BRITAIN’S GOT GARDENS
Herb gardens are fascinating, and one of the finest is at the Elizabethan Hardwick Hall
At the height of summer, the herb garden at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire brims with enthralling plants. Flowers full of scented oils; leaves that contain medicine; and culinar y seeds packed with flavour. Herb gardens are always interesting, and this south-facing gem, designed by Isabelle Van Groeningen, is a delight.
A herb is any plant that is deemed useful: from yielding colour for dye, to producing foliage to make tisane. For instance, evening primrose gives oil that reduces PMS, pelargonium flavours desser ts, and calendula is used in skin cream. The flowers of all three are beautiful.
At Hardwick, columns of golden-leaved hops tower amongst beds of herbs, encased by clipped, cur ving hedging; yellow fennel and santolina add to the sunny palette, which is of fset by the silver and purple of sage, lavender and cardoons, around a central black elder. The edible orange flowers of nastur tium and calendula brighten the scene. Bees and butterflies flock to the towering green globes of angelica and the fragrant flowers of thyme and oregano.
The National Trust – which has owned Hardwick since 1959 – created the garden to demonstrate the impor tance of herbs to the Elizabethans, since Hardwick is an Elizabethan countr y house. It was built in 1590 by Bess of
Hardwick, who was the second richest woman in England (after Elizabeth I), thanks to a talent for business and marrying four times. Along with constructing two mansions at Hardwick, she built Chatswor th House and lived to the age of 81.
During Bess’s era, herbs were widely cultivated and cherished, and books (known as ‘herbals’) detailing their powers were published. While we may not use herbs so much for their medicine as we used to, these fascinating plants are a link to the past, and many are still of great use in the kitchen: in cooking and baking or to make herbal teas. Take a stroll around Hardwick or another herb garden this summer to pick up ideas for your own garden. ● Hardwick Hall; nationaltrust.org.uk/hardwickhall; 01246 850430;
S44 5QJ