She measured one of the walls fronting the courtyard and off she went to her local building supplier and bought guttering and brackets long enough for the wall space available and got her husband to help her put up the guttering on the walls as blind gutters and fill the profiles with a good soil mix.

Next thing she was planting seeds and voila – they now have their own herbs and veggies growing close to the kitchen.

If you want to do this, get a good handyman to help you in the interests of neatness and a sturdy structure, as you will want 3 or 4 rows from top to bottom spaced at about 12 to 18 inches. (30 to 45 cm)  Hers is very neat and looks great. Of course there is nothing stopping you from creating a floral display in this way, if you are looking for color on a bare wall.

I will try and get a photo, but in the meantime refer to my rough sketch. As you can see, you can make it any length and any amount or height of tiers. So plan carefully. Guttering is preformed, so choose a profile, choose a length, get extra brackets to handle the weight of the soil and give it a go.

I would put an extra profile right on top and use it as an easy drip feed for all the profiles underneath.

A really good handyman could build one as an indoor kitchen garden, given the right light conditions. Please send me photo’s if you decide to try this.

Indoor Garden

Indoor Gardening and Food Safety

With the many health benefits that a low carb diet has been demonstrated to provide, more and more people want to eat fresh vegetables these days. For some, this gives them the chance to combine their love of plants with a healthy diet by growing these vegetables themselves. Those who do not have a large enough outdoor area for a garden may still be able to have an indoor garden. However, even with an indoor garden, a gardener has to be careful to ensure that the foods grown are safe to use and that the garden itself poses no danger. There are several points to consider.

Protecting Your Health
Before you start your indoor garden, it would be a good idea to ask yourself whether you have done all the other things in your life that you can to protect your health and your family’s. This could range from starting a doctor approved exercise program to obtaining quality health insurance.

In today’s economy, with its skyrocketing medical costs, low cost health insurance plans provide people with peace of mind. You should also make every effort to reduce stress in your life, since this is a significant contributor to several diseases.

Benefits of Vegetables
Fresh vegetables have a host of positive effects on your health. The consumption of leafy greens and other low carbohydrate vegetables have been shown to help reduce the incidence of diabetes, heart disease and several other serious conditions. Even those who already have these conditions can lessen their effects by eating the right vegetables. Eating vegetables with lots of fiber in them will also help keep you regular.

Indoor Plant Safety
There are a number of things you can do to help ensure the safety of the vegetables you grow. You should avoid the use of dangerous insecticides inside your home. Insecticides intended to disperse outside and eventually break down will not do so in your home. Use natural, organic insecticides actually made for indoor use. The same applies to chemical fertilizers. Organic products are always preferable for indoor use. There are also other pest control tips that you should consider.

Washing and Storage
As important as the way you grow you plants is, the way you use them can also affect how safe they are. When you harvest your vegetables, make sure you wash and dry them thoroughly. You may choose to pick vegetables as you need them so they will always be fresh. On the other hand, you may prefer to store them. For example, you might want to try your hand at canning some of them. If you do, make sure that you follow the government’s recommendations for canning vegetables. Remember that if a container shows any signs of leakage or the lid is not concave do not eat the contents.

An indoor garden is a wonderful activity and a great way to give yourself healthy, inexpensive food. By using care and planning, you can also ensure that the foods you grow in your home are perfectly safe for you and your family.

Rowan

Mountain Ash, Rowan
ROSACEAE Sorbus aucuparia

Comment
How often does nature not compensate for its bounty by imposing other strictures. The lovely Rowan is no exception to this phenomenon – its small white flowers have a most off-putting smell when approached closely. However, this does not detract from the great attraction of its fruit to bird life, who compensate for the feed by fertilizing and spreading the seeds in their droppings.

Description
A small deciduous tree or shrub with a slender crown, shiny and smooth grey bark and sleek grey/brown twiglets. The alternate odd-pinnate leaves are dark green above and paler below, having 9—19 sessile, lanceolate and sharply serrated leaflets.

The edible fruits – rowan-berries – are small scarlet globular pomes. Their taste tends to the sour and astringent.

History
Rowan comes from the Old Norse name ‘raun’. Although not a true ash, its leaves are similar. The specific name, aucuparia (bird-catching) — refers to the berries being a favourite food of birds and were thus used by trappers as bait for their birding nets.

Rowan bark was used for dyeing and tanning and the flexible sturdy wood was prized for tool handles.

Usage

• The dried fruits or the pressed juice of fresh fruits is used for constipation and kidney disorders. Strictly avoid large doses.
• Ripe fruits are used medicinally. Ingredients include tannins, organic acids, sugars, pectin and vitamin C. These ingredients impart mild purgative, diuretic and general tonic properties.
• Fruits are a raw material for the manufacture of sorbose, a sweetening agent for diabetics.
• The fruits have been used as a laxative and to make drinks to prevent scurvy. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has also been extracted commercially from them.
• The berries, particularly those of cultivated sweet-fruited varieties, can be used to make syrups, compotes, conserves and wines.
• Berries are also used in certain liqueur manufacturing processes.

Growth Characteristics
Rowan is native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows in woods, scrub, on mountain rocks and by mountain streams, but is rare in lowland areas. The greatest species diversity, with many microspecies occuring, is in mountainous regions of western China and the Himalayas.

Flowering time: May to June – N. hemisphere.

Dog Rose

Dog Rose
ROSACEAE Rosa canina

Comment
A deciduous shrub with arched, downward-curving branches, which are armed with stout hooked prickles. The fruit consists of  numerous hairy achenes enclosed in a fleshy, amphora-shaped, bright orange/red casing a.k.a. the well known rosehip.

It is an indication of how blase we can be when this lovely plant is so familiar that many people don’t stop to enjoy these roses. But that is their loss.

Appearance
The plant can vary considerably in shape and form. Leaves are odd-pinnate with five to seven ovate to elliptic, serrated leaves. Petioles and midribs typically bear prickles while the sweet-scented flowers have large canopied pink or white petals.

History
Evidence of Dog Rose hips have been recorded in and around ancient settlements suggesting that the shrub has a long association with mankind.

The provenance of the common name – Dog Rose – is not clear. Popular belief holds that the name is a reference to the medieval Latin rosa canina, stemming from the ancient Latin (originally Greek) word cynorrhodon. The plants root was believed to be used as a herbal remedy to cure the effects of being bitten by a mad – or rabid – dog. Another theory is that the ancient Greeks may have just been denigrating the worth of Dog Rose as a garden plant by using the belittleing term ‘dog’.

Rose Hips

Usage
The hips are the medicinally sought-after elements. Their makeup includes vitamin B complex, vitamin C, carotenes, pectin, tannins, sugars as well as malic and citric acids. The fruits contain fatty oil.

The best-known and widely used herbal remedy deriving from the plant is rosehip tea. which has mild diuretic, astringent, tonic and mildly laxative actions. Fresh hips are an outstanding source of vitamin C. Whether fresh or dried, they are beneficial for convalescents, against fatigue and colds. Rose hip tea is most effective when made by macerating the crushed hips (without the hard achenes) and not by a long boiling process.A decoction from the hips can be used as a gargle for bleeding gums and will alleviate toothache.

Fresh hips are also used for syrups, jams and tonic wine.

Growth Characteristics
Dog Rose grows throughout Europe in scrub hedges and woods. It is the most common British wild rose, though less prolific in throughout Scotland.

Flowering time: June to July – N. hemisphere

Aspen

Aspen
SALICACEAE Populus tremula

Appearance
The alternating, almost circular leaves possess bluntly toothed or wavy borders and emphatically sideways-flattened petioles, which tremble in the least breeze: they adorn a small deciduous tree with flat bark – at the onset yellowish but then developing darkish grey highlights.

The female blooms have purple stigmas. The flowers unfold before the leaves emerge. The fruit is a capsule which releases seeds with a white pappus.

The slightly sticky buds are sturdily oval. Aspen is dioecious with separate male and female catkins, that have purple hairy bracts.

History
Aspen and the archaic version, Asp, are taken from the Anglo-Saxon name aespetoithe tree. The word ‘asp’ was sometimes utilized to indicate tremulous, after the shaking leaves. The particular epithet also identifies this distinctive attribute of the tree.

Usage
Other than on the Continent, Aspen is not widely used in herbal medicine. A better-known resinous product from poplar buds is balm of Gilead, which is produced by the tree referred to as Balm of Gilead (P. gileadensis or P. candicans), from Balsam Poplar (P. balsamifera) or American Aspen (P. tremuloides).

Balm of Gilead is likewise gathered from a North American fir (Abies balsamea). The true balm of Gilead is, however, the resin of tropical bushes or small trees of the genus Commiphora.

Externally compresses, bathtub formulations and treatment-creams are used for haemorrhoids and management of burns. Preparations from fresh leaves are employed in homeopathy.

The leaf buds, sometimes the young bark and the leaves of Aspen, are all employed medicinally. Like the buds of Black Poplar (P.nigra), Aspen buds include an essential oil, bitter compounds, salicin and populin.

Such ingredients provide Aspen powerful diuretic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties and the buds are used in an infusion for gout and rheumatism as well as for problems of the urinary tract and enlarged prostate gland.

Growth Characteristics
Aspen grows all over Europe including the British Isles, in open woods, notably on poorer soils. It is also regularly placed in home gardens and avenues.

Flowering time: February to March. (Northern Hemisphere)

radish

CRUCIFERAE/BRASSlCACEAERaphanussativus

Garden Radish

Appearance
The leaves and stalk of the garden radish are stiffly fuzzy. The white or pinkish blossoms contain darkish veins and are structured in a longish terminal raceme. An annual or biennial herb with a round to spindle-shaped tuberous taproot of various colorations,  branched stalk and pinnately lobed, toothed foliage. The fruit is a siliqua, which is extended into a narrow seedless beak; the seeds are brown colored.

History
The normal Garden Radish was grown as a herbal remedy and vegetable by the classical Egyptians as well as the Greeks and Romans were aware of a number of variations. Its actual origin is confused but it is thought to be a native of western Asia. Currently it is raised in various types, the black-rooted variation being the one used for medical-related purposes. The closely related Wild Radish (R. raphanis-trurri) is a common and troublesome weed all over Britain. This is injurious to farm animals should they consume it in large quantities. The familiar name, Radish, is a corruption of the Latin term radix, meaning root and also the Romans’ name for the plant.

Usage

• The dark roots feature antiseptic qualities, vitamin supplements C and B complex and mineral salts.
• They are often consumed uncooked and unpeeled and have antiseptic, tonic, choleretic, carminative and stomachic actions.
• One can use them sliced up or grated on bread and butter, or the pressed juice alone is ingested for hepatitis and gall bladder disorders, gallstones and digestive difficulties.
• Radish is likewise known as a herbal remedy in homeopathy.
• The well known red, red and white or white radishes (R. sativus var. radicula) are less potent but make great and nutritional salad vegetables. The leaves are usually edible.

Growth Characteristics
Garden Radish can be naturalised and seen growing wild from scattered garden seeds in the British Isles.

Can be grown in an indoor herb garden kit in a sunny windowsill.

Flowering time: June to August

Lungwort

Lungwort
BORAGINACEAE Pulmonaria officinalis

True to the doctrine of signatures, lungwort both resembles and heals lungs. But it does a lot more than that:

Appearance
A perennial herb with bell-shaped blossoms arranged in terminal monochasial cymes. They are pink at first,  blue after fertilization. All portions of the plant have stiff hairs. Lungwort typically sports a creeping rhizome together with a clump of angled, unbranched, upright or ascending stems. The alternating leaves are oval or else cordate, generally white-spotted; the low ones are stalked, the higher ones sessile and clasping at the base. The fruit consists of four one-seeded nutlets.

History And Distribution
These particular lungworts should not be mixed-up with a lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria), which is the lungwort listed by herbalists nowadays and also used in chest complaints.

It is also often grown in gardens for its attractive spotted leaves, as is the related Bethlehem Sage (P. saccharata). The generic and well-known names of Lungwort denote the blotchy leaves, which are likened to diseased lung tissue in the past and the plant was previously used to improve assorted lung ailments. Narrow-leaved Lungwort (P. angustifolia) has also been employed medicinally. It is indigenous to the British Isles yet somehow crops up only in Hampshire, Dorset as well as the Isle of Wight.

Usage
Internal
The leaves and flowering stems are used medicinally. Their constituents incorporate tannins, mucilage, saponins, silicic acid solution and mineral salts. These substances grant Lungwort emollient, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, diaphoretic and astringent attributes. It is found in herbal medicine in an infusion to calm bronchitis, cough and whooping cough, as well as to check diarrhoea.

External
On the outside it is included in compresses and bath water treatments for wounds and skin disorders.

Growth Characteristics
Lungwort grows  throughout Europe in woodland, wood margins, scrub and hedgerows. It is probably not native to the British Isles but is regionally naturalized in various locations, especially in the south.

Flowering time: March to May (Northern Hemisphere)

Yarrow Border

External use

• Externally a decoction is used as a herbal remedy to deal with slow-healing cuts, skin rashes and eczema, chapped skin and in the form of a gargle and bath additive. Yarrow should be consumed in moderation and not for long periods because doing so might cause skin itching.
• It may be utilized as a sitz bath for sore, cramp-like ailments in the lower female pelvis (pelvic autonomic dysfunction).
• It is also employed for injuries, nosebleeds, ulcers, swollen eyes and hemorrhoidal inflamation.
• In folklore it is held as an outstanding cure for injuries and cuts.
• Yarrow oil is regularly utilised in hair shampoos.
• Aromatherapy and essential oil use.
• The fresh leaves — and the flowers — include numerous cosmetic uses.
• On the skin, it can be effective for slow healing injuries, together with open sores and it has an astringent function on the skin.
• Yarrow herbs are employed to stimulate hair growth and is indicated to attend to premature hair thinning.

Internal use

• A yarrow-based healing tea-like drink is an efficient therapy for difficult colds and flu, for tummy ulcers, amenorrhea, abdominal cramping, abscesses, injuries and bleeding, and to cut down on irritation.
• Ingredients of yarrow exhibit antibiotic action and could also act like anti-neoplastic medication.
• Internally, this is used for colds, flu and measles, as well as to gastric excess mucus and dyspepsia.
• The flowers are utilized for diminished appetite and minor, spastic complications of the digestive tract and to protect against strokes and cardiac attack.
• Yarrow essential oil is especially good for gynecological conditions, for example irregular menstruation, uncomfortable periods, together with menopausal issues.
• The digestion of food is stimulated, urine formation supported and fever as well as congestion is eased.
• Whenever you are feeling low, yarrow might be the herbal remedy reviver that you need. It can be advantageous for the blood circulation and helps with varicose veins, rheumatic pains and neuralgia.

Culinary

• The taste is somewhat bitter and peppery and fresh leaves, chopped up, bestow ‘bite’ to a muddled salad.

Growing Factors
These herbs are easily grown and will subsist in inferior soil. It favors a well-drained soil in a sun-filled site. A first-rate “companion plant”, it safeguards the well being of plants growing close at hand and increases their essential oil substance thus making them a lot more resistant to insect predations and enhancing soil fertility.

Other
We say again: Continuous application of high concentrations of this herbal remedy can result in allergic skin irritations in some individuals, making the skin hyper photosensitive.

Flowering period: June to August (Northern Hemispere)

Yarrow Varieties

As promised, part 2 of the yarrow article. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for all the good feedback on part 1.

Yarrow
Achillea millefolium

Other names
Millefolium, milfoil, thousand-leaf, gordoloba, thousand- leaf clover, green arrow, soldiers’ woundwort, nosebleed, dog daisy, bloodwort, sanguinary, carpenter grass, old-mans pepper, cammock and achillia.

Appearance
A perennial natural herbal remedy with a creeping rhizome and vertical, furrowed and downy stems. The dark-green basal and stem foliage are lanceolate and nicely dispersed (2-3 times pinnate). The compact flowerheads are clustered in substantial, flat corymbs. The flowers are milky white or sometimes pinkish; the disc-florets whitish. The fruit, an achene, is compressed and to some degree winged. All sections of the herb have a typical robust aroma.

The non-woody portions of the flowering stems, in some cases solely the flowers, unencumbered with stalks, are utilized medicinally.

History
Yarrow was one amongst the herbs reserved for the devil – or the Evil One – in previous days, being sometimes known as Devil’s Nettle, Devil’s Plaything, Bad Man’s Plaything, and was utilised in spells for divination.

Yarrow is a perennial herb, commonplace almost everywhere in Europe, Asia, North America and almost every other nations all over the world in hedgerows and fields as well as on dried banks and roadsides. The plant’s therapeutic characteristics were known to the classical Greeks who called Yarrow Achillea after Achilles, the exalted warrior: known to have had his wounds treated with yarrow.

The exact title mittefolium (‘thousand leaf’) pertains to the plant’s many feathery leaves. The familiar name Yarrow is derived from the Anglo-Saxon expression gearwe – the original significance of which is lost in the mists of time

Usage
An aromatic, bitter, astringent, choleretic and anti-bacterial natural herbal remedy; it’s antispasmodic behaviors have been used to help reduce swelling, contribute to sweating and alleviate indigestion. It works like a diuretic, lessening hypertension, comforting spasms and arresting hemorrhage.
The complete plant, in addition to the essential oil extract, can be used. The major part is an essential oil with azulenes. that go blue after distillation. The plant also includes the alkaloids achilleine and stychydrine, tannins and bitter substances.

These substances give Yarrow diaphoretic, germ killing, stomachic, astringent and antispasmodic qualities that have a range of functions both internally and externally. Herbal and natural specialists apply an infusion for digestive upsets, diarrhoea, flatulence, menstrual disorders, colds and fevers.
Prudence is recommended as substantial or continuous doses used over a long period could cause the skin to be more vulnerable to rays from the sun. It is truly one of the primary natural herbal remedies.

There are so many facets to yarrow, that this has become my longest post ever. I am splitting this in half and will post more usage and growth sections tomorrow. Until then.

Rhubarb Plant

POLYGON ACEAE Rheum palmatum (as well as types)
Curative Rhubarb, Chinese Rhubarb

Appearance
A perennial herb with a heavy rhizome together with a basal rosette of coarsely toothed palmately split foliage. The rather tall, robust, hollow, lightly furrowed stalk is branched towards the top part and possesses terminal panicles of reddish to greenish-white blossoms. The whole plant is reddish. The fruit is a triangular achene.

Look Out For The Poison In Rhubarb!
Although arguably one of the most ancient of herbal remedies, oxalates are present in all parts of rhubarb plants, most especially in the green leaves. There is some evidence that anthraquinone glycosides are likewise present and might be to some extent responsible. It is far from clear with regards to the exact source of poisoning from rhubarb, potentially a consequence of both substances. The stalks have low amounts of oxalates, so this does not lead to problems. The leaves of all rhubarbs are dangerous.

History
Medicinal Rhubarb is indigenous to northeast Asia where it still grows wild. In China it has been utilized as a source for various herbal remedies and cures for over 4,000 years and is now grown there as well as in other eastern countries for pharmaceutical uses.

The well known Garden Rhubarb cultivated for its edible stalks (R. rhaponticum) is not typically employed as a herbal remedy even though its stems are laxative. The name Rhubarb is originally from the classical Greek words rha (= an old name for the River Volga) and barbaros (= foreign).

True rhubarb, that provides effective purgative constituents., is the Chinese variety (Rheum palmatum?), which is only to be found growing in the mountainous areas in Kansu province.

Marco Polo, who knew all about the Chinese rhubarb, spoke about it at length in accounts of his excursions in China. So much interest in Marco Polo’s travels comes from the fact that Venice was a significant trading center and as a result of eastern Arabic influence, Chinese rhubarb was already commonly used in European pharmacy products.

Usage
Herbal Remedies

• The rhizomes of 5- to 7-year-old plants are utilized medicinally. The components feature two types of glycosides: tannin glycosides with free gallic acid, cinnamic acid and glucose; and anthraquinone glycosides based upon the aglycones chrysophanol, emodin, aloe-emodin and rhein (up to 10 per cent). When dried they possess a bitter taste.
• The rhizomes also contain starch and calcium oxalate. In small doses Rhubarb is astringent and is used to treat diarrhea and to quicken the appetite.
• More robust doses act as a laxative after 8 to 10 hours and are used to take care of persistent constipation.
• Rhubarb is included in certain patented formulations – it is an element of many herbal tea mixes and digestive powders.
• Rhubarb herbal remedies must not be taken by people that have urinary issues, uroliths, kidney stones, arthritis and rheumatism or by young children or nursing moms.
• Lately there have been suggestions that rhubarb root (Rheum officinale) could very well be helpful in therapy for Hepatitis B.

Culinary uses of Rhubarb

• Rhubarb – also “pie plant” – is valued for use in pies, tarts, and sauces. Only the petioles are eaten, whereas herbal solutions use the leaves and roots. The elevated levels of oxalic acid and other compounds within the leaves are harmful to people. The petioles incorporate much smaller amounts of oxalic acid and, primarily, malic acid.
• Take the fresh crisp stalks, and peel off any stringy covering before use. Stand the stalks in cold water for an hour or two to renew them before food prep. Before use, clear away any leaves and trim the tips. Rhubarb requires sweetening to diminish the extreme tartness.
• It would be served as a sauce over ice cream, mixed with fresh strawberries, or made into pies, tarts, puddings, breads, jam, jellies, and rejuvenating concoctions.

Rhubarb – One Of The Oldest Herbal Remedies

Growth Characteristics
Flowers in July (N.Hemispere) or January (S. Hemisphere)

R. palmatum does not grow very well in Europe and yet another species, R. officinale, typically referred to as Turkey Rhubarb, is grown on a small scale for medicinal use.

Gathering should be deferred until the second year following planting to allow for the build up of root reserve. At some stage in the second year, a light harvest may be taken and normal harvests can begin in the third year.
Rhubarb is a cool season, perennial plant that is extremely winter resilient and resistant against drought.

Rhubarb tolerates the majority of soils but grows up best on fertile, well-drained soils classified as rich in organic material. A thoroughly clean gardening location is necessary for the cultivation of rhubarb seeing that no herbicides are registered to be used on rhubarb. Small areas of perennial weeds can easily build-up to harmful quantities. To reduce this, all of the perennial weeds need to be killed off the year before planting. The fields would be cultivated in the springtime and after cutting, and hand hoeing may also be appropriate. Rhubarb is relatively free of bug and disease conditions.

Fertilization
Rhubarb is pretty tolerant of soil acidity but performs best in mildly to moderately acid soil. The plants are able to tolerate soil pH as low as 5.0; even so, highest yields are attained at a pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Good volumes of fertilizer are needed.
Rhubarb reacts nicely to fertilizers. The standard of the harvest and the quality of the herbal remedies produced from it is dependent to a large degree on the care and fertilization received.

Manure is an effective method of adding organic matter and helps to conserve humidity, preserves the soil structure, and helps make nutrients easily accessible. Fresh manure must not be utilized because it would probably burn the sensitive young rhubarb plants.

Marshmallow Herb

Marshmallow – also althaea root, mallow root, mortification root, Schloss tea, sweet weed, Hock herb.
MALVACEAE Althaea officinalis

Description
A perennial botanical herb with a yellow, branched root, elevated, vertical, leafy stems and substantial alternating, lobed and irregularly toothed foliage.

The stems and foliage are velvety. The milky white or pinkish blooms of these herb garden plants, which are inviting to bees, are lined up in uneven racemes in the leaf axils. The disc-shaped schizocarpic fruit (a capsule) splits into one-seeded nutlets (mericarps). The fruits are usually referred to as ‘cheeses’ because of their rounded structure.

History
Homer’s Iliad -  from 2,800 years ago,  contains references to marshmallow root as a healing herb.

The familiar soft candy, marshmallow, was initially flavoured with Marshmallow root.

The familiar term ‘mallow’ is a corruption of the Latin term malva for this and similar plants in the Malvaceae family (see also PL 139). Both malva and Malvaceae almost certainly originate in the Greek word malakos (= soft), a reference to the softening and healing attributes of these herbs.

Among its various constituents are sugar, starch, an amino acid (asparagine) and pectin.

Usage
Marshmallow is a popular herbal remedy for diverse conditions and is cultivated commercially in certain countries.

The whole plant incorporates a healing action. But it has got to be without rust.

Marshmallow is regarded as the most vital mucilaginous medicinal herbs mainly because it contains a high proportion of mucilage (flowers around 20 per cent, roots near 30 per cent) and it is incorporated into branded medication and herbal preparations as an ointment, demulcent, antitussive and expectorant.

Marshmallow is employed internally for bronchitis and bronchial asthma and for indigestion and gastrointestinal difficulties.

It makes calming gargles and compresses and poultices for external application. It offers a number of cosmetic purposes too. The roots may be boiled and used like a vegetable.

Growth Characteristics
Marshmallow boasts a wide-ranging distribution from western Europe to Siberia. In the British Isles, where it is native, it is commonplace in salt marshes and on banks nearby the seashore. It is now naturalized to the eastern United States and used for ornamental purposes -  foliage and purple flowers.

Flowering period – Northern hemisphere: August to September.

Indoor Herb Pots

My previous post examined the features of pots and containers for creating your indoor herb garden kits as well as appropriate kinds of herb for inclusion therein. I would at this juncture like to concentrate on several other options you might want to consider if you want to gain optimum pleasure and functionality from a new indoor herb garden.

The incentive to cultivate herbs inside the garden or house is often a productive one: not merely will the plantings

guarantee a stable supply of fresh and all-natural flavouring for cooking but, in accordance with the variations you want to grow, they will provide possibilities for an array of uses in both the remedial and make up fields. Herbs are, more importantly, among the most convenient of plants to cultivate, and they need minimal room for effective growth.

Contemplating your herb garden

You might desire to cultivate herbs for culinary requirements, for their fragrance, or for their medicinal elements. There are a great number of various herbs, hence your primary factor in planning the garden is its essential function or purposes. Some people grow them as an ornamental feature; others incorporate the plants to fulfill diverse requirements. The options are practically infinite, the eventual preference according to your preferences, on the needs you have and, to some degree, on your inventive ability.

Even though usually informal, your indoor herb garden should be planned in accordance with the height and width of container, the functionality desired and growth features as well as the plants’ needs. Aesthetic considerations are pretty much as important as practical ones, and herbs of comparable height and spread grown in sizable pots should be arranged, with the taller-growing plants (rosemary, lemon verbena) in the back of the container, and the shorter, denser bush-growth in front. Spreading and fast-growing herbs (mint, lemon bairn) should be provided individual pots to refrain from choking of other plants.

Herbs wanted frequently (parsley, sage, thyme, chives) ought to be quite easy to access and not covered up by other foliage, and annuals should be planted independently from perennials. Endeavor to create visual interest by mixing up textures and shades of foliage – paler hues of green and grey, for example, can be used to contrast with bolder greens; set feathery foliage against heavier-leafed plants. Gardening classes at online universities can also teach you how to cultivate herbs inside your home.

Other options

Being such versatile plants, herbs provide convenient options – creeping thyme may be potted in or close by a busy room where it will emit an enjoyable fragrance when brushed against. Attractive flowering herbs such as tansy, lavender, yarrow, rosemary and calendula provide lively sections of colour to a kitchen area or any other room. Lavender, thyme and scented geranium, could be located close to the front entrance, featuring a sweet-smelling welcome for friends.

Selecting The  Varieties

• For flavouring and garnishes, the following baker’s dozen comprise a good choice: basil, bay leaf, caraway, chives, coriander, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, parsley, sage and thyme.
• A fragrant herb garden provides you with the constituents for fragrant sachets and potpourri. Beneficial here might be: angelica, basil, bay, bergamot, chamomile, fennel, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, mint, rosemary and roses.
• The flowers and leaves of these varieties provide substances for teas and herbal drinks: bergamot, borage, chamomile, catmint, hyssop, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lovage, peppermint, rosemary and thyme.
• A medicinal herb garden might include: angelica, basil, bay, bergamot, borage, chives, comfrey, fennel, garlic, lemon balm, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Indoor Herb Garden

Container and indoor growth
Herbs are probably the most suitable and attractive container plants and virtually every species may be potted with great success, whether initially propogated by seed or nursey seedlings. My first herb garden was indoors – cooking with herbs was just so convenient with a source close at hand. Since the first attempt – almost 30 years ago – I have dished out dozens of mini gardens to friends as gifts. Many of them got over the mystique surrounding herbs in days of yore and became keen herbies.

Herbs ideally suited for planting indoors include popular choices such as basil, chives, coriander(silantro), lemon balm, thyme, marjoram, parsley, stevia, sage and winter savory. However, small pots of many other varieties should certainly survive very well if indoor growing circumstances are favourable. (See below.)

Terracotta strawberry containers are particularly suited for herb growing, allowing taller and bushier herbs (hyssop, for example) to be grown in the top, and for trailing herbs (oregano, thyme) to grow down gracefully from the side openings. When selecting a pot or tub, be sure to check its has adequate water drainage openings and that it is thoroughly clean. Containers must permit good drainage to prevent waterlogging and consequent root impairment.

Besides satisfying these requirements, ensure that the dimensions and colour of the pot match the plant you are planning to grow: un-glazed clay-based pots are widely used and combine nicely with green foliage; timber containers also play a role in attractive presentation and can be utilized as window boxes or on a veranda.

Container plantings offer an array of possibilities to the herb garden enthusiast: a pot including a single species can be arranged with other containers for variety; or you can place several herbs together in a single large container, provided that the grouped herbs need the equivalent growing requirements.

A space-saving and appealing technique for growing is the hanging basket. This allows creeping foliage to cascade over the sides, while central positions can be filled by parsley or chives.

Herbs with invasive root systems (mint, lemon balm) are best planted separately as they tend to overcrowd the other species in a mixed planting. Check first with your nurseryman.

Indoor Herb Garden

Herbs indoors
Potted indoor herbs need a well-lit, bright position but do not like the severe direct heat of the sun. A kitchen window-sill which receives several hours of sun each day is ideal. Even decent reflected light will suit such plants as chervil, chives, lemon balm, mint and parsley – none of which benefit from too much heat.

Indoor herbs ought to be examined on a daily basis for moisture and watered on a regular basis to avoid the soil from drying out.

Container-grown herbs do not need to be limited to window boxes or patio positions. In reality, some of the more delicate herbs are better cultivated indoors; certainly in places where winters are severe.

Indoor herbs flourish in a normal, and stable, room temperature of around 17 °C, but will endure cooler night temperatures as long as these do not fall too low. Dry heat is exceedingly detrimental, and relatively high levels of humidity ought to be maintained; this can be contrived by standing the pots on a layer of moist gravel in their drip trays. They will also reap the benefits of an occasional misting of their foliage, and they require decent air circulation. They should not, however, be permitted to stand in a draught.