Inside Edinburgh's secret botanic garden

This week’s secret garden is the Physic Garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Open to the public free of charge, all year round, this garden isn’t exactly a secret - but we’re sharing some of the history that makes this garden a must-see in Edinburgh.

The original physic garden was created in 1670 to provide physicians with fresh medicinal herbs and to teach students about their properties.

Above: The new public garden when we visited in April 2022

At the time it was the first of its kind to be established in Scotland, and was the second ever botanic garden founded in Britain, after Oxford’s Physic Garden (created in 1621.)

In 2020, the new public garden (pictured) was opened. Local school and community groups are able to use the garden as a site to explore the use of plants in improving health and well-being, so in a similar way the garden is still a place for learning today as it was when first created.

There are 3 main areas to the raised bed planting, each representing a particular phase of the 900-year-old history of the Palace. Each area contains a variety of plants with medicinal and culinary uses that would have grown there in the 17th Century. We saw: East Lothian pippin (apple tree), pasque flower, evening primrose, all hallow’s green, salad burnet, strawberries, and many more.

Above: wildflowers and pasque flowers in the garden

In 1675, five years after the physic garden was first opened, its plants were moved to a larger site at the old Trinity Hospital. This site is now located at Platform 11 of Edinburgh Waverley Station, with a plaque to commemorate the history of the site. 

Above: the plaque on Platform 11 at Edinburgh Waverley Station

The garden was further established at a new site in Inverleith in 1820, which we know today as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. For this reason, the Physic Garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is often thought of as the origin of the Botanic gardens of Edinburgh that we can visit today.

 Above: culinary herbs grown in the raised beds of the new public garden

What will you discover? Follow us on social media @StormFlowersGarden to keep up to date with news about our #SecretGarden blog

How to get there

Palace of Holyroodhouse
Edinburgh
EH8 8DX

Travel: The garden and palace are a 15 minute walk from Edinburgh Waverley Station. The nearest tram stop is York Place (20 minute walk). Bus routes 6 and 35 stop close to the Palace.

Entry: The garden is free to visit, or £18 for an adult advance ticket to the Palace of Holyroodhouse

Opening times: Daily 9.30am-5pm

Visit the Royal Collection Trust website for visiting information and opening hours