Bloomsbury Square Physic Garden
Welcome to our garden in Bloomsbury Square. It's no ordinary garden; it is a physic garden. What's a physic garden? If you want to know more, read on!
A physic garden has plants with medicinal properties for doctors to consult. In the garden in front of you there are a group of medicinal plants, for example, lavender and rosemary which help you relax and go to sleep.
It all started back in 2011 with 30 energetic school children that knew nothing about physic gardens or life-saving plants. One day a group of botanists and gardeners came to fill our heads with knowledge on plants to prepare us for our hardest mission yet: to make a physic garden.
They took us to see the Chelsea Physic Garden which inspired us. They helped us with planting and digging the garden. It took us months to give Bloomsbury Square a makeover and make this colourful, magical garden.
We made this garden to celebrate Sir Hans Sloane who lived here for nearly fifty years in the Georgian era. Do you know anything about the famous botanist and collector Sir Hans Sloane? Find out more on the other board.
Written and designed by:
Alice, Ambrin, Bluebelle, Chloe, Cidhalia, Conrad, Danny, Dora, Drena, Ella, Elliot, Estella, Fatima, Hawi, Joe, Katie, Mai-Mai, Moly,
Natty Sam, Samiah, Samuel, Racquelle, Reese, Reuben, Ricky, Ruby Samiala, Vincent, Zack
On this board there are QR codes which you can scan on your smart phone for more information, or go to www.eleanorpalmer.camden.sch.uk.
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
This is a bright purple plant that grows to the height 1-1.2 metres and flowers between July and September. We chose this plant because it is bee friendly and has a bright purple flower. We also chose it because it is called Silybum
Chinese Lantern (Physalis alkekengi)
This plant has pretty orange lanterns with fruit inside in the summer. It was used in the past to treat all sorts of illnesses, like fevers or anaemia. Medicinal plants are usually poisonous plants, and this plant is poisonous apart from the fruit.
Lavender (Fueniculum Vulgare)
We chose this plant because it is sweet smelling and beautiful too. People sometimes make tea from it for tummyache and Hans Sloane used it to treat eye problems.
Hardy Bamama (Musa basjoo)
The fruit (banana) is yellow, the flower is creamy yellow! Musa basjoo is not bee friendly but its medical use is that its diuretic.The link to Sir Hans Sloane is that he went to Jamaica, where other types of banana are grown. The reason why we chose this was because banana trees are cool!
Pigeon's Scabious (Scabiosa columbaria)
This has purple flowers that attract bees and butterflies, which is why we chose it.We don't know why it's called Pigeon's scabious, but another name for it is pincushion flower because it looks like an old-fashioned pincushion.
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