My Herbs Don't Go In The Pot. (Bedding Plants in General)

Member Name: aefra

Product:	Bedding Plants in General
Date:	12/12/03 (426 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scented when touched, Often all year round foliage, Easy to grow

Disadvantages: Too many varieties from which to choose

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br>This has been an extraordinary year and here I am in December looking out on a garden full of bloom; from the lush deep pink-flowered hebe outside my window, the big hardy fuschia whose blooms pull the stems downwards over the pond to the bright yellow jasmine, which has never looked better and will clothe a fence until late spring. Yet this is exceptional and I cannot rely on this unexpected present from nature.

Because both my gardens are small I cannot leave "waiting" spaces and must plan for plants which follow each other closely when flowering and are, most importantly, evergreen. For this reason I have a wide variety of herbs which will give me pleasure all year round even though I do not use them for cooking or healing. This is pure gardening I am talking here.

It is probable that you have a lavender bush somewhere, but did you know that there are many varieties other than the old english lavender with its powerful scent, smoky blue flowers and out of control bushiness? I have a large bush of this in a corner which I use for cuttings to grow among flowers in pots. However, I also have small compact varieties which give me deep and varied brilliant blue flowers although with less fragrance. These positively glow towards the front of a border and are slow growing. The queen of the lavenders for me is the French variety. French lavender grows tall in the late spring/early summer displaying bright pink spikes topped with cheerful tassels. The elegant scent is quite unlike any other lavender and I have lost count of the cuttings I have taken for friends surprised and enchanted at sight of this plant. Once the flowers start to fade I cut them away and am rewarded with another flush soon afterwards, thus lengthening the otherwise shortish flowering season.

Rosemary produces blue flowers in the spring of a brightness which gladdens the eye and just brushing against the soft spiky leaves rewards you with th
e familiar aroma. It can grow to above 3' but seems to like being cut back and is not invasive.

I shall mention here a herb which does not please the nose, but which I would not be without. Anyway it seeds so freely that once you have planted a tiny section you have it for life and spend time pulling it up from unwanted places. The feverfew has bright green bushy leaves all year and from early summer to late autumn is permanently covered in neat white flowers while growing to about 2'. This is of the chrysanthemum family and its friendly daisy-covered face peeps out from other flowers and shrubs which it has decided to join. It is not invasive, just needs pulling up as you weed if you don't want it filling a space it has chosen. Should you decide you want a particularly well grown one to fill a space it will need masses of water if it is to survive transplanting.

When I had my front drive laid I kept a third of my front garden which included a beautiful paved path which, having been part of a previous landscaping, was and is very precious. As the digger came ever closer to that path my anxiety was so palpable that I think the site boss beside me was worried I would throw myself in front of the scoop to protect my crazy paving. Thus it was that a gap followed the curve of the path narrowing from 12" to 3". As soon as the work was done I made with compost and a trowel and filled the edging with alpines before scattering pea shingle on the soil to help drainage. Back to the herbs.

Among the alpines (tiny perennials) I planted lemon scented thyme which is covered in purple flowers in summer and grows no more than 1 foot high. Beside it I have a variegated variety with bright edged leaves. Alongside the alpines it has spread sideways over the path and drive for quite a few inches. Should I misjudge backing in my car and tread on the herbs as I alight, I am rewarded with a delightful scent and no dama
ge to these hardy little plants.

Another handy herb is catnip, a bluey-grey leafed plant which spreads across the ground filling spaces and is happy to be to be kept back. I enjoy the brief flowering of chives in late spring with their narrow leaves in clumps and neat round pink flowers. The leaves die back, much as daffodils do, and can be removed so that summer space is not taken up. I have several varieties of mint, kept in pots as they are so bossy, but they are just to go with the new potatoes as they boil.

Here I must mention watercress which is also considered a herb. This prolific, bright geen leafed plant when placed in running water will take up nitrates. My pond is fed from a little rill from the filter and it is in this that I plant the watercress. Just a few stems from a supermarket ready-pack kept down with some pea shingle above your waterflow will provide a constantly growing and attractive plant for the water to run through and at the same time help filter your pond water.

Herbs can be thought of by the uninitiated in the way of vegetables - only as a utilitarian species for culinary or healing use, which is a shame. Among the hundreds of species available I choose to grow for colour, variety, hardiness, their ability to stay with me during the winter and above all for scent. For this last reason I plant some close to a path to be brushed against as I pass. So when browsing the garden centre don't ignore the narrow shelf tucked away in a corner and labelled "herbs". I have mentioned the ones which suit my plot but there are many more which can delight if you have the room.

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