Modern Herbal

THE BEST GARDENING BOOKS OF THE YEAR - GARDENS ILLUSTRATED'Informative and enthusiastic' i PaperPLANT-BASED MEDICINE FOR A CALMER, HEALTHIER LIFE It's easy to turn to the pharmacy when we're stressed, sick or feeling under the weather, but what if you turned to your garden instead?In this accessible and easy to use manual, horticultural expert, former Gardener's World presenter and Guardian columnist, Alys Fowler, shows how to take control of your health by adopting a more natural lifestyle. For thousands of years, people who had no access to clinical medicine knew how to boost their well-being by using the ingredients they found in plants. Herbs are the people's medicine; often freely available and abundant, they are ready and waiting to be plucked from around you to soothe and heal your body and mind. With guides for how to use and grow over 100 herbs - for example how to use fennel for indigestion, camomile for anxiety and nettle for hayfever - you'll soon be heading into the garden, rather than opening the medicine cabinet. Offering a fusion of botanical, practical, cultural and historical information, A Modern Herbal reveals how common herbs are the simple, cleansing way to better health and happiness.'An important and accessible herbal for the 21st century . . . For anyone delving into herbs for the first time or those who want to broaden their herbal repertoire in the garden and home, this book is much needed' Gardens IllustratedAS SEEN IN THE GUARDIAN

Informative and enthusiastic, An important and accessible herbal for the 21st century . . . this book provides plenty of practical growing advice . . . Her extensive experience as a hands-on gardener gives this book added weight . . . For anyone delving into herbs for the first time or those who want to broaden their herbal repertoire in the garden and home, this book is much needed, Explores the many medicinal uses for herbs and other plants, Gardener and writer Alys Fowler has a knack with words as well as plants, and in this compendium of herbs (each one smartly illustrated), she infuses each page with lore, understanding and green-fingered know-how. It makes you feel like you're tapping into ancient botanical secrets., Your garden can be an invaluable medicine cabinet, says expert Alys Fowler

Born in Silchester, Hampshire, Alys Fowler had a rural childhood, growing up surrounded by animals in the countryside. She was influenced by her mother's gardening talents and, after leaving school in 1996 she studied at the Royal Horticultural Society, the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, and later the New York Botanical Gardens, returning to the UK to complete a masters at UCL in 2002.Alys spent some years presenting the long-running BBC series Gardeners' World and has since become a prominent horticultural journalist, writing a popular weekly column in the Guardian.