Time for another look at the raised herb bed at the back of the garden. Things seem to have got a bit out of hand this year after a very slow start and there will be some serious culling after they have finished flowering.

(1) Not all the plants in this bed are actual herbs. Calendula and Nasturtiums are grown here too as they can be used in salads, plus the nasturtium keeps cabbage white butterflies from laying their eggs on my kale. When I bother to grow it that is!

(2) Golden Feverfew with attractive, lobed, golden foliage has pretty daisy flowers which continue throughout the summer months.

(3) I have three types of sage (four if you include Pineapple sage, but that is tender and comes indoors over winter) the ones I grow in the herb bed are Salvia officinalis/common sage and Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’/purple sage and Salvia officinalis tricolour although that one seems to have disappeared. I hardly ever pick sage to use in cooking, but I should! I just love the texture of sage leaves.

(4)  Borage. The young leaves and vivid blue flowers of this annual herb have a fresh cucumber-like flavour, so are often used in salads, soups, chilled drinks or simply as a garnish. The flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects. It self-seeds dreadfully so once you have sown it you will never be without. It is a very decorative plant, but in  my garden it grows huge and the thick stems collapse in the wind and rain, also it tends to crowd out other plants, so I often cut it down after a while.

(5) Mint. Again I have several types of mint, all grown in the hexagonal pots next to the raised beds. Moroccan Mint, Spearmint, Apple mint, and one I thought I had lost, Ginger mint. Best to keep mints in pots so they don’t sprawl and in separate pots so the flavours don’t combine. Now this is one herb I do use a lot of during the summer.

(6) I also have several types of thyme growing in the hexagonal pots. Golden Queen and Silver Queen – Thymus x citriodorus,  Thymus serpyllum ‘Snowdrift’ also called creeping thyme and Thymus, herba barona / Caraway thyme. But in the bed itself is Common thyme – Thymus vulgaris compactus, and Jekka Thyme which is fast spreading and evergreen. I shall be transplanting some of those in the pots into the gravel garden to soften the edges.

Garlic chives, Rosemary, Oregano, Hyssop, Society Garlic (Tulbaghia), Lemon Verbena and Sweet Cicely, as well as the Golden Marjoram which had her time in the spotlight last week, also grow here plus a few non herbs which may have to find a new home!

Enjoy the sunny weekend we are forecast, yes, even in Cornwall! Naturally I will be staying close to home and hope to finish my gravel garden if it’s not too hot. I won’t be complaining though and I might even get to sit on the patio with a nice G&T for a change!

As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.

See here for the participant’s guide.

Six on Saturday