage
created by Derek Jarman. I can’t
say that they were very interested;
much preferring the wide open
shingle beach and the opportunity to
collect pebbles with holes in them.
We did have a seal sighting with
a lone seal flipping his catch above
his head. And then there was a film
crew arranging a black cube on the
shingle. ‘It’s art!’ he said with a wink.
To celebrate the purchase of Prospect
Cottage by the Art Fund, The Garden
Museum at Lambeth have set up an
online exhibition on Derek Jarman
and his connection with Gerard’s
Herball. It seems that he was inspired
by the Herball and owned a copy
which he used to research the plants
growing at Dungeness as well as those
he collected for his garden there. His
rather beautiful descriptions taken
from his diary include that of a purple
sage given to him by his neighbours. It
seems that sage attracts toads and there
was a long line of Boccaccio’s toads
that lived under his sage bush for years.
He also noted that nearly all the
flowers growing on the shingle are
mentioned in Herball or are a part of
ancient folklore. And his description
of the foxgloves of the Ness is so
evocative. ‘Strident purple
in the yellow broom,
they stand
exposed to wind
and blistering
sunshine, as
rigid as guardsmen
on parade’.
Foxgloves (Digitalis
purpurea) contain digitalis,
useful in measured doses for
heart conditions, and the plant has
a long list of splendid common
names including Witches’ Gloves,
Dead Men’s Bells and Fairy’s Glove.
Jarman describes their speckles
103 priceless-magazines.com