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This is the plant that makes orris root, or at least it does in my house. It isn’t the true variety iris germanica var florentina, which is this one:

which I photographed at Culross. It looks relatively scrawny and a bit pathetic compared with the germanica ones, but it is the real deal, with the roots that were dried and ground into orris root powder for pot pourris and laundry. You could boil the roots with your linen to give them a rich violet scent which lastes for ages and deters moths. It is also a fixative, which means that not only does it small nice in itself, it helps to preserve the smell of other scented plants.

The garden variety which I have may not be precisely the same as florentina, but it does the job. You dig up the roots in the autumn, after they have had a good baking, and dry them out slowly in a cool oven. It takes an unbelievably long time, as you need them to be completely dry and brittle, and then you can pulverise them in a spice grinder. I did this a few years back, and used the powder as recommended in a pot pourri. It was amazing – not so much a distinctive scent, but a kind of rich base note that brought all the lavender, rosepetals, other herbs and spices, into a wonderful harmony. And it did last for several years, so I am going to dry some more roots this September and see what I can do.This is the pond this week. There’s no sign of tadpoles, but it’s pretty busy. I think I have a kind of gated community for elderly frogs, who just want to chill, and who can’t be doing with all the tadpole shenanigans!

We’re not quite here yet, but the flower buds are forming and I’m going to have to cut what I want for drying if I’m to follow the advice to cut before the flowers open. That is when the essential oils in the plant are at their strongest.

If you look up sage in any herb book, you will always find two quotes:

“Why should a man die if he has sage in his garden?” which is attributed to Dioscorides, and the more folksy

“If they’d eat mugwort in April

and sage in may

so many young maidens

wouldn’t go to clay.”

Sage, it would seem, is a life saver, prescribed for almost anything from sore throats to kidney disease – hence the Latin name ‘salvia’ which is linked to the words for health and safety.

The rhyme I kind of like though, is

Where the sage tree thrives and grows

the master’s not master, and he knows.

Oh dear. Myself, I think it’s more to do with the rocky poor soil I planted it in, right at the top of a north facing slope, so it gets all the sun and excellent drainage. It comes in many varietieis, with splashes and variations of colour on its leaves, gold and silver and tricoloured. The one I like, though is the purple. Despite its interesting murky colour, it tastes just the same in a sage and onion stuffing!

I’m going to try and see as many herb gardens as I can while this project lasts, and I started this weekend with Culross.

It’s steeply sloped and terraced, and packed into its small space are herbs, vegetables, fruit bushes and trees, cut flowers, bees and chickens. These are Scottish dumpies – no kidding, it’s a real breed, chosen because they are bred to be hardy in this country – and very beautiful – and vocal – they were too.

Although Culross is only just up the river from here, the garden is much more sheltered than ours, and everything is just that bit further advanced. This is borage, blooming its heart out, although mine is only just appearing.

I came away with a lot of ideas – particularly this chamomile lawn, underplanted with tulips and crown imperials and lilies, which add interesting highlights. I might try that next year – though it will be less than a quarter the size, if I do. I have joined the Herb Society and I will try to visit their garden at Sulgrave Manor, and of course the Chelsea Physic Garden and the American Museum garden at Bath, but I’ll be looking out wherever I go for herb gardens to visit.

And the other thing I have just done is that I have joined The Uncivilisation network
which is the online space for people interested in the Dark Mountain Project to continue conversations started on the blog, or in the books or at the events which the founders of the Project so magnificently set up.

In the Dark Mountain group I have found many people who share concerns close to my heart, about art and society and the environment. There are artists, philosophers, film-makers, musicians, plenty poets, farmers, educationalists, conservationists, fiction writers and journalists of all sorts, and people whose crafts and creativity I can’t even define. It’s a really interesting place to hang out.