Scents of style

2 x Heliotropium arborescens

‘Baby Blue’ (heliotrope)

1 x Heliotropium arborescens

‘White Lady’ (heliotrope)

1 x Pelargonium ‘Deerwood Lavender Lass’

3 x Satureja douglasii ‘Indian Mint’ (trailing winter savory) 2 x Thymus vulgaris ‘Silver Posie’ (variegated thyme)

1 x Thymus citriodorus

‘Variegatus’ (variegated lemon thyme)

2 x Nemesia ‘Lady Penelope’ 2 x Salvia officinalis

‘Purpurascens’ (purple sage) 40cm-diameter rattan basket (from garden centres and online suppliers)

This selection of sun-loving herbs and tender plants in a large rattan basket creates a sensory tangle of tactile leaves crying out to be rubbed to release their aromas. The flowers, too, will gently waft their perfume through the warm summer air.

Sage and thyme provide sprigs for the kitchen, while the delicious fragrance of heliotrope earns it the common name of ‘cherry pie’. The various subtle scents work well together, none of them overpowering their companions.

Dismantle the display in autumn and pot up individually. The herbs could also be planted into sunny, free-draining borders.