How about creating a “cocktail garden” in your yard or on your terrace? If you like to mix cocktails or brew your own beer, you could grow the plants you need to flavour them. It’s easy to grow in the same container a number of plants used in cocktails, such as basil, lemongrass, lemon balm, mint and monarda.

If you don’t drink alcohol and prefer smoothies instead, you can also grow some of the plants used to make your delicious drinks. All you have to do is grow various plants in containers on your balcony or terrace, near your kitchen, that will go into the preparation of your smoothies such as kale, strawberries, Malabar spinach and Jelly Bean™ blueberries.

Hops, on the other hand, are the brewing plant of choice. This climbing plant can easily be grown in the ground at the foot of a south-facing wall. However, if the only space you have to garden is a balcony, terrace or the roof of the building where you live, you could grow hops in the centre of a large container and let them climb up an obelisk or a simple teepee made of bamboo poles.

To flavour your beer and give it a complex, original aroma, you can pair your hops with various aromatic plants such as sweet bedstraw, horehound, liquorice and rosemary.

Finally, if you want to make your cocktail garden even more original and fun, you can grow the plants you want to use in recycled objects such as old suitcases, trunks, cases and bags, to create a dreamy, travelling atmosphere.

By Albert Mondor, horticulturist and biologist