Mark McKain

I love visiting historic gardens when traveling. After reading about some of the great plant collectors of the 18th and 19th centuries and their connection to London’s Physic Garden, I was eager to discover this botanic wonder. But how to write about a garden founded in 1673 for medicinal use, the plants brought to this small plot on the bank of the Thames by collectors and garden enthusiasts such as Banks, Bartram, Linnaeus, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mary Somerset, and a global seed exchange program that continues today? I employed long lines and a traveling rhythm to enact my own voyage across the Atlantic by plane, car, train, boat and on foot to arrive at my destination in Chelsea. The umbrella-clutching tour guide strictly warned us not to eat any of the plants. Yes, some medicines were derived from deadly poison and some on past tours had paid a dear price for their curiosity. This was a different kind of garden. And I was here for more than intellectual stimulation, on a quest to a mythic and botanical world, seeking healing and connection, which the garden kindly offered.