Lucy’s corner

◼ Agastache and bergamot: Pick, dry and blend with a standard loose-leaf tea to create your own bespoke infusions.

◼ Chives: Excellent if you’d like to add a mild onion flavour to salads, but find actual onion too harsh.

◼ Dandelion and calendula: Scatter petals over bowls of cooked rice as a far cheaper (and prettier) saffron substitute.

◼ Lavender: With their heady perfume, these tiny blooms are ideal for flavouring sugar and pepping up bland biscuits.

◼ Roses: To create a show-stopping centrepiece cake, coat a tiered sponge in butter icing and then add rose petals to cover it.

◼ Sage, dill, rosemary The flowers of these herbs give a milder flavour than the leaves, making them an ideal garnish for meat or fish.