Herbs To Try

Most of us grow conventional every day herbs in pots such as rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, tarragon, lavender and mint but what do we know of some of the less grown herbs.

The more unusual mints. Have you tried the lemon thyme and the salad leaf additions such as Salad Burnet and sorrel and rocket? Have you grown the edible sweet violets and violas to sprinkle on cakes. I think it is time to be a bit more adventurous and this year I am going to plant up more mints such as pear to use in deserts, teas and why not pims! Basil mint definitely has a basil flavour. Could this go in a pesto. I expect it could!

If the trends for supermarkets is to produce sweeter tomatoes then we understand why chefs are looking at adding the more bitter salad leaves to our salads so to balance the flavour. Any salad leaves have to be a must when you see the cost of a bag of leaves.

A strong visual herb to include in your border may be valerian with its pretty white flowers. Historically it has been used medicinally for its calming properties. In a border it stands quiet tall and adds a mass of very essential tiny white flowers. Herbalist are still using it for insomnia and calming properties amongst other things.
It needs to be a the back of a border as it grows to about 1.5 m with sweet scented flowers in the summer time. It is vigorous and self seeding.

Lemon Verbena

Another herb that you may not have thought to grow is lemon verbena. One of its many qualities is as a flavouring. Many consider it to have the best lemon flavour of all herbs and it is therefore used in many dishes and drinks. This will be available after the frosts as it is annual.
It makes a particularly good tea.This is probably best grown in a pot as is need a well drained soil and possible protection in a cold winter.Although this can also grow a meter tall it is unlikely to in a British climate. It has quiet pretty little flowers in very pale pink.

Lovage

Lovage is a herb that has many culinary and medicinal uses. Look at the ingredients of many food stuffs and it may surprise you to see it. It grows big and can look a bit like angelica structurally and its very easy to grow. It has a celery flavour. The leaves are ideal for wrapping up cheese and keeping it fresh and giving the cheese a nice flavour. Gardens need some large architectural structurally plants.

Angelica

How about the herb angelica. It doesn't just grow very tall and look dramatic, in fact it can look fabulous in a border but you can also use it. Its is used in medicine for the gut and arthritis and it is also a culinary herb used in flavouring and candied in cakes.