The Physic Garden of Pennsylvania Hospital
The jewel in the crown of the Pennsylvania Hospital gardens
Eighteenth-century hospital herbal gardens were virtual drugstores. Physicians used the plants, both those introduced by European settlers and those native to the area, to prepare “physics” for their sick patients.
Contemporary gardens on hospital grounds remind us of our continued dependency on plants and the current interest in natural medicine.
The Physic Garden
Five physicians signed a letter in 1774 requesting that a medicinal herb garden be planted at Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation’s first, founded by Benjamin Franklin.
Their dream came true — 202 years later. The central curved beds and walled borders contain labeled plants representative of the herbs, trees and shrubs grown for medical uses in the 18th century.
The adjacent Pine Street garden is simply brilliant in the Spring, when 100-year old wisteria vines and azalea bushes bloom anew.