Floral madeleines

COMFORT food’ is a term familiar to anyone who enjoys a good meal

- Alan Titchmarsh

‘Comfort flowers’ has yet to make its way into the public consciousness as a means of describing those blooms with which we feel most at home, especially those that give their all in the height of summer. This is a time rich in memories of holidays past and, to this particular gardener, floral associations can be every bit as potent as that first bowl of pasta on arriving in Italy or a handraised pork pie in a Yorkshire pub.

I write this on the Isle of Wight, surrounded by flowers, among which my children grew up and beside which many a glass has been drained and many a meal savoured. The surrounding blossoms do much to contribute to my summer enjoyment and, as with food, nostalgia and sentiment play a large part in their appeal.