With 80 surreal illustrations and lively tales, this book imagines a physick garden of healing plants that have been used across the globe by different generations for their healing powers – to both positive and deadly effect.

Through the ages, these herbal remedies have become enshrined in folklore, and so too the names we have given the plants and the old wives’ tales we continue to tell our children. Many have also found their way into modern medicine cabinets. But can comfrey really be used to heal broken bones? And can St John’s wort scare away more than bad spirits? The Physick Garden takes you from the brain to the bowels to show that sometimes there was method in what might now be seen as madness.

This book is by no means instructional and in writing it we aren’t recommending treatments. Neither is it comprehensive – there are notable exceptions. Our aim is to intrigue, surprise and delight, by offering the curious and inspiring stories of plants that have historically been used to heal and of their reappearances in modern medicine cabinets.