30 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



upon herbs, their subtle essences and delicate 

 flavours. Pot-herbs and medicinal herbs are alike 

 indispensable to man's well-being, and they are 

 fascinating for all sorts of sideway reasons. Why 

 then do we not make a pleasure of growing them ? 

 At the outset comes the question " What is a 

 herb 1 " Many definitions have been attempted, 

 but most of them are failures. It is, however, 

 fairly safe to use the words of a well-known herb 

 enthusiast, Lady Rosalind Northcote, who has 

 pondered the question carefully. "Speaking 

 generally, a herb is a plant, green, and aromatic 

 and fit to eat, but it is impossible to deny that 

 there are several undoubted herbs that are not 

 aromatic, a few more grey than green, and one 

 or two unpalatable, if not unwholesome." A 

 complete list of plants that are certainly herbs 

 would contain the names of about as many of 

 those that are out of fashion at the present time 

 as it does of those that are still in use. The 

 length of the list would be a surprise to many. 



Of Herbs in Present Use 



Walking through any ordinary garden, what 

 will it have to show us in the way of pot or 



