Emma Cooper

As I said a few days ago, there is a new plan for my garden, which involves a lot more perennials and (hopefully) a lot less stress in the summer. Since the plants arrived from Rocket Gardens, there have been too many plants in the garden. Too many annuals, too many things in containers, not enough space and too much demand for watering. Gradually the excess plants have been planted out (or fed to the chickens) and although calm has not yet been restored there is a sense that it will come.

In the meantime, there has been an embargo on plant shopping. There was no room, I had no time. It was easier not to look than to window shop. But now that there is a new plan, with a different focus, the embargo has lifted a little. And as we were in Homebase anyway, I had a look in the garden section and came home with some (perennial) herbs. They are all also scented plants that hopefully the cats won’t like.

There was an offer on – 4 plants for £10 – so I chose:

Rosemary. I have one already, but I tend to kill them off so another won’t hurt.

Thyme

An apple mint, with deliciously furry leaves

And a gloriously stinky curry plant

And then I turned around and saw this wonder, and couldn’t resist:

Basil ‘Perpetuo’ is a variety I hadn’t seen before. It’s grown as a perennial plant (although it’s not hardy in my climate and will need to be brought inside for the winter). It doesn’t flower, and can’t be grown from seed, but can be propagated from terminal stem cuttings taken at any time through the year. So that was the first thing I did, take some cuttings, about half of which seem to be doing OK at the moment. Oh, and it’s variegated, and one of the most beautiful plants I’ve seen in ages. And although it is not as strongly basil-flavoured as ‘Genovese’, it’s cetainly tasty enough to earn its place in the kitchen.