Specialty Gardening: Fragrant Xeriscape plants..., 1 by podster

podster wrote:
Nights stay hot and humid here which can be a death sentence for things like French tarragon and lavenders. I have pots of basils, mints, oregano, lemon balm, lemon catnip, chives, comfrey, TX tarragon, fennel, a bay tree, an allspice tree and probably more that won't pop into my mind. Planted in high ground are pennyroyal (struggling), fennel and two rosemarys.

The problem I've found with terra cotta pots is they dry out too quickly for me. We get excessive moisture in early spring and then total drought for the balance of the summer. I use plastic pots but have to be careful if it is a dark pot. They will absorb heat and raise the temps in direct sunshine, frying roots. I try to place the darker pots in bright light only.

My pots aren't attractive but utilitarian. This is the bay or Laurus nobilis with an underplanting of verbena.