Unusual Herbs

[Jerryfb]

Winter savoury and summer savoury are both great herbs. Much less common than of old but superd strong flavours. Sweet Cicely is another old fashioned herb and you can use the aniseed flavoured seed heads to help sweeten fruit pies. For salad use Sanguisorba or Salad Burnet has the most unusual taste. I picked up some Soapwort at the weekend and look to grow that. It's supposed to make a superb shampoo. Also look at Germander; a tough evergreen plant that smells great and has lovely flowers.

[hmk]

It's the flavouring traditionally used for Earl Grey tea. I bought a couple of plants at a foire bio at the weekend, been looking for it for ages.

Commercial Earl Grey is flavoured with the skin of the Bergamot Orange, but the Bergamot plant smells the same, so you could make your own version with it.

I love Pineapple sage- it reminds me of pineapple chunk sweets

You can use the leaves in fruit salads, salsas, poached fruit and in cakes (not tried this, but you put a few leaves in the bottom of the tin when making a sponge cake, or use peach/scented geranium/blackcurrant leaves or elderflowers) or make into a syrup to flavour creamy puddings, pour over ice cream or make a sherbet- fill a small glass with crushed ice and fill with the syrup, or just dilute with water to drink. I think it would be nice over the sponge part of a trifle too.
The wonderful Sophie Grigsons recipe-

40 pineapple sage leaves
225g caster sugar
150ml water
juice 1/2 lemon

Put sugar, water and juice in a pan and stir over med heat until dissolved. Increase heat and simmer 5 mins. Pour over leaves, cover with tea towel and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Strain into clean, dry bottle and store in a cool dark place. Mine kept for ages in the fridge.

Make Rose petal syrup the same way with 3 large fragrant red roses or lavender syrup with 8 heads fresh lavender. I'd like to grow enough violets to make violet syrup one day

Re: woodruff- this is a lovely plant, and smells great when it's dried, but it was a complete thug in my old garden, and went for world domination...

HMK

[Flummery]

I believe dried woodruff was layered between clean sheets to make them smell like they'd been dried in a meadow! I love woodruff. It's trying to dominate one of my borders but it pulls up easily and it's so gorgeous in flower in May.

[SMS6]

Sorrel - it's described as a herb but can also be used as a salad leaf. I'm growing it for the first time this year and my partner says I have a sorrel addiction, just can't resist nipping a leaf or two for chewing as I go a round the garden. Lovely sharp juicy lemony taste

[ginger ninger]

If you want to read up on a few herbs i can recommend, 'HERBS' by AURA GARDEN GUIDES, and 'HERBS AND HEALING PLANTS' from COLLINS.

[marigold007]

Lemon Verbena(the herb) it smells like lemon sherbets you can use it in desserts in place of lemons but the smell in the garden is great anyway.

Mine didn't survive the winter and I am looking for a replacement now!

They do smell great! I saw one yesterday at Neal's Nurseries!

[murphy99]

Did you buy it then? I had mine beside my lounge chair last summer and every few minutes I would rub it with my fingers.... adictive

I have asked a few times at the garden centre where I bought it and they said they weren't available yet... must go back if they are coming into stock, he said mid June!

[marigold007]

Did you buy it then? I had mine beside my lounge chair last summer and every few minutes I would rub it with my fingers.... addictive

I have asked a few times at the garden centre where I bought it and they said they weren't available yet... must go back if they are coming into stock, he said mid June!

No! I was on a mission of pest control yesterday!

But, now I have a good reason to go again in a few days! The pot said they are good in desserts and fruit salads as well.

[Meschuee]

I've just planted Buckler leaved sorrel. Not grown it before and looking forward to tasting it.

Penny

[Tam]

Eau de cologne mint is very aromatic and is good to grow at the edge of a path so that the perfume wafts up as you brush past it. Like most mints, it is better to grow it in a container to stop it taking over. I could let you have some root cuttings.

[cupcake]

I'm growing Basil mrs Burns lemon this year. It's taken an age to get going but it's bulking up now and smells wonderful. Also growing Genovese and Siam Queen.

[ginger ninger]

A lady across the road has just given me a pot of spice basil, it taste like cough candy very strange, but nice. I don't know what i'll use it for, but the flowers are very pretty.

[murphy99]

I ordered some more Lemon Verbena from an on-line herb farm ( Nicholson's) they have arrived today and are in great condition , the smell when I opened the box was amazing. I also ordered some blackcurrent sage( mine is going woody) they had two different varieties so I thought I would try both... they smell fab too

Very impressed with the supplier , plants are in great condition are not tiny root stock.

[dammad49]

I'm waiting for my Horehound to grow big enough to make a brew of Horehound Beer.

[thatsme]

I am a big big fan of Lovage, love it. I use it in soups and and anything really. It has got a very strong flavour though, so be careful with the amount.