Cocktails in a Pot

Summer is a great time to be entertaining and visiting friends.  Why not try planting up a herb pot that you can use for garnishing and complimenting your favourite summer drinks.  You can have it handy by the bar or take it to friends’ places for a thank you gift.

At Eden Gardens we offer a potting service which can save you having to buy a whole bag of potting mix or even get your hands dirty!  This is offered on any of our plants and pots, but if you want a summer cocktails combo, here are some suggestions.

Mint – comes in a range of types, but common mint, spearmint, apple mint, ginger mint and chocolate mint are probably the best for enjoying with iced water, muddled in a cocktail or even making teas with.

Lime – the quintessential ingredient in daiquiris, the perfect partner to a gin and tonic or simply squeeze onto Frangelico to cut through is sweetness…of course, it’s also great with iced water.  If you plan to make it the centre point of you cocktail pot, make sure the container is 400mm across, and choose and specimen that’s grafted onto a dwarfing root stock.

Basil – yes, believe it or not, tastes great with ginger beer, strawberry cocktails and even as an iced tea.

Strawberries – smashed or free floating, strawberries can look beautiful in jugs of water.  Plant them around the edge of the pot so they can spill over the sides with their luscious berries.

Lovage or Celery Herb – both are related to celery but much smaller growing – more like parsley.  The stems make terrific swizzle sticks in Bloody and Virgin Mary’s.

Borage – The bright blue flowers of borage are edible and gorgeous.  Freeze them into ice cubes to float in your drinks.  The stems are also edible and taste a bit like cucumber, making them the perfect garden garnish for a classic Pimms served with orange slices, strawberries and lemonade.

Lemon Thyme – can be used to make a delicious brew or iced tea.  The flowers are also edible.

Lemon Verbena – the lemon sherbet flavour of this shrub is sensational.  Make a tea, and it to a simple sugar syrup or just muddle in a cocktail.
Devine.

Pineapple Sage – Pineapple sage has fruity flavoured leaves that can be made into a tea and edible bright red flowers that also look lovely frozen into ice cubes.

Begonias – The bedding variety look like Christmas with their bright red and white flowers.  But you might not realise that the flowers are edible too and can make a pretty addition to a punch bowl.