The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants: An A-Z of Healing Plants and Home Remedies

by Monique Simmonds, Melanie-Jayne Howes, Jason Irving

The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants is a beautifully illustrated giftable gardening reference book, which combines exquisite botanical illustrations with practical self-help projects. Every day sees a discovery in the press about the new uses of plants, and it's certain that most of our most important drugs are derived from plants. From willow (used to procure aspirin) to periwinkle (used in chemotherapy to treat lymphoma) many common garden plants have provided cures in modern medicine. In this book readers can discover more than 200 life-saving plants and 25 home-grown remedies to make themselves. Each home cure is described and illustrated with step-by-step photographs to show how you can be a gardener and heal yourself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Nature, Plants, Health, Reference, Coffee Table Books

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful book with amazing illustrations and a little synopsis about the plant and it's uses. I wish it just had a little bit more, but it's a great beginning!

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about plants and herbs that can be grown in British gardens and used for healing purposes. It has short descriptions, many beautiful illustrations, and some recipes for tisanes, tinctures, creams, balms, etc. A lovely addition to my small gardening library.
The book doesn’t say how to grow or identify those plants if foraging, but it mentions the type of soil they like and what parts are used for medicinal purposes.
The book is not very hard on some poisonous plants. Usually a foraging book would sound alarms at the mention of horse chestnut and snowdrops, for example, as they can be very toxic, but this one just mentions their toxicity in passing. On the other hand, comfrey that is ok for eating in many foraging books that I have, is not advised for internal usage here at all. Go figure. I would suggest not to rely on this book ONLY if you want to consume any medicinal plants, but to cross check with other sources.

[Draugathriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! I'm using it as a reference guide while I write my fantasy novel. It has amazingly detailed pictures with great description of old time use as well as scientific discoveries.

[Diane Sallans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book thru a Goodreads Giveaway. It's a beautiful book presented thru the British Royal Botanic Gardens called Kew. It caught my eye because of mentions of the use of herbs in historical stories (both fictional and factual). The book gives information, in an A->Z format, on hundreds of medicinal plants plus 24 recipes (both topical and for ingestion). Each plant description includes an excellent drawing of the plant, a description of it's uses (past and present), and often a statement on current medicinal connections and perhaps studies. It even includes that pants I often use in cooking like garlic, asparagus, cabbage etc. This would make an excellent gift for anyone with an interest in plants or medicine.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boyfriend bought this book to me. I love plants and this one has a beautiful layout. All the principal plants are present. The things is it seems that all the women and men hormonal properties & womb health are not anough mentioned to my taste even when the plant are specifically known for their properties on the feminine track… Most of the properties are about digestive system and some of the properties are a bit outdated like “helping to heal cholera” “help heal hysteria” even though it was the original use it doesn’t serve so much today without an explanation. And I believe we knew way more before the burning of witches.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm impressed with the detailed drawings of all the plants covered, the description of the plants traditional uses as well as the recipes for making home remedies. As an avid hiker I'm now paying more attention in seeking out the wild varieties of the various plants in my area.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

These types of books are so comforting to me. This book was a gift, and I am so grateful because it was exactly what I needed. The information is not too heavy, is easy to remember for the casual gardener/herbalist/hippie, and the illustrations are beautiful!

[Stephanie Weima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, seductive illustrations, informative.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read bc love this book and aways learn so much from it

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't actually read the whole of this book - it's more of a reference. But it's gorgeously illustrated, scientifically backed, and very clear. Good stuff.