Creating a herb collection

Every one of us feels that our own garden is a particular paradise, but the herb garden has the edge on them all. There is nothing quite like the rush of sensual pleasure that comes from simply brushing against a lavender bush, or stepping across a thyme or chamomile path. March's gardening tip is on creating a herb collection and is from the newly published Handful of Herbs.

In the herb gardens of today, it is not uncommon to find the culinary, medicinal, and folkloric traditions of the past combined with a modern appreciation of attractive plant forms. Most herb gardens are now enjoyed for the power-packed aromatic leaves of herbs such as rosemary, sage, thyme, lovage, and chives, as well as for the simple but enchanting flowers and useful seeds that many herbs offer. It is this continuity of the past in our present homes that makes the bountiful summer harvest of these useful plants so evocative and especially satisfying.

If you have space to grow herbs for ornament, display them in groups according to their use or to show the differences between plants in the same genus. There are herbs for every theme and color scheme. For example, collections of mint, rosemary, thyme, sage, lavender, and marjoram reveal a wide range of foliage color, flower color and, in many cases, essential oils and aromas. Such collections, arranged by genus and species, show the characteristics of the various plants and display the differences between each species and form.

Before you plant a collection, you need to know the maximum heights and spreads of the various plants and how much sun they need. Look at the different foliage colors and place them so they look good together.

The simplest collection consists of the herbs you use often in the kitchen. Grow them in a small circular bed or in containers close to the kitchen door for easy access. You could devote a small rectangular bed to bay, thyme, and parsley, the three classic herbs of a bouquet garni. Choose a standard or conical-shaped bay as the central focus. Plant thyme in the corners of the bed, and fill the center with parsley. For a fines herbes collection, grow parsley, chervil, chives, and tarragon. If you like Italian cuisine, grow bay, basil, marjoram, garlic, rosemary, and sage. For an Asian taste, choose coriander, lemongrass, mitsuba, perilla, and mint. Pizza herb gardens containing marjoram, basil, basil, and rosemary are also popular.

You could also group together herbs whose leaves are used dried or fresh to make teas and tisanes, such as sage, mint, bergamot, and chamomile. Other possibilities include fragrant herbs for a potpourri collection, and an edible flower collection. Enjoy cowslip and violet flowers crystallized or baked in cakes and scones. Use calendula, chive, and thyme flowers fresh in salads. Lavender flowers and rose petals added to ordinary or superfine sugar will transform it into a scented sweetener for baking and desserts.

The many herbs that have citrus-scented foliage would make an attractive collection with their differing heights, shapes, foliage, and flower colors. Such plants include variegated lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon thyme, and some tender herbs such as lemon-scented basil, lemongrass, and lemon-scented gum.

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