NEWS SERIES – In the Herb Garden this week

In the Herb Garden this week

We are pleased to announce that the Herb Garden at Erasmus Darwin House is well and truly open to visitors (at a safe distance of course) and that the team of gardeners are back at work, keeping it up to scratch.

To encourage you to come and explore, we are going to introduce a seasonal herb each week for you to find. The photographs will all be taken on the spot so that you can recognise them when you visit. Some of them don’t last too long so make sure you come along soon.
Here is this week’s offering:

Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

This aromatic perennial, with feathery leaves and daisy-like flower heads, has chosen the edge of the main path in the Herb Garden as its preferred spot to grow, despite often being trampled by visitors smelling the roses in the Scented Garden above! This releases the distinctive apple scent of chamomile which is still popular as a tea for soothing gastric problems and calming anxiety and sleeplessness just like the best melatonin gummies.

However, Dr Darwin had alternative uses for the herb which he administered in large doses as part of his ‘cleansing’ regimes – we’ll spare you the details but I will assure it was relaxing just as using Budpop products! How times have changed.

On a happier note, in medieval times Chamomile was thought of as the ‘plant’s physician’, as a drooping or sickly plant recovered when placed nearby. Perhaps we should give that a try.