CUTTINGS

Charles Flower is the appropriately named owner of a company that specialises in growing wild flowers as plugs or plants to recreate a flowery mead. Red-and-white campion, greater burnet, lady's smock, purple loosestrife, ragged robin and self heal are a few of the more common types of wildflower (plugs are 25p each) that feature in his extensive list. But Mr Flower also organises courses on his farm to show how to restore wild flowers to gardens and the wider countryside. In a three-hour session from 2-5pm, you will learn the best way to reseed a traditional flowering meadow. Courses include a tour of the farm's trial sites and its recently created wild flower garden. The next course is on 18 June, cost pounds 25. Further details from Carvers Hill Farm, Shalbourne, Marlborough, Wilts SN8 3PS (01635 247666).

The herb garden at the Geffrye Museum in London is now in its fifth season. It is planted with 170 different herbs, combined with the scented plants such as roses, lilies and honeysuckle traditionally associated with herb gardens. The garden is divided into beds each of which illustrates a different use of herbs: cosmetic, medicinal, cooking herbs and herbs for dyeing cloth. The design is formal, with a fountain at the centre. Later this summer (22-26 July), the museum has organised a Herbal Summer School, a week of lectures and practical workshops to examine the influence of foreign cultures on the way herbs are used in this country. Each day starts at 10.30am and finishes at 4.30pm. The cost for the full five-day course is pounds 175. For more details contact the Geffrye Museum at Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA (0171 739 98934).