From ice lollies made from Echinacea to acne gels made from marigold flowers, home-made natural remedies are about to get a makeover as ethnobotanist James Wong reveals how to Grow Your Own Drugs in a new series for BBC Two.
In the series, James uses a delicious mix of gardening, cooking, health and beauty and offers viewers an informative guide to plants. He tells how their beneficial properties may help with minor everyday ailments, from coughs and colds to eczema and insomnia.

Here, James tells Jane Dudley all about his favourite recipes, his upbringing in Malaysia and Singapore, and exactly what an ethnobotanist is.

“An ethnobotanist is basically a scientist that studies how plants are used, so it’s kind of a cocktail of anthropology and botany at the same time,” reveals James. “It can be anything from trying to recreate or piece together the diet of Stone-Age man to researching traditional medicine to come up with the next wonder drug.”

James says he has always been fascinated by how plants are used, “even before I knew the term ethnobotany”, and he gained a Masters degree after being taught at both Kew Gardens and the University Of Kent. His inspiration, however, came from his grandmother, who lives in Malaysia where, says James, plant-based medicines and conventional drugs aren’t pitted against each other; they’re used hand in hand. “I grew up halfway between Malaysia and Singapore and I used to be in Singapore for most of the year, but for about three months I’d be in Malaysia a€“ for Christmas and Chinese New Year, and things like that.