In 1673 the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries founded this walled garden in Chelsea as a place for their apprentices to study medicinal plants. It became one of the most important centres for botany and plant exchanges in the world.
One of the least known plant exchanges, which had huge impact upon the country to which it sent, was of seeds of the Cotton plant which were sent to the new colony, Georgia, in the Americas in 1768.
The garden's still there, she's a member, attends their open days, drinks and eats delicious yumyum in the 'house', picks the brains of all the staff and volunteer and loves the place! It is situated close to the Royal Chelsea Hospital on Royal Hospital Road, SW3 and you don't have to be a member to visit.. you pay an entrance fee.
Look at www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk and learn about this wondrous place. This is how cotton got to be grown in America.. which brings us to yesterday.
It is dusty work rumaging around under beds, finding things that have fallen behind the bedhead, a book which she thought she had given away.. more on this book at a later date.. so vacuum was brought out to do his stuff.
Winter weight duvet was taken off the bed, stripped of his cover, rolled up and put into the hall.. he's off to be cleaned, they'll put him into a proper duvet storage bag and he'll live in the back cupboard.
Bottom sheet taken off and put with pillowcases into washmachine. The two pillows that she had washed were dry, did you know feather pillows could be washed, she didn't. And it was only by thinking about me and my sploshing about in the huge waterbowl that the idea occurred to her that feather pillows would be ok in a machine on a low cycle.
She rummaged in a cupboard and came out with a pair of sheets and two pairs of pillowcases. Two sheets, I thought to myself, why two? You don't use a top sheet with a duvet. Then she opened up another cupboard, there are lots of them, and got out a dark royal blue Vellux blanket which is nearly the same colour as the bedroom walls.
Why a blanket, why not the summer weight duvet? What was she up to? Then out came a pair of steps and she pulled down a big bag which has been on top of this cupboard for as long as I can remember, out of the bag came a squashy thing wrapped in plastic. She pulled out a huge thing, it wasn't a duvet, what was it?
"It's called a comforter GeeGee, you use them on your bed like an eiderdown" and she proceeded to make up the bed. The sheet pattern is a smaller, less detailed 'play' on the pattern of the comforter fabric, which is white with twists of blue ribbon running upwards, there are dark and paler roses with their leaves that twine around the blue ribbon. I realised I had seen this material before, it's the same fabric as the bedskirt!
Oh yes, we have to have a bedskirt for her bed is high up on a frame, underneath the bed are three 'school' trunks and an old fashioned wicker basket.. no relation to Wicker Wheelie. You know our posts always twist and turn.. you're wondering what the connection is, are you not?
Well, the Chelsea Physic garden sent the Cotton seeds to the new colony of Georgia in the America's and on one of her trips to America in the late 70's, she met a pleasant woman who worked for a American cotton company who make sheets and towels. Who, incidently, also make or made sails for sail boats.. a little known fact!
And Brigitte introduced her to another friend of hers, a charming woman who ran their discount shop! You're getting to the end of this story and know the answer, don't you? For this lovely set of high thread count bed sheets and pillowcases, in pure American Cotton, were made by Wamsutta.
The full circle Dear Readers.. from a small but highly important garden.. to the New World.. to our home in deepest Knightsbridge.. pure Cotton.. such a good thing to sleep in!
GeeGee Parrot.
May 5th, 2015.
One of the least known plant exchanges, which had huge impact upon the country to which it sent, was of seeds of the Cotton plant which were sent to the new colony, Georgia, in the Americas in 1768.
The garden's still there, she's a member, attends their open days, drinks and eats delicious yumyum in the 'house', picks the brains of all the staff and volunteer and loves the place! It is situated close to the Royal Chelsea Hospital on Royal Hospital Road, SW3 and you don't have to be a member to visit.. you pay an entrance fee.
Look at www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk and learn about this wondrous place. This is how cotton got to be grown in America.. which brings us to yesterday.
It is dusty work rumaging around under beds, finding things that have fallen behind the bedhead, a book which she thought she had given away.. more on this book at a later date.. so vacuum was brought out to do his stuff.
Winter weight duvet was taken off the bed, stripped of his cover, rolled up and put into the hall.. he's off to be cleaned, they'll put him into a proper duvet storage bag and he'll live in the back cupboard.
Bottom sheet taken off and put with pillowcases into washmachine. The two pillows that she had washed were dry, did you know feather pillows could be washed, she didn't. And it was only by thinking about me and my sploshing about in the huge waterbowl that the idea occurred to her that feather pillows would be ok in a machine on a low cycle.
She rummaged in a cupboard and came out with a pair of sheets and two pairs of pillowcases. Two sheets, I thought to myself, why two? You don't use a top sheet with a duvet. Then she opened up another cupboard, there are lots of them, and got out a dark royal blue Vellux blanket which is nearly the same colour as the bedroom walls.
Why a blanket, why not the summer weight duvet? What was she up to? Then out came a pair of steps and she pulled down a big bag which has been on top of this cupboard for as long as I can remember, out of the bag came a squashy thing wrapped in plastic. She pulled out a huge thing, it wasn't a duvet, what was it?
"It's called a comforter GeeGee, you use them on your bed like an eiderdown" and she proceeded to make up the bed. The sheet pattern is a smaller, less detailed 'play' on the pattern of the comforter fabric, which is white with twists of blue ribbon running upwards, there are dark and paler roses with their leaves that twine around the blue ribbon. I realised I had seen this material before, it's the same fabric as the bedskirt!
Oh yes, we have to have a bedskirt for her bed is high up on a frame, underneath the bed are three 'school' trunks and an old fashioned wicker basket.. no relation to Wicker Wheelie. You know our posts always twist and turn.. you're wondering what the connection is, are you not?
Well, the Chelsea Physic garden sent the Cotton seeds to the new colony of Georgia in the America's and on one of her trips to America in the late 70's, she met a pleasant woman who worked for a American cotton company who make sheets and towels. Who, incidently, also make or made sails for sail boats.. a little known fact!
And Brigitte introduced her to another friend of hers, a charming woman who ran their discount shop! You're getting to the end of this story and know the answer, don't you? For this lovely set of high thread count bed sheets and pillowcases, in pure American Cotton, were made by Wamsutta.
The full circle Dear Readers.. from a small but highly important garden.. to the New World.. to our home in deepest Knightsbridge.. pure Cotton.. such a good thing to sleep in!
GeeGee Parrot.
May 5th, 2015.
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