THE HERB GARDEN 303 



the wee Corsican, M . Requieni, which creeps between 

 the bricks and has a good scent. Some other Mints are: 

 M. Pulegium, Pennyroyal; M. sylvestris, Horse Mint; 

 M. piperita, Common Peppermint, and M. viridis, 

 Spearmint. 



Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, is a plant about the 

 virtues of which history is strangely silent, though it is 

 often mentioned with great respect, and one of its names 

 is "Healing herb." It is rather too coarse and per- 

 vasive for even a large garden, but we tolerate the golden- 

 leaved variety for the sake of its pretty blue flowers. 

 Balm, Melissa officinalis, with its highly fragrant leaves, 

 is another plant which must be kept well in check, but 

 has ever been of the greatest importance. It is both a 

 "hot" and a "sweet" herb, and was much used in baths 

 to "warm and comfort the veins and sinewes." Good 

 for "greene wounds" and bee stings, "it also putteth 

 away the cares of the mynde, and troublesome imagina- 

 tion." Valuable indeed! 



The four central beds of the garden are given up to 

 one kind of plant each: Winter Savoury, Camomile, 

 Germander, and Pot Marjoram. The first, Satureia 

 montana, is a delightful little bushy plant, with small, 

 highly aromatic leaves and a haze of tiny white flowers. 

 It loves a sunny spot and poor, gravelly soil; indeed, in 

 heavy soil it is not supposed to be quite winter-proof. 

 It is still much used for culinary purposes, and I have a 

 vague childhood memory that it used to be bound upon 



