THE HERB GARDEN 293 



simpling," which old John Gerarde says, "hath been a 

 study for the wisest, an exercise for the noblest, a pas- 

 time for the best . . . the subject thereof so neces- 

 sarie and delectable, that nothing can be confected 

 either delicate for the taste, daintie for smell, pleasant 

 for sight, wholesome for body, conservative or restora- 

 tive for health, but it borroweth the relish of an herbe, 

 the flavour of a flower, the colour of a leaf, the juice of a 

 plant or the decoration of a roote . . . who would 

 therefore, look dangerously up at Planets that might 

 look safely down at plants." And the answer, who 

 indeed? 



Before setting out to create a garden of herbs it is 

 well to settle in one's mind just what an herb is, or at 

 least what the word implies to one's self. There have 

 been many definitions given by those interested in the 

 subject, but none seem to me quite comprehensive. It 

 seems generally accepted that all plants with aromatic 

 foliage are rightly herbs, but beyond this is a debatable 

 land. To me, a plant to deserve the name must serve a 

 use, other than a decorative one, though I should not 

 want all useful plants in my collection. Plants used in 

 medicine, for salads, for flavouring, and even those said 

 to be invested with magic working powers, might 

 properly be included, but if one seeks a list of those in 

 the old herbals, it will be of such length that no garden 

 could hold them, and if it could, would differ little from 

 an ordinary flower garden, for in that credulous long 



