Well sort of they are…. Created by Kew Gardens at least and written by Sandra Lawrence.

I picked up The Psychedelic Garden

A fascinating exploration of the mind-altering plants that for centuries have helped shape the way we see the world.

Author: Sandra Lawrence, 208 pages, 180 colour illustrations, 214 x 154 mm. Hardback, ISBN 9781035422227, Headline publishing in association with Kew Publishing, 2025.

The ancient Aztecs, the cannabis-smoking farmers of Neolithic China and the Woodstock hippies. Psychoactive plants have been used by different cultures for thousands of years for everything from shamanic rituals to staying awake.

From the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Sandra Lawrence, Psychedelics is a fascinating exploration of the mind-altering plants that for centuries have helped shape the way we see the world. Packed with expert text and stunning botanical illustrations from the Kew archive, this book delves into the folklore, cultural relevance and botanical background of remarkable plants that have long been leveraged to hallucinogenic effect.

Then I had to get Witch’s Garden to accompany it.

Witch’s Garden describes over 50 of the world’s most powerful, harmful, legendary and storied plants – from the screaming mandrake to calming St John’s Wort, to predicting the weather with seaweed, the creation of salves for broken hearts, sore heads, protection from evil spirits and to even induce immortality.

Authors: Sandra Lawrence
208 pages, 200 illustrations, 217 x 157 mm.
Hardback, ISBN 978 178739 436 0, Welbeck in association with RBG Kew, 2020.

Wise women, apothecaries, witches, herbalists: whatever you like to call them, those who cultivate plants for their apparent mystical properties have existed for thousands of years. Witch’s Garden tells the story of our folkloric fascination with these magical specimens, documenting the beliefs and rituals surrounding the natural world. Illustrated with pages from herbals held within Kew’s archives, along with botanical illustrations and archival images depicting magic and mayhem, Witch’s Garden beautifully evokes the bewitching nature and of plants.

Author Info

Sandra Lawrence is a journalist and author. She writes for the Evening Standard, Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, Londonist.com and the English Garden. She is the London columnist for British Heritage magazine and is on the Q&A panel of experts for History Revealed magazine.

I’ve spotted this one I’d like next.