Grow your own botanicals

Grow Your Own Botanicals brings together an inspiration collection of plants that add beauty, structure and interest to a garden as well as providing an exciting harvest that can be used in innovative ways in the kitchen and home. If you're buying seed kits and botanical plant gifts or like to experiment with making your own drinks, remedies or skin care, this handbook is the must-have companion gardening guide. Now you can make your hibiscus cordial for cocktails, herb and spice mix for your roasts or calendula face cream with your own garden produce.

Cinead offers general advice on getting started - soil, composting, borders, containers, seed saving, cuttings, intercropping, wildlife and biodiversity -before moving on to the botanical garden. From plants that might traditionally be recognised as a botanical, to more unusual exotic varieties, this collection of 80 botanicals don't need huge space to grow, but must harvest meaningful amounts to use to flavour food, drinks and oils. Experiment with herbs like juniper, lemon balm or nigella, grow evening primrose or liquorice with their pretty flowers, and try out fruits like Chillean guava or yuzu. This is gardenening at its most fun and fanciful!