Pots of culinary herbs populate kitchens and patios for practical purposes but these edible plants also provide a feast for the eyes. Elaine Martin of Vintage Gardener uses potted herbs as the ingredients in decorative arrangements.

“When we’re decorating with herbs, we have to think a lot about texture and colour and it’s subtle, not like flowers that have big blooms so it’s obvious,” explains Martin as she selects several varieties for her first project.

Since this is a feast for the eyes, the flavour of the herbs in the mix is put on the back burner. Texture, colour and contrast are the main consideration. Plants with needle-like leaves are interspersed with broad-leaf plants and assorted varieties that work together based on their visual appeal.

Thinking along the lines of “what would Rembrandt do”, Martin creates a palette from the garden. She plays with the “subtlety of colour” grouping herbs with shades of burgundy together. Purple leaf sage, opal basil and bay leaf create a beautiful blend. Trailing herbs like thyme that flow over the edge of their pot work with the tall, more upright stems of lavender and rosemary.

Martin puts these guidelines into practice in assembling a centerpiece for an outdoor dining table. With an eye to shape and form, she brings together a selection of herbs in small terracotta pots for display on a large terracotta saucer. She organizes them “so that it looks like an arrangement”. A collection of potted herbs can be gathered in a basket or glazed pot, whatever suits the style of your home, terrace or entertaining area.

The artistic gardener uses a rectangular shape antique tool box to contain lemon thyme, chocolate mint (great on ice cream) and herb curry. Any culinary herbs used for decorative display will continue to grow throughout the season and should be cut. This is both for practical purposes, as they provide fresh flavours for cooking, and to keep them looking great.

“The more you cut it to use it the more it will grow,” advises the proprietor of Vintage Gardener.

By stacking potted herbs on top of overturned pots of various sizes and heights, Martin constructs an herb tower. She rhymes off the names of herb varieties that can be potted and stacked in an artful way. Bay leaf, golden sage, bronze fennel, dill, little leaf basil, flat leaf parsley, lemon balm, trailing rosemary, chives, lemon basil, and herb curry are all potential tower ingredients. They will be pleasing to the eye and to the nose.

“As the breeze comes you have this wonderful aroma while you are having dinner.”

Martin suggests that “most edible herbs have edible purple flowers” that are ideal for adding to salads or creating a “pretty textured flower arrangement”. She will have more suggestions as she shares her knowledge of herbs at workshops and luncheons during July’s Culinary Herb Festival at Vintage Gardener in Toronto’s Distillery District. To find out details about the festival or the garden studio, visit www.vintagegardener.com.