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Companion Planting

Companion planting is your veg patch’s secret weapon. Team the right crops and they boost growth, confuse pests, and pull in pollinators. Herbs and flowers add scent, shelter and natural pest control. Fewer sprays, richer soil, better yields. Smarter planting, stronger plants, tastier harvests. Less faff, more food. All year.

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Florists Dill or Compact Dill

‘Mariska’ is a little known compact variety of Dill often referred to as ‘Florist’s Dill’. With starry bright yellow flower heads and abundant foliage it is an excellent variety for use as a cut flower, yet is still a great variety for the kitchen.

Aní­s, Aniseed

Anise, Pimpinella anisum is one of the oldest known herbs, famous for its liquorice flavour it has assumed a popular stature for both its culinary uses and in herbal medicine. Use seeds for flavouring cookies, pastries, and confections and the leaves fresh in salads and soups.

Basil, Heritage (Italian, Pre 1879)

Sweet Genovese is often associated with Italian cuisine. Basil is native to the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This delicate herb has with an intense, spicy-sweet, aroma and a slight anise-like undertone. It is THE Basil for pesto and a wonderful companion plant.

Basil. Heritage (Italian, Pre 1879)
Sweet Genovese is often associated with Italian cuisine. Basil is native to the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This delicate herb has with an intense, spicy-sweet, aroma and a slight anise-like undertone. Organic Seed.
Starflower, Bee Bread, Blue Borage
The beautiful blue star-shaped flowers of Borage are edible with a cool cucumber flavour. Use them as garnish in fruit cups, summer drinks, wines and Pimms. Garden visitors can be converted to herbal advocates simply by offering a taste of its flower! Organic Seeds.
Starflower, Bee Bread, White Borage

The herb borage is a well known annual. Not so well known and not often written about is the equally beautiful form ‘alba’ which boast pure white, perfectly star-shaped flowers. Each flower is centred by five black stamens which heighten the drama. The flowers are edible, garden visitors can be converted to herbal advocates simply by offering a taste of its white flower.

Starflower, Bee Bread, Blue Borage

Borage is one of the most reliable sources of blue flowers, often flowering lavishly for weeks after sowing. The beautiful blue star-shaped flowers are edible and very important for bees, providing pollen and nectar in prodigious amounts.

Price range: €1.95 through €5.95

Pot Marigold, English Marigold. Herb Marigold

Cheerful and bright, use Calendula in beds, borders or containers. Calendula is prolific and durable, and like most hardy annuals it is easy to grow, simply sow where it is to flower. It is currently one of the top herbs used for medicinal use. Sprinkle salads and decorate cakes with the edible tangy petals.

Price range: €2.25 through €7.95

Meridian Fennel or Persian Cumin

Caraway is an incredibly useful plant. The seeds are used as a culinary spice and for medicinal purposes, the leaves can be eaten in salads and the roots cooked as a root vegetable. With feathery, delicate foliage the plant is lovely in the garden border and is a very useful companion plant in the vegetable garden.

Cutting or Soup Celery. Chinese Kintsai

Cutting celery or Leaf celery is the type that is used in Europe. It looks similar to parsley but tastes like regular stalk celery, but with a slightly stronger, herbier taste. It is a darker green, with thin, rounded, flexible stalks and curly, aromatic leaves; it is much easier to grow than its big brother.

English or Lawn Chamomile
Also spelt Camomile

Camomile is a most useful plant. It can be used to make beautiful lawns and raised beds, an infusion of the plant is an ideal family remedy, calming and sedative, perfect for restlessness or travel sickness, while for gardeners the tea is effective as a spray to prevent ‘damping-off’ of seedlings

Price range: €2.65 through €7.95

Chives

These easy to grow chives are one of the famous fines herbes of French cuisine. Easily raised from seed, they are perennial bulbs that spread to form neat tufted clumps, ideal for edging beds and paths. They are particularly attractive when in flower and are a favourite of bees and other pollinating insects.

Chives
The organic version of the easy to grow chives. These are one of the famous fines herbes of French cuisine. They are a good source of vitamins A and C, and are also said to stimulate the appetite and strengthen the stomach. Organic Seed.
Knitbone, Bruisewort, Healing herb, Miracle herb.

To the organic gardener, Comfrey is invaluable. It’s easy to grow, easy to use and incredibly beneficial to the garden. Used to make organic liquid feed, it is especially valuable on crops that benefit from high doses of potassium. Organic Seed.

Chinese, Mexican or Indian Parsley
Most gardeners appreciate that home grown herbs are infinitely superior, but try growing Coriander – the difference can be quite startling. “Slobolt” is a variety for leaf production that performs well under organic production techniques and is resistant to running to seed. Organic Seed.
Herbe Sainte-Marie, Alecost

Costmary is one of the most interesting and complex of all herbs. With an aroma which has been described as like garden mint with hints of balsam it can be used for many purposes, culinary, medicinal or ornamental.

Dill Weed, Baby Dill, Dill Seed, Dill Fruit

Dill Bouquet is a popular variety with gardeners. It is an early bloomer that sports large seedheads and dark blue-green foliage. With good flavour it is the best cultivar for seed production. Sweet and aromatic, the flavour is intermediate between anise and caraway.

Dill Seed, Dill Weed
Dill ‘Diana’ is a very upright and stable selection. Especially robust against bolting, it is very leafy with an attractive dark green colour. The plants have a compact growth habit and are suitable for windowsill or container use. Organic Seed.
Baby Dill, Dill Seed, Dill Fruit

Dill Dukat is grown primarily for its abundant foliage, producing much more foliage before forming seed than most varieties. It is one of the best for fresh leaf production. Dill is certainly delectable. If ever the term “best if home-grown” were to apply to an item in the kitchen, dill would be it!

Herb Fennel, Bronze Fennel.

Used in many culinary dishes, the leaves and seeds of Fennel have a sweet aroma and an aniseed flavour. The fine clouds of feathery, bronze-purple leaves are wonderful in the herb garden or among tall perennials and grasses. The foliage acts as a delicate veil through which flower heads of plants can be seen.

Whether your interest lies in medicinal herbs or simply its decorative qualities, growing Feverfew can be a welcome addition to any garden or allotment. Feverfew is a good companion plant and a natural insect repellent. Ideal for planting around outdoor seating areas and pathways

True English Lavender, Old English Lavender

Lavendula angustifolia is an excellent plant for low informal hedging and as a specimen evergreen for borders and formal gardens. Flowering generally begins from mid to late June to early July. The flowers have a rich sweet scent and are highly attractive to bees and other beneficial insects.

Bee Balm Sweet Balm, Balm Mint, Blue Balm.

Melissa officinalis or ‘Lemon balm’ is a highly-scented herb, best known for its use in tea, but this very special herb has a number other uses. If you enjoy the liquors Benedictine and Chartreuse you may find the taste familiar as lemon balm is an ingredient in both.

Bee Balm, Sweet Balm, Balm Mint, Blue Balm.
Lemon balm is a very special herb with a number other uses. The leaves have the scent of lemon with a hint of mint. It is refreshing served in summer drinks such as Pimms or lemonade, use to flavour fruit, in sorbets and deserts or with a green salad. Organic Seed.
Poached Egg Plant or Fried Egg Plant.
The fragrant, abundant flowers of Limnanthes appear from summer to autumn and attract bees and butterflies for the duration. This lovely plant provides a carpet of fragrant golden and white blooms that will grace the front of the border, rockery or path edging.

Price range: €1.75 through €5.95

Love Parsley, Mountain Celery

If you haven’t cooked with lovage before then you have missed out on a very flavourful herb. The flavour is distinct and greatly appreciated by food aficionados. Even though some like to compare lovage to celery, it is almost like saying that an apricot tastes like a small peach.

Summer Marjoram
Sweet Marjoram is an essential culinary herb and fresh or dried, no cook should ever be without it. It is wonderfully aromatic with a mild oregano flavour with a hint of balsam. Fresh or dried, it is good with veal, beef, lamb, roast poultry and fish. Organic Seed.
Brandy or Balm mint.

Peppermint is a perennial favorite for many people, it has high menthol content and its refreshing taste is uplifting and cleansing. Popular for infusions and a favourite among herbal tea drinkers, it is one of the easiest herbs to grow yourself. Get creative and include in Schnapps, Mint Juleps or Mojitos!

English, Common, Garden or Green Mint

Who can resist the smell of fresh mint in the garden? Mentha spicata is the best strain grown from seed. It is an exceptionally fragrant and ornamental plant in addition to having many culinary uses, it is also extremely attractive to butterflies and bees, making a wonderful addition to a wildlife garden.

Bee Balm, Oswego Tea, Horsemint

Monarda fistulosa, also known as Bergamot is famed for its medicinal qualities. While in the perennial border these lovely plants produce a mass of mauve-purple blooms (even in their first year from an early sowing) and have uniquely scented foliage. Highly attractive to bees and butterflies.

Catnip, Catmint
Veteran gardeners are probably already aware of nepeta’s versatility in the garden. From its popular partnering with roses to the softening effect it has on hard edges. Nepeta is an ideal perennial for new gardeners and, of course, cats adore it.
True Oregano

The difference in taste between fresh oregano and the store-bought dried variety is like night and day. Its spicy yet refreshing flavour contributes to Italian, Greek, and Spanish cuisine. Fresh oregano adds a boost of flavour that just can’t be beat. Easy to grow either in the garden or indoors.

Garden Rue, Herb of Grace, Herb Rue

Rue, as an herb has for centuries been used by herbalists to treat almost every ailment known to man. It is ornamental with pretty evergreen foliage. It is easy to grow from seed and easy to maintain. It is especially good in knot gardens because it can be pruned into a neat hedge.

Mountain Savory, Garden Savory

Satureia montana ssp. citriodora is a lemon-scented variety of Winter Savory. Semi-evergreen, they retain their aromatic, lemon scented leaves in all but the coldest gardens and remain useful all year round.

Summer Savory, Garden Savory

‘Midget’ is an excellent compact variety of Summer savory. This fast-growing annual provides an abundant supply of leaves that are so tender they can be added fresh to salads. It shines as a seasoning for roasting meats, fowl and fish.

Summer Savory, Garden Savory
The leaves of Summer savory are so tender that they can be added fresh to salads or used as a garnish. Used in herb combinations it brings out the best in stews and vegetable dishes, and shines as a seasoning for roasting meats, fowl, and fish. Organic Seed.
Mountain Savory, Garden Savory

Winter savory, the perennial savory has the same properties as its summer relative Summer savory, although it has a heavier aroma and a sharper pine type flavour. The small perennial shrubs are semi-evergreen, retaining their leaves in all but the coldest gardens and remain useful all year round.

Absinthium, Absinthe Wormwood

Wormwood is best known as the primary ingredient in absinthe, but is also an exceptionally versatile herb. As well as being an attractive plant to look at, this ancient crop has been used for centuries as a moth repellent, general pesticide and as a spray to repel slugs and snails.

Starflower, Bee Bread, White Borage

The herb borage is a well known annual with beautiful sky blue flowers and succulent foliage. Not so well known and not often written about is the equally beautiful form ‘alba’ which boast pure white, perfectly star-shaped flowers. This mixed pack of seeds gives both blue and white forms.

Cutting or Soup Celery. Chinese Kintsai

Cutting celery or Leaf celery is the type that is used in Europe. It looks similar to parsley but tastes like regular stalk celery, but with a slightly stronger, herbier taste. It is a darker green, with thin, rounded, flexible stalks and curly, aromatic leaves; it is much easier to grow than its big brother.

Chinese, Mexican or Indian Parsley

Coriander ‘Slobolt’ is a variety for leaf production that is resistant to bolting and running to seed. It isn’t a hard plant to grow and of course, fresh herbs and spices have far better flavours than dried ones. Home grown herbs are infinitely superior, the difference can be quite startling.

Dwarf Lemon or Zesty Lemon Parsley

‘Dwarf Lemon’ Coriander is a delightful and refreshing combination that brings together the sharp zest of lemon and the aromatic, citrusy undertone of coriander. This pairing is cherished in a variety of global cuisines for its ability to lift and brighten dishes.

Compact, Slow bolting variety.

A modern coriander variety, fresh ‘Hacor’ leaves are bright, citrusy and slightly peppery, with a hint of spice and a touch of sweetness. The flavour is clean and full rather than harsh, holding up well in both raw and cooked dishes. The seeds are warm, nutty and aromatic, with a lemony undertone once toasted.

This fabulous range of Edible Flowers and Herbs give decorative petals and leaves for use as garnishes and flavourings. Some are spicy, and some herbaceous, while others are floral and fragrant, the range is surprising. They will bring a stunning finish to the food and drinks you that you love.

Price range: €3.95 through €23.95

Blue Hyssop
Wildflower of Britain and Ireland
Hyssop famously attracts bees, hover-flies and butterflies. It makes excellent honey and is a must for any wildflower garden. Some beekeepers rub the hive with it to encourage the bees to keep to their home. In cooking, use the same way you would Rosemary. Organic Seed.
Pink Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis ‘Alba’ is a much less well known variety of hyssop. Also known as ‘White Hyssop’ the plants sport bright white flowers from July to October. Widely used as a ‘taste enhancing’ herb or wildlife plant, the plants are a dark, vibrant green with a spiky, upright habit and narrow tongue-like leaves which have a peppery scent when stroked.

Blue Hyssop
Wildflower of Britain and Ireland

Hyssop is a strong-flavoured aromatic herb which is enjoying a revival with home gardeners. An ideal plant for use in containers or as a low hedge or border within the herb garden. Highly attractive to bees, it makes excellent honey and is a must for any wildflower garden.

Summer Marjoram

Members of the oregano family are an essential plant for a well-stocked, sunny herb garden. Fragrant and very decorative, Sweet Marjoram is an essential culinary herb, good with veal, beef, lamb, roast poultry and fish. The leaves are best used fresh, as their flavour is sweeter and milder.

Price range: €1.95 through €5.95

Price range: €2.25 through €7.95

Price range: €2.65 through €7.95

Price range: €1.75 through €5.95

Price range: €3.95 through €23.95