Arts, History, Humanism & Culture Member Interest Network (AHH&C MIN): Gardening Section
Gardens and health are closely connected, both for the
therapeutic value of tending plants, and for the medicinal properties of so
many plants that we tend. Through history, medical students and physicians have
been active gardeners. The MIN Gardening Section periodically organizes garden
tours, and sponsors workshops on Bonsai care, wreath-making, and more.
The
MIN commends the many people who have contributed to the creation and maintenance
of the gardens at MMS Headquarters and encourages everyone to learn more about
and enjoy these gardens year-round.
For more information, contact Cathy Salas at (413) 596-9231 or csalas@mms.org.
Medicinal
Garden at the MMS
Physicians, their partners, and MMS staff took a vital role in
designing, creating, and maintaining the extensive gardens at the MMS Headquarters,
Waltham. Explore our dedicated garden website and download the pdf on the medicinal garden.
The MMS gardens are maintained by the Medical
Society for the enjoyment of all.
The MMS Hortus Medicus, the medicinal garden, best symbolizes our healing
and teaching missions. In this garden, around 100 varieties of plants are in
cultivation every growing season. The garden implicitly honors the late Shirley MacIver, MD, MMS member
and master gardener, who proposed, designed, and created it.
“The
purpose of a medicinal garden is to tell the story of plants' involvement in the
healing practices of many civilizations, through the use of horticulture,”
wrote George P. Santos, MD, a dedicated gardener who has contributed countless
hours and ideas to the MMS gardens, in Vital
Signs. “The garden includes plants of proven
scientific value and current therapeutic importance, as well as some that have
medicinal value but became obsolete over time. A few have been proven to have
no value, but are still grown because of their place in medical history, even
if they no longer have a rightful place in the medicine cabinet.”
History of Healing Told
Through Plants
In this video presentation, Dr. Santos introduces us to plants in the Society’s medicinal
garden and offers surprising facts. He describes the plants used to treat
Benjamin Franklin’s gout and the wounds of the ancient Greek hero Achilles, why
certain plants have “St. John” in their name, and which medicinal plant has connections
to both The Wizard of Oz and
Sherlock Holmes. His featured plants
include:
- The Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), the
source of some medications for chemotherapy of the acute leukemias and
lymphomas of childhood and other malignancies
- The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), the source of
natural opiates and the first plant to have its medicinal properties described
and recorded in writing (encrypted on clay tablets)
- The May apple (Podophyllum peltatum), the source of
medication for the chemotherapy of testicular carcinomas and other malignancies
For
more information on the MMS gardens, see the website and pdf. Questions? Contact
Bob Harless, the MMS staff liaison who
has contributed extensively to the gardens, at (781) 434-7613 or bharless@mms.org.
