The height of summer is here and with it comes an abundance of herbs from both cultivated plots or gardens and the wild spaces that surround us.

June is a pretty magical time of the year, the days are really long, plants grow at an astounding rate and there's an explosion of colour as flowers of the most diverse shapes and shades come into season.

Whether you’re growing your own herbs or foraging for them, May is a pretty exciting month. In the garden, established plants and those started early in the season will be at their peak, but it’s still a good time to start new plants too! Foragers are also spoiled for choice at the moment, with an array of beautiful herbs present in any green spaces you find.

Whether you grow your herbs or enjoy those growing on their own out in the wild, April is a busy and exciting month. Native plants are thriving, days are getting longer, the soil is warming up… the growing season has begun!

And if you’re new to it - this is a great time to get started, so your understanding of how plants work can grow alongside them in the coming months.

March marks the beginning of a new growing season. It’s a very exciting and joyful time in a garden, with seeds germinating, new plantlets coming up all around, early buds turning into blossoms, bees starting to come out, and all that glorious early spring sunshine!

Spring might still be a month away, but the signs that it’s on its way are all around. The first leaves of trees are starting to appear and little plantlets are popping out of the ground everywhere.

Winter is the quietest season for harvesting herbs, and it should always be done in moderation as plants grow a lot slower this time of the year, but you can still have your fix of fresh herbs.

Now that most plants are going into hibernation for the winter, the fact that Calendulas flower throughout the year is more apparent than ever. Enjoy those lovely petals in teas, salads and soups.

Evergreen perennials like rosemary, sage and bay can also still be harvested in moderation.