Book review: fascinating tome from Kew
If you have an interest in plants and their therapeutic properties, The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants is a must-have for your library. As it says on the cover, it’s An A-Z of Healing Plants and Home Remedies and is a beautiful reference book, combining exquisite botanical illustrations with practical self-help projects.
It is written by Prof. Monique Simmonds, Dr Melanie-Jayne Howes and Jason Irving. They all work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the book outlines 220 life-saving plants and 25 home-grown remedies.
The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants – expert knowledge
Kew is a world-famous centre for botanical and mycological knowledge. During the past 250 years, it has made innumerable contributions to increasing the understanding of plants and fungi, with many benefits for humankind. Jason Irving is a writer, forager and qualified herbalist. He works on the Medicinal Plant Names Services project, developing and promoting a global resource for plant names.
Dr Melanie-Jayne Howes is a registered pharmacist and Chartered Chemist. She obtained a PhD in pharmacognosy before she was appointed a phytochemist.
A wealth of plant knowledge
Prof. Monique Simmonds is Deputy Director of Science and has more than 30 years of experience working on different aspects of medicinal plant research. Read more on plants for pollinators and companion planting. Visit my category posts on gardening book reviews.
Details: 224 pages, 500 colour illustrations and photos. 215mm x 160mm, hardback. ISBN 9780711238107. Published by Frances Lincoln in association with RBG Kew, 2017. Available from good bookshops. For more on the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, visit www.kew.org.
Read more horticultural book reviews you might like – The Thoughtful Gardener and Good Soil; Urban Flowers; The Salad Garden; The Jam Maker’s Garden; RHS The Creative Gardener and Charles Dowding’s No-Dig volume.
