Most of the herbs which were cultivated in English gardens grew successfully in Virginia, especially the ones listed in John Gerard's The Herbal (London, 1597), and William Lawson's The Country Housewifes Garden (London, 1617). Many contemporary records reveal that several herbs were used for medicinal purposes as well as for improving the flavor of certain foods and beverages.
A few herbs still grow on Jamestown Island, and together with the native sassafras, bayberry, wild bergamot, and bee balm, they remind us that the wilderness physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries did everything in their power to keep the English settlers alive and well three centuries ago.
Photo courtesy National Park Service
Items Used By Jamestown Doctors And Apothecaries
The drug jars, ointment pot, vials, and mortar and pestle fragments remind us that physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries experimented with herbs and native plants three centuries ago—attempting to keep the Jamestown colonists alive and well.