Talk: Shirley Sherwood- Life of a Botanical Adventurer
Join us at Chelsea Physic Garden, for a special evening with Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE as she discusses her extraordinary life and career. From pioneering scientific research to reviving the legendary Orient Express and leading the modern renaissance of botanical art, Dr Sherwood’s journey is one of adventure, innovation and passion for the natural world.
In conversation, Dr Sherwood will share stories from her newly released autobiography, Shirley – The Life of a Botanical Adventurer, reflecting on her experiences as a research scientist, a hotel and luxury travel pioneer, and the creator of one of the world’s most significant contemporary botanical art collections.
This event is part of our 30th anniversary celebration of the Florilegium Society at Chelsea Physic Garden, where we explore the power of botanical art in recording and preserving plant history. The Florilegium Society, founded in 1995, has created a stunning collection of over 700 botanical illustrations documenting the Garden’s living collection.
Please note:
Date & Time: Doors open at 5:30pm; the talk will begin at 6pm and finish at 7pm.
Location: This talk will take place upstairs in our Gallery space, (please note, this space is not wheelchair accessible).
Tickets: £15 per person.
About the author:
Dr. Shirley Sherwood is a renowned collector and champion of contemporary botanical art. With a background in botany from Oxford, she played a role in the discovery of the drug Tagamet before founding the Shirley Sherwood Collection in 1990. Her collection features over 1,000 works by 300 artists from 36 countries and has been exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide. She has written extensively on botanical art and was instrumental in establishing the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew, the world’s only gallery dedicated solely to the genre. Honoured with an OBE in 2012, she is a Fellow of the Linnaean Society and a recipient of the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal.