Chelsea Physic Garden

Time Out says

Mon Dec 17 2012

Founded in 1673, Chelsea Physic Garden contains the world's oldest rock garden, made from fused bricks and flint, stones from the Tower of London, and Icelandic lava brought up the Thames by ship in 1772. Today the garden is also home to Britain's first garden of ethnobotany (the study of the botany of different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples). The garden is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday and bank-holiday Monday afternoons from April to October, with late openings on midsummer Wednesdays. There's a shop where visitors can buy unusual plants and a café that serves very good homemade cakes. For summer 2013, the garden’s planting focuses on superfoods, with established plants as exotic as pomegranates and olives being supplemented by those as everyday as beetroot, apple and kale, which grow happily outdoors in the UK. Illustrated information panels, guided tours and a series of walks, talks and workshops take place throughout the growing season, including a talk on 'Amazing and unusual edibles' by Joy Larkcom (Sun May12 2-3.30pm; £25pp).