Earlier this year, I ordered some myrtle (Myrtus communis) from a seller on eBay. It arrived promptly and in good condition, I potted it up without delay and there it has sat in the polytunnel, getting watered from time to time. Over the last couple of weeks it has started to put on new growth, so I figured it was time to get it planted out.

I’ve put a couple of the plants at the front of the house. It’s quite a sunny position, not dissimilar to the location we had it thriving in Oxford (yes, I regret not taking cuttings from those bushes!) and I hope they will enjoy it there. I’ve got one left over, which is probably going to end up at the allotment. I also popped a purple sage bush (Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’) out the front which has been growing along in a slightly larger pot for a year or two and is well overdue planting out. It wasn’t too root bound but I’m hoping that having its feet in the soil will give it a real boost.

Both plants have ornamental value but also produce edible items – berries from the myrtle, for cooking or steeping in gin and leaves from the sage, which make a better infusion than regular green sage. There probably won’t be a lot of harvesting from either this year but that’s what the slow game of gardening is like.