Hello my name is Barbara Depledge, a pharmacist by profession, trained in the old school but forever embracing the new. An optimistic gardener for 40 years with a passion for growing herbs and flowers for cutting. My blog will be ramblings about what is going on in my garden, fondly referred to as the Apothecary’s Garden, and posts about plants and gardens I come across in my ramblings around the world.

I grow culinary, medicinal and fragrant herbs so you will see varied posts on simple home medicinal remedies, recipes and how to have fun making simple cosmetics from herbs and flowers. I am a former Chairman of the Herb Society UK, served on the Council governing this charity for three years and have been a member for 22 years. I have given a number of talks on growing and using herbs at home and would be happy to speak at garden clubs and societies in and around Cheshire.

I am also a keen flower arranger, heartened by the current move to expand our cut-flower industry here in the UK. Really, what can beat an English garden crammed with beautiful flowers!  Book me for a workshop to show you how you can grow and arrange your own wedding flowers, share with me hilarious, and a touch traumatic, stories of the experiences I had providing flowers for the weddings of both my children.

I qualified as a pharmacist back in the 1970s from the University of Manchester School of Pharmacy.  The mystique of the apothecary was still in place as we had to read prescriptions in Latin and learn how to prepare every conceivable form of pharmaceutical product at the lab bench. Back in those days pharmacognosy was a large part of the syllabus. What on earth is pharmacognosy? you are thinking. I’ll explain, it’s the study of the chemical and biological properties of drugs and potential drug substances from plant sources all around the world.

All of this led naturally to a career in the pharmaceutical industry where I spent a happy, if sometimes exceedingly stressful, 25 years in a variety of jobs from product formulation and development to major strategic projects. I have been privileged and proud to work alongside some very clever scientists in many parts of the world from the US, across Europe and into Japan. Eventually I set up my own consultancy company and worked freelance in education and training, I really enjoyed my time working as a guest lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University.

Now retired, I am filling life-long ambitions to travel to as many parts of the world as possible. You will see one of my first posts is based on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands which is just about as far as it is possible to go from the UK.

My contact details are below if you would like to get in touch about discussing a talk at your garden club or plant society.

Contact Details:

Barbara Depledge MSc  MRPharmS

e-mail:  barbara.depledge@btinternet.com