Chelsea Physic Garden

Chelsea Physic Garden is a small, walled garden packed with stories, and it rewards visitors who like to read labels and ask why a plant matters. It was founded in 1673 to grow plants for medicine, and it is still arranged around how plants are used, so a walk here is as much about people and history as about flowers.

Inside the high brick walls, which trap heat and give the garden a warm microclimate, you will find themed areas. The Pharmaceutical Garden groups plants by the ailment they treat, the Garden of World Medicine arranges plants by the culture that uses them, and there are gardens of medicinal plants and of edible and useful plants, plus a World Woodland Garden. The rock garden is the oldest in Europe devoted to alpine and Mediterranean plants. Look for what the garden claims is the largest fruiting olive tree in Britain, and a grapefruit growing outdoors, said to be the most northerly in the world. Glasshouses hold tender species that cannot live outside.

Gardeners can pick up a lot here. The warm walls show how much shelter changes what you can grow, even in central London, and the themed beds are a good way to learn plant families and uses. This is a concentrated garden rather than a long walk, so allow time to stop and read.