Use our handy herb guide to help you select the ones you need when shopping at your nearest GCA member garden centre.
English Mace
Hardy perennial. Height 30-45cm when in flower. Spread 30cm. Clusters of small cream flowers in summer. Leaves are bright green, narrow and very deeply serrated. The chopped leaves can be used to stuff chicken, flavour soups and stews and to sprinkle on potato salads, rice and pasta dishes. The leaf has a mild, warm, aromatic flavour and combines well with other herbs.
Anise Hyssop
Hardy perennial. Height 60cm. Spread 30cm. Long purple flower spikes in summer. Aniseed-scented mid green oval leaves. Leaves can be used in salads and to make refreshing tea. They can be added to summer fruit drinks. Equally, they can be chopped and used as a seasoning in pork dishes or in savoury rice. Flowers can be added to fruit salads to give a splash of colour.
Chervil
Hardy annual. Height 30-60cm. Spread 30cm. Tiny white flowers grow in clusters from spring to summer. Light green and fern-like leaves may take on a purple tinge in summer. Chervil has parsley like flowers with a hint of aniseed. Good for winter use, as fresh leaves are easily obtainable. Use its leaf generously in salads, soups, sauces, vegetables, chicken, white fish and egg dishes. Add freshly chopped towards the end of cooking to avoid loss of flavour.
French Tarragon
Hardy perennial. Height three foot. Spread 45cm. Tiny insignificant yellow flowerheads are borne in sprays in summer. Leaves are smooth, dark green, long and narrow, and have a very strong flavour. Its flavour complements many dishes including chicken, veal, fish, stuffed tomatoes, rice dishes and salad dressings.
Coriander
Tender annual. Height 60cm. White flowers in summer. The first and lower leaves are broad and scalloped with a strong, spicy and nutty aroma with a hint of the citrus. The upper leaves are finely cut and have a different and yet more pungent smell. The whole plant is edible. The leaves and ripe seeds have two distinct flavours. The seeds are warmly aromatic and the leaves have an earthy pungency.
Coriander seeds are used regularly in Garam Masala (a mixture of spices) and in curries. Use ground seed in tomato chutney, ratatouille, frankfurters, curries, and also in apple pies, cakes, biscuits and marmalades. Add whole seeds to soups, sauces and vegetable dishes. Add fresh lower leaves to curries, stews, salads, and sauces and as a garnish. Delicious in salads, vegetables and poultry dishes. A bunch of coriander leaves with vinaigrette dressing goes particularly well with hard boiled eggs.
Salad Rocket (Roquette)
Half hardy annual. Height 60-90cm. The flowers are yellowish at first then in the summer they become whiter with purple veins. The oval lance shaped leaves have a nutty flavour. Add the leaves to all forms of salad. The younger leaves have a milder taste than the older ones, which have a definite peppery flavour. Leaves can also be added to sauces and to other vegetable dishes either raw or steamed. This herb is one of many leaves included in the provencale salad mixture called Mesclun.
Parsley
Hardy biennial. Height 30-40cm, small creamy white flowers in flat umbels in summer. The leaf is brightish green and has curly toothed edges with a mild taste. It is mainly used as a garnish. Cooking with parsley enhances the flavour of other foods and herbs. In bland food, the best flavour is obtained by adding it just before the end of cooking.
Rosemary
Evergreen hardy perennial. Height and spread one metre. Pale blue flowers in early spring to summer and then sometimes in early autumn. Needle shaped dark green leaves are highly aromatic. This is one of the most useful culinary herbs, combining with meat, especially lamb, casseroles, tomato sauces, baked fish, rice, salads, egg dishes, apples, summer wine, cordials, vinegars and oils.
Salad Burnet
Evergreen hardy perennial. Height 20-60cm, spread 30cm. Produces small spikes of dark crimson flowers in summer. Its soft mid-green leaves are divided into oval leaflets. Leaves have a nutty flavour and a slight taste of cucumber. The young leaves are refreshing in salads and can be used generously. They certainly enhance winter salads. Tender young leaves can also be added to soups, cold drinks, cream cheese or used like parsley, as a garnish or to flavour casseroles. Add at the beginning of cooking. Salad Burnet combines with other leaves, especially rosemary and tarragon. Serve in a sauce with white fish.
Common Thyme
Evergreen hardy perennial. Height 30cm, spread 20cm. Mauve flowers in summer. Thin green aromatic leaves. Used as a main ingredient of bouquet garni and in stews, salads, sauces, stocks and marinades. A sprig or two with an onion makes a great herb stuffing for chicken.
Want to buy herbs?
Visit your nearest GCA member garden centre. Where’s that? Use our online ‘find a garden centre’ tool here.