Aroma Therapy

For many of us, the summer garden is incomplete without lavender. This ancient herb blooms for months on end, producing a mass of purple that murmurs with the mellow hum of bees and perfumes the air with that unmistakable odour, which is somehow both relaxing and revitalising. As the late, great garden designer Rosemary Verey put it: “You can never have too much of it in your garden.”

In the right spot – well-drained, sun-baked soil – lavender is a doddle to grow. As a wildlife plant it is hard to beat, drawing a variety of butterflies, hoverflies and bees, who feed on