British Medical Association Garden
The British Medical Association (BMA) House in North London has a courtyard garden in the centre of its red-brick buildings. The Council Garden includes a fascinating collection of physic plants, for the development of medical knowledge. BMA House and its garden are not normally open to the public, which made it even a better treat to visit.
BMA Garden plants
The formal style garden has an upper paved level, a pond at the centre, and wide, stone steps curve down around the pond to the lower garden path and border. It was a popular garden in the open weekend.
Each of the plants are labelled with information on their origins and medicinal properties. Tall trees add foliage, as do the ferns, grasses and container plants. There are splashes of colour from daylilies, waterlilies and poppies.
Garden history
One of the walls has a plaque and stones from the foundation of the house where Dickens lived from 1851-60. Dickens wrote Bleak House, Hard Times, and Great Expectations whilst living in the house.
BMA House has quite a war-torn history. Building started in 1911 but the First World War delayed completion until later. The BMA Garden includes stones which were hit by bombs in the Second World War.
