The immune response is orchestrated by three distinct groups of cells, the phagocytes, the ‘T’ cells and the ‘B’ cells. These all originate from white blood cells in the bone marrow and serve to protect the body from infection. If this defensive barrier is damaged for some reason, the body becomes more vulnerable to invasion from all sorts of pathogenic organisms. The immune system is supported by and closely related to other body functions including the lymphatic and nervous systems. Recent research tends to suggest that emotional and psychological factors play a vital role in the efficiency of the immune response and this may help to account for the fact that viral infections and suppressed immune systems are becoming an increasing problem today.

We all want to start 2020 with an upbeat attitude! Central to being healthy is following a nutritious diet, maintaining a positive state of mind and getting enough exercise. But keeping fit is not just about increasing the number of steps we take each day or taking up a sport: it is also about looking at our daily routines and making sure that we engage in things we enjoy … otherwise our new regimes will soon fall by the wayside. Hiking in nature, wild swimming and getting involved in local sustainable, eco projects are all good ways of getting out and about, without it costing the earth in terms of monthly fees.

‘A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits: camphire and spikenard, saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes with all the chief spices.’

The scented garden as described in the Bible in
 the ‘Song of Solomon’ depicts a vision of paradise and provides a model for the development of the medieval, sacred garden. More importantly in botanical terms, was the fact
 that the medicinal plants grown in these temple gardens formed the earliest-known basis for the ‘botanic garden’ where the essential ingredients for early aromatic remedies were cultivated.