Fortifying powers of Nightingale’s flowers come to life at Chelsea
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE’S medicinal plant collection will come to life again at Chelsea Flower Show as gardeners celebrate the 200th anniversary of her birth.
Nightingale used herbal treatments to look after troops during the Crimean War, and kept a meticulous collection of pressed flowers.
The plants in the garden include some found in her own pressed flower collection, including species of peonies and ferns, as well as plants with strong medicinal properties which were used in the 19th century and are still used in medicine today.
Nightingale had an interest in gardening from the age of 10, when she received an album of pressed flowers from Margaret Stovin, an expert botanist and a family friend.
The garden, which is being planted to celebrate the 200th anniversary of her birth, consists of an imagined courtyard garden for a new hospital.
The theme of the space, designed by Robert Myers, is “nurture through nature”, inspired by the idea that the shortest road to recovery leads through a garden.
Designed as a restorative space, it is enclosed on three sides by a sculptural timber pergola, which provides a space from which to view the garden as well as a place to sit or stroll through.
Nightingale’s favourite flower, a foxglove, will also be a major component of the garden, which will otherwise feature a calming, pastel palette of green and yellow interspersed with blues, lilacs and pinks.
Chelsea Flower Show is aiming to shed light on loneliness and mental health this year, and many of the gardens carry a therapeutic theme.
Mr Myers said: “The garden will celebrate Florence Nightingale’s contribution to modern-day nursing using architectural design and modern materials to represent her enduring reforms in hospital construction, and vibrant planting to highlight the importance of green spaces for health and recovery.
“It has been a wonderful challenge and reflects my own passion for creating contemporary landscapes in historically and culturally significant contexts.”
The garden evokes key elements of Nightingale’s life: pale concrete and timber represent the materials that she endorsed for hospital construction, and a reflecting pool references her insights into drainage and cleanliness.
Shirley Baines, the chief executive of the Burdett Trust for Nursing, which is sponsoring the garden, said: “Florence Nightingale was at the forefront of modern-day nursing and an active lobbyist for reforms in healthcare.
“While she understood the importance of fresh air, sunlight and green spaces to well-being and recovery, she also recognised the significance of the architectural design and materials used in hospital construction.”