{"id":386061,"date":"2026-01-02T03:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386061\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T03:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:56:14","slug":"the-hamnet-guide-to-growing-medicinal-herbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386061\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Hamnet\u2019 guide to growing medicinal herbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n

\u201cElizabethans knew herbs like we know aspirin for pain relief,\u201d says gardener and \u201cqueen of herbs\u201d Jekka McVicar. Blends of marshmallow and comfrey or milk thistle, borage and fennel were used to create tisanes for birth and breastfeeding, while archangelica, a tall, biennial herb named for the archangel Gabriel \u2014 who was said to have revealed it to a dying monk along the banks of the Thames \u2014 was used to treat the bubonic plague.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alongside Kim Walker, a consultant at the Economic Botany Collection and the Antonelli Lab at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, McVicar advised on various botanical elements in Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s new film adaptation of Hamnet, based on novelist Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s imagined account of William Shakespeare\u2019s family and the loss of his 11-year-old son. Forest and plant life<\/a> are central to the film, but they also shine a light on oft-forgotten remedies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s opening scene takes us deep into the forest, shot near Lydney, on the border of England and Wales. It is here we are introduced to Shakespeare\u2019s future wife Agnes Hathaway, played by Jessie Buckley, lying peacefully among the trees. At the base of one monumental tree trunk there is a deep, black hole; according to set decorator Alice Felton, this is where the earthly world meets something unknown, almost mythic.<\/p>\n

\"TallA team of decorators and florists planted eight raised beds on the lot of Elstree Studios \u00a9 Amanda Willgrave\"ThreeFlower crowns made from yarrow and St John\u2019s Wort used in the film <\/p>\n

The forest is a place that Agnes, called the \u201cchild of a forest witch\u201d by locals, associates with her late mother, who also had a strong connection to nature. But it is also where she falls in love, births her first child and seeks deep healing for her family. At multiple points, she is caught reciting a passage from \u201cThe Nine Herbs Charm\u201d, a healing spell from the 10th-century Anglo-Saxon manuscript Lacnunga (\u201cRemedies\u201d), praising the properties of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris): \u201cUna, the oldest of herbs \/ you have power against three and against thirty, you have power against poison and against air disease \/ you have power against the horror who stalks the land\u201d. Her mother sang it to her, and she to her own children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s complete works make reference to more than 50 types of flower. Hamlet\u2019s Ophelia delivers a monologue about their myriad associations: rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thought, fennel\/columbine for flattery\/infidelity, rue for sorrow, daisies for innocence, violets for faithfulness \u2014 several of these are woven into Hamnet.<\/p>\n

\"BundlesHerbs and flowers being dried for the film \u00a9 Amanda Willgrave<\/p>\n

A team of decorators and florists planted eight raised beds on the lot of Elstree Studios.\u00a0Cuttings were taken each morning. \u201cA lot of the herbs mentioned in the script \u2014 and the book \u2014 are not grown and sold commercially,\u201d says head florist Amanda Willgrave, whose film credits span Frankenstein, Wonka and Wonder Woman. \u201cBut planting the garden wasn\u2019t just for growing herbs that would work aesthetically, it also felt more true to the story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Planting the garden wasn\u2019t just for growing herbs that would work aesthetically, it also felt more true to the story<\/p>\n

\u2018Hamnet\u2019 head florist Amanda Willgrave<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Romans brought hundreds of herbs to this country, both as their mainstay for health but also for animals,\u201d says McVicar, who laments our increasing \u201cdivorce from nature\u201d. Among them was wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), used in absinthe, and during the Elizabethan period treated a dozen complaints, from digestive issues to low-grade fevers. Horehound (native to the mint family) was commonly used for coughs, while comfrey (otherwise known as \u201cknitbone\u201d or \u201cboneset\u201d) was deployed for bone fractures and sprains, pummelled into topical ointments for the skin. Modern medicine is a miracle, but \u201cwe\u2019ve lost our sense of balance,\u201d she says of the generosity of which pills (with synthetic ingredients) can be prescribed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McVicar grows individual herbs including tansy and woad at her family-run herb garden in Bristol, and sells peat and pesticide-free\u00a0\u201cpocketfuls\u201d for planting (\u00a312.99) alongside gardening kits (from \u00a318) and seed subscriptions (\u00a314). \u201cMost herbs will grow quite happily in typical garden soil, as long as it has good drainage,\u201d she advises; her site Jekkapedia<\/a> shares information on the best soil conditions for more than 400 types of herb (for outdoor sowing, woad thrives in early summer, in light, well-drained soil \u2014\u00a0thin to 45cm apart).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AJacobi Jupe, who plays Hamnet, wearing one of the crowns \u00a9 Amanda Willgrave<\/p>\n

When shooting in locations including private woodland and National Trust properties, \u201cevery plant had to be suited to the landscape, ideally foraged locally or chosen from species native to the area,\u201d says Felton. Beckie Stockley, one of the on-set florists, would arrive on location days ahead of the crew to source multiple specimens of flowers and grasses, from old man\u2019s beard to yarrow and St John\u2019s Wort. \u201cYou can pumice [St John\u2019s Wort] down and put it on old wounds, but if you put the fresh flowers in a jar of olive oil and leave it in direct sunlight for about three to six weeks, it will turn blood red, which is when you know it is doing something magical,\u201d she says.\u00a0In the film, it is used alongside yarrow to furnish flower crowns for Agnes\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe audience might not consciously identify each herb, but [they can] feel the layered symbolism they bring,\u201d says Felton. The final scene, which ends on stage at the Globe theatre for Shakespeare\u2019s first production of Hamlet, has a luscious green backdrop that harks back to the first scene in the forest, the deep, black hole echoed by a blacked-out stage entrance. Adds Willgrave: \u201cNature isn\u2019t just scenery, it\u2019s a living presence\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five medicinal herbs for planting\"A<\/p>\n

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)<\/p>\n

A sweet-smelling wild flower used to flavour tea and celebrated for its anti-inflammatory properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Dense<\/p>\n

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)<\/p>\n

A bitter herb historically used as a digestive aid and to stimulate menstruation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Upright<\/p>\n

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)<\/p>\n

The cooking favourite is thought to boost cognitive health, in particular focus and memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)<\/p>\n

The white-flowering plant, also known as woundwort, was historically a remedy to staunch bleeding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Clusters<\/p>\n

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)<\/p>\n

Valerian, a traditional mild sedative, can promote relaxation and improve sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find out about our latest stories first \u2014 follow @ft_houseandhome<\/a> on Instagram<\/p>\n