with Lynne Allbutt and Diarmuid Gavin

WHO’S HUMPHREY?

I HAVE been planting comfrey around the cottage, as ground cover, for a few years now and it is lovely at this time of year with the daffs growing up through it. It’s not the common comfrey, Symphytum officinale, but Symphytum tuberosum, (tuberous comfrey) a much smaller species at about a foot tall, with masses of creamy yellow flowers. It grows as “eagerly” as the common comfrey, which is what makes it such good ground cover, is also drought tolerant, and the bees love it. It is what I call a “hard-working plant”.

Comfrey belongs to the borage family and the apothecary’s plant was grown for the healing qualities of its roots, which would be ground up into a poultice and liberally applied to broken bones or open wounds, hence the common name, knitbone. I also grow another variety, S. orientale, an elegant comfrey growing to 3ft high, with bright green leaves and an open crosier of lovely white flowers. Unlike S. tuberosum, it forms a neat clump and self seeds in a restrained manner. And the revered plants woman, Beth Chatto told me that one of her favourite varieties is the robust, moisture-loving S. asperum (prickly comfrey), which she grows in her woodland garden. This tall comfrey, which can reach 5ft in height, has gentian blue flowers encased in ruby red buds, but is a plant for the wild(er) garden.

I was recently advising a client to include comfrey in their garden and couldn’t resist telling her that my brother calls comfrey, “Humphrey”.

“Oh how sweet,” she replied. “How old is he?”

“48”. I had to confess!