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The Florilegium Society

Rosa 'Scabosa' by Ruth Woukes

The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society was formed in 1995, with the primary aim of recording in paintings and drawings, the plants growing in the Physic Garden. Work would be donated to the Garden's Archive, subject to selection, for the use and benefit of the Garden. Its nucleus was a small number of students who had just completed the first certificate of Botanical Illustration Course to be offered by the English Gardening School, directed by Anne-Marie Evans, who remains Hon. President of the Society she helped create.

Abelmoschus esculenta (Okra) by Ainslie Ensom

In 1995, Evans wrote: 'whereas the Florilegium of the 17th Century were created to portray the beauty and novelty of those plants brought back from the expanding colonies, the modern Florilegium may be seen as a conservation tool, instrumental in recording for posterity collections of plants within a chosen garden. Although the CPG has played a central role in the development of botanical painting in the UK and abroad, as yet no Florilegium of its content has been produced'.

The society's first Hon. Patron was the remarkable Professor William Stearn and the Society is honoured that Dr Phil Cribb of Kew agreed to become our second Hon. Patron.

Morus alba (white mulberry) by Sarah Gould

The primary aim remains the portrayal of the Garden's entire collection and, as there are more than 5000 plants listed, current members are still merely laying the foundations of a vast project! From the members' annual submission of paintings and pen and ink drawings, work is selected by an independent panel to maintain highest standards. Over 200 watercolours and 120 drawings have currently been accepted. All plant material is grown in the Garden and Herbarium specimens are also prepared. The Head Gardener and his team continue to instruct and help members, willingly providing both cuttings and advice when requested.

Tilia cordata by Judith Hillelson

The society fulfils its further aim, "to further general awareness of this exacting method of portraying plants" with occasional exhibitions of the paintings. In 2000 the society showed paintings at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, with which we have a warm relationship through its Curator of Art James White, our enthusiastic Hon. Patron, USA. Some 35 members are independently represented in the Hunt Collection.

The Society has also exhibited as a group in Munich and London, many members are successful artists exhibiting world wide. Some have RHS medals to their credit; some also teach Botanical Illustration. The work of 19 members are represented in the celebrated collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood, whose travelling exhibitions have created a large discerning public for this art.

Punica granatum by Joanna Craig-McFeeley

As our work is donated for the benefit of the Garden, it is gratifying that our drawings are used to illustrate the Annual Report and several Garden booklets to aid artists and benefit the Garden.

We aim to help promote Florilegia worldwide and are affiliated with several we helped set up. The society grows from strength to strength: may the next decade be as exciting as the first.

(Written by Gillian Barlow, Vice Chairman of the Society)

The Florilegium Society Celebrated its 10th anniversary at the Garden in 2005 with: APOTHECARIES' ARTISTS, an exhibition of paintings of plants cultivated in the Physic Garden. The artists are all members of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society which was founded in 1995 and charged with the task of recording the plants grown at Chelsea. The exhibition was part of the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the Society and coincided with the publication of a book with 56 colour plates (available in the CPG shop). All the paintings appeared in a book published by the Antique Collectors' Club during the summer of 2005. Each plate was accompanied by notes about the uses of the plant and any information particular to its cultivation at Chelsea. There was also an accompanying biography of the artists. Paintings (including those illustrated on this page) were displayed on both the ground and first floors of the main building of Chelsea Physic Garden. Exhibition of Watercolours from the Highgrove Florilegium We are delighted that fourteen of the sixty artists whose work is to be found in the Highgrove Florilegium are active painting members of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, and have contributed over many years to the painting Archive at the Garden. Some of the works they have had accepted for the Highgrove Florilegium will be exhibited for the first time in New York. Botanical Paintings from the Garden of HRH The Prince of Wales January 23 – April 12, 2008 New York School of Interior Design Gallery, 161 East 69th Street An exhibition of 75 watercolors of plants, fruits and vegetables growing in the garden at Highgrove, the Gloucestershire residence of HRH The Prince of Wales. Named after the Latin word for a collection of pictures of garden flowers, the Highgrove Florilegium unites two of the Prince’s passions – horticulture and painting – and is produced by some of today’s leading botanical artists. Cymbidium by Yvonne Glenister Hammond To find out more about the Florilegium Society, including how to become a Painting member, then please contact Judi Stone, Chairman of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society by clicking here.