With Christmas coming I am thinking ahead for presents for coworkers. I have a coworker that is interested in herb gardening to dry and use in the home. I don't know what herbs she already has but would like to put together a basket with a variety of seeds in it to be planted in the spring. We are zone 4/5. Any recommendations would be great. I know she has talked about growing stevia but otherwise I don't know what she has.
Recommendations please
I think that is a great idea and am sure she would enjoy any selection as seeds are the gift that will keep giving.
Would she only use them in the home rather than cook with them? Can you find out what she already grows?
I have found out today that she has some dill, standard thyme, pyrethrin and a couple lavendar plants. Other than that I don't know what she has. She prefers perennials and uses them in cooking as well as drying and takes them to local farmer markets.
Little Squirt: What a nice idea. You could go with standard culinary herbs (sage, chives, basil, parsley, maybe a lemon or orange thyme, marjoram, savory, mint, chervil, cilantro, and the stevia you mentioned), and perhaps tuck a small rosemary plant in the basket which is kind of Christmasy looking.
Lemon balm is another favorite of mine. I like it as a tea or just a fragrance herb.
And if she has a kitty, maybe some catnip?
She does have a few kitties!!!
I have a few that like it fresh and others that want it when dried. I understand a catnip tea is relaxing for the kitties' humans too. lol
I grow golden hysop http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54764/ and see regular hysop is even more hardy. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/88/ It's beautiful in bloom, and a cut and come again flower. Hysop is wonderful for herbal tea blends. I can't live without rosemary or lavender which is fairly hardy here, but it's not very hardy in that zone. I'm surprised she grows lavender successfully (unless she plants annually). We like cilantro which we plant in Spring and then again in Fall. It prefers cool weather so can't survive our summers. The other recommendations above are great. If she has common chives, garlic chives are even more prolific and have pretty flowers. I grow a host of basils each summer. The bees love the flowers long after the rest of the garden has gone down. Basil seed must be planted without covering the seed, so just toss it on the ground. I grow several sweet types including Genovese and also grow Thai types. The later have a strong licorice flavor we enjoy in Asian dishes but also make into pesto for winter use. My favorite Thai basil is Siam Queen 'cause the flowers form large mop heads as opposed to the usual single spires of common Thai basil.
we seem to have 1 kind of lavendar that does well. I have a few plants i guess i just call it standard lavender LOL mine, hers, my neighbors and my moms come back religiously every year
I read that Province Lavender is best for colder weather. Which is the Kind i have and it does well in my Z6 weather.
Vickie
"My favorite Thai basil is Siam Queen 'cause the flowers form large mop heads...
Those flowers sound mighty purty, Laurel...do you have any pics of them. That basil would look mighty fine in the flower beds as well as the herb gardens. (Edible landscaping.)
Shoe (who recently order "Queenette" basil, another purple/Thai basil and probably should've gotten Siam Queen)
Sure, Shoe, here's a photo and I'll follow with the common Thai to compare.
Common Thai...
Thanks. Yep, my "regular" basil (Genovese; Italian Large Leaf) flowers in slim stalks like the common Thai does. I like the bigger mophead flowers of Siam...thanks for posting that pic. I'll be sure to get some seed as I still have umpteen orders to place.
Shoe