Grow Your Own Magazine

I have a herb patch, well it's more a bee attracting patch.
It is at the top of a north facing slope, shaded by a hedge and well soaked in winter by runoff and seepage, dried to deep cracks in summer as it is clay.

Beyond the two examples I show below can anyone suggest some more bumble-bee and butterfly freindly perrennial herbs I can plant?

Winter Savoury.

General View

Flower of Elecampane

Elecampane before flowering

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I think Rosemary has got to be a key contender!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Thyme, sage, borage, and liminanthes (poached egg plant) should do well. Love the elecampane flower, that's very special isn't it?

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Definitely thyme, and I'd add marjoram as well - I have a compact variety that's smothered in flowers and bees every summer. And lavender.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

Ditto everyone else, and does Buddleia need a lot of water? seem to remember it growing quite well in our clay in previous house.

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Regards, Jane
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? The creative adult is the child who has survived.
Ursula LeGuin
http://www.etribes.com/madderbat

Don't know how much water buddleia need but they sure as hell do grow big so don't plant unless you've got the space - are good for butterflies though!

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Love your winter savoury Peter. Don't know about herbs but autumn flowering sedums will grow around your stonework and bees and butterflies just love it.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Just had another thought, catmint is excellent too, and continues flowering for a long time! Is it sedum spectabile you mean Alice? Brilliant butterfly plant.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

Yes Birdie wife, it's Sedum Spectabile. Well earns it's place in the garden. Great for bees and butterflies, produces great autumn colour and good for dried flowers too.
I'll need to build up my stocks. I had several good areas of it but it was one of the favourites of the Roe Deer before I managed to fence those pests out. They ate it right down to the roots so that it didn't come back. Fortunately it spreads itself quickly so I'll be able to get it re-established where it was before. It's wonderful to be free of the deer.Now I can just enjoy them over the fence.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Hi Peter,

You could try Bergamot, it grows like an herbaceous perennial and has lovely pinky red flowers. You could even try distilling the oil for your very own Earl Grey That would impress the other lottie holders

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Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

Or just chuck a few leaves in with a tea bag which has the desired effect!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Hi Peter!
Thyme of any flavour. Lemon Thyme is probably the one I use the most of in cooking as it seems to go with absolutely anything, and the bees love it too.
Borage is one I'd choose too, although not strictly perennial, it does self-seed readily, and it's ever so pretty too, she said flicking her blonde locks aside Miss Piggy fashion.....(!)

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com

Updated Sunday 13th:
POCKET ROCKET...

Rosemary, lavender, thyme definitely - all perennials, and most herbs like well drained sites.

How about some fennel at the back??
You can use it to make fennel wine too!!

I think I'll pass on Fennel Nicos, had one once, am still tring to get rid of the volunteers.

Most of the suggestions so far are for a sunny well drained plot.

This plot is neither, the general view is looking south-east and water has been trickling across from the upside down Y shaped post towards where I stood to take the picture.

Oh and its a windy frost pocket.

Buddlia, Thyme, Bergamot, Rosemary, Marjoram, Borage and Catmint, I'll try.

Thyme died.

The bricks were there to hold the woven membrane down.
Due to normal processes soil and leafmould have built up on the membrane enough to support rosebay willowherb seedlimgs, so its going to be bark-chip mulched, prostrate or ground hugging plants are out.

Any more suggestions, all gratefully recieved especially for unusual medicinal type plants and thanks for those so far.

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Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

Peter,
BUILD A RAISED BED! of the soil proportions to suit the herb.
Seriously, you cannot be without the mediterranean herbs, for bees OR cooking, and build it in/on the site that is the best that your plot can offer.?

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com

Updated Sunday 13th:
POCKET ROCKET...

Wellie, might do when I can afford some more sleepers.

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Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

Hi Peter, the only damp loving herb I could think of would be Mint, and maybe Lemon Balm. But then I had a wee look on the Plants For a Future website and did a search and it came up with about 300+ , heres a link to their search page

http://www.pfaf.org/database/

Hope it helps some, I've found it very handy in deciding what to plant in my windy, peaty, next to the sea garden .
Cheers
CC

sleepers make a raised bed look lovely, but you can make a very sevicable raised bed by simply importing/raising the soil level - it doesn't need anything around the edge to work. you could always add the sleepers at a later date. Or scaff planks, or pallete wood........

...catmint is excellent providing that you don't mind all the neighbourhood cats coming over, wallowing in it and getting high as little pussy cat kites!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Mon 21/07/2008...let them eat cake - again...

Hmmm, think I'll give that a miss as my little furry person (canine type) would think breakfast, lunch and dinner had arrived all at once.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/