If I’m not pottering in my garden I like nothing better than visiting other people’s gardens be they grand or small. When there I am always looking for something that I haven’t seen before or ways of planting herbs without a dedicated herb garden.  Over the last couple of months I have been so happy  to visit gardens such as Waterperry gardens,The Sussex Prairie gardens and most recently Arundel Castle.  I was not disappointed.

Here are some of the herbs I saw mingling with ornamentals.

Cyanara, a useful liver herb, at Waterperry gardens was past its best but still provided a statuesque skeletal ‘sculpture’.

Sage growing profusely in the border at Waterperry gardens. A useful herb for menopausal hot flushes. Did you know that this month is world menopause month. If HRT is not for you have you considered herbal medicine, it has much to offer women at this time of transition?

Pulmonaria in the stumpery at Arundel Castle. Not much used these days but if I tell you that its common name is lungwort can you guess in what conditions it might have been used?

Echinacea in abundance at the Sussex Prairie garden. Its one of my go to herbs for winter wellness.
Watch out for my November workshop on herbs for challenging winter conditions.

So you see you don’t need a dedicated space to grow herbs they will happily fit into your herbaceous border, and if you are lucky they will just pop up without you doing anything.  Why not have a go and plant a few herbs in your garden. I can recommend Calendula and Evening Primrose. They are both very easy to grow from seed and will easily proliferate.