Pics please!!! :) I want to add some more herbs but don't have a designated "herb garden". I really want to stay away from the bullies like mint, but would love suggestions for your prettiest & most well-behaved favorites!!!
Jacci :)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/108437/
Prettiest & Most Well-Behaved Herbs for the Mixed Garden
Jacci, since my son fixed my computer I can't retrieve pictures to post, but my feverfew is in bloom (like tiny daisies over beautiful leaves) and very controlled and pretty. Rosemary would be a great addition -- you can pretty much sculpt it into whatever shape you want, and keep it a very small shrub if that's what you're looking for. Basil and oregano are good choices as well, though my oregano is leaning over and threatening to layer. And I'd encourage anyone to grow stevia -- just brew a leaf with your tea and it's sweetened! Of course I'm in SE Texas, but I think they'd all do well up your way.
And despite its invasiveness, you really should have some spearmint, just for the smell. Just keep it in a pot!
Ann
I love the foliage on Rosemary, Lavender, and French Thyme, all of which grow upright and shrubby and are easy to keep under control. They're very attractive in a rock garden or mixed border, and I think herbs add such a wonderful fragrance to any garden!
Stevia is a tender perennial, but you could overwinter it in a pot indoors. If you don't mind doing that, you might also consider scented geraniums (pelargoniums). My oregano definitely spreads readily, but it's easy enough to pull up that I don't think it qualifies as a garden thug. I would also consider adding creeping thymes as a border or groundcover plant... there's such a variety available, and many (but not all) are very fragrant.
Thanks, guys :) Jill, I thought rosemary wouldn't be hardy enough, but I see just a half-zone apart from one another. Are some hardier than others? I've noticed that a local arboretum has some lovely rosemary in their herb garden, but I figured they overwintered it in the green house.
Thanks for the input :) I have to admit that tonight was a particularly rewarding evening in terms of the edible, organic garden efforts I've put forth. Not that all of my plants are edible, but I've tried to stay away from the harmfully poisonous ones. My 2 oldest girls were out with me tonight while I was weeding. They were building an imaginary fire with monarda and spearmint leaves (yes, I have spearmint in a container ;} ) and roasting "marshmellows" that were really deadheaded echinacea without petals. The petals went into the fire, too :) They kept smelling their hands and saying "mmmmmm". They didn't eat any, just crushed and sniffed and tore and sniffed. We don't eat straight out of the garden simply to avoid that kind of precident. They certainly enjoyed themselves! I got a lot of weeding done, too! :)
Jacci
Sounds like a fun day in the garden! I do let kids taste things out of the garden, but only after clearly establishing that not everything is edible and they must always, always ask before eating... even things that they know are edible & are easy to recognize, like pansy blossoms, might have gotten sprayed with something icky.... DH was reminding one of the neighborhood girls that not everything was edible, and she said she just figures that if she sees Ms. Jill eating it, then it is safe! The kids like to follow me around the garden, sniffing and nibbling whatever I think looks good that day.
Some cultivars of rosemary are definitely hardier than others. 'Arp' and 'Madeline Hill' are two that DeBaggio says can be hardy in zone 6, and I think my new 'Dutch Mill' is hardy down to minus-something also. Since rosemary doesn't like soggy feet, mulch is probably not a good idea, but you can provide winter protection by planting it near a wall or boulder to act as a heat sink to moderate temps. Protection from wind is also a good idea... some people wrap them with Reemay (poly row cover) or spray them with Wilt-Pruf (don't harvest until new growth if you do this)... and if you get heavy snow, you might want to simply tie some twine to encircle the plant and help it stay upright. Our freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw winters are hard on rosemary I think because the plant starts putting out new growth in Jan and then gets zapped by the next cold spell. But I managed to overwinter a plant last year, and this year it is just huge! I put it in a sheltered spot against a big boulder, and I made a little raised bed for it (more like a bottomless planter) with a little wall of rocks. I think the rocks provided a good heat sink, and the raised bed ensured good drainage. I didn't tie it, and the center got damaged by snow/ice, sort of collapsing outward, but the new growth this spring has pretty much filled it in again. This fall, I will wind some twine around it!
Wow, Jill, you really wanted that rosemary! :)
Thanks for the tips! And it sounds like your garden in a very fun place to be :)
Good hearing from you tonight, hope you're well!
Jacci
(used to be Hugahosta... did you know that? I think I emailed you???)
yup, but I'm still adjusting to your name change... will always think of you as "hugs" I think!
Be sure to LMK if you're ever out this way.... the garden has lots of "good eats" in summer! LOL We do have fun with it.
Will do :)
Rosemary and Basil are about the best behaved in the ground for me. I've gotten lavender to live about three-quarters of a year before.
I'm kinda forced to do 90% of my herbs in a pot due to climatic conditions down here.
Speaking of Madaleine Hill--I was actually at their gardens and restaurant many years ago--and please don't ask how many (I've already said enough to give it away--lol)--and her book is the bible, in my opinion, on growing herbs down here. So I think that would be an excellent Rosemary choice!
Debbie
Lemon tyme and sage can get big but is pretty well mannered in my garden. Chives aren't too bad but you still have to dig or pull them at times unless you use preen then it would kill the seeds.
Kim
Showing my ignorance -- dmj, what book are you talking about? I could google it but it's easier to ask.
Sorry Brigid--
Southern Herb Growing
by Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay
Debbie
PS I sure hope you are going to the fall (first Sat in Nov) RU in College Station. I have a ton of plants I can give you.
Wonderful! I'm planning on being there -- my first RU. It's on my calendar, and the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise...
I would say Lavender and Sage for forming neat mound that don't spread. Some varieties of Thyme can creep around.
Basil and Borage are nice annuals.
Tarragon is tall - maybe 28" but it is not invasive and comes back every spring better than ever in my 6b garden. I have really good drainage as my herb garden is on a slope, so I plant saffron crocus among the herbs to provide some late fall/winter color and of course, saffron. It even multiplies in my beds. I picked up some big concrete blocks from a construction site and will bury them part way to plant my mints in so that they can't sneak over or under their boundries. I will worn you about planting bronze fennel for seed, though. It is very pretty and I swear that every single seed that falls off - germinates. Actually mowing the "lawn" is a treat at my house because it smells like mint and licorise (fennel) when I cut the grass.
I can only grow tarragon over the winter here--it hates heat and humidity. But because of that, its probably my favorite herb! Love it in scrambled eggs.
Oh, how I LOVE tarragon! I planted it from seed, I bought a planting from Richter's -- both died slow deaths. I got a nice cutting from GardenGirl and so far it's the only one to make it. It's in deep shade on the patio. I probably should just grow it indoors. Have you done that, dmj? Any luck? What's the best way to plant tarragon for our neck of the zone map?
I grow it over winter--or deep shade like you in summer where it survives but doesn't really grow. Where did you find seed? And, mexican mint marigold is not a decent substitute either, in my opinion. You would not believe the number of folks that try to give me that advice.
Debbie
No one's suggested the marigold to me, but there IS no substitute for tarragon. I think I got the seeds at HD, actually. Not worth the dirt nor the tiny bit of effort to plant them.
I grow them anyway...I love tarragon. And the challenge just gets me going every year! Found a pink blooming rosemary this morning to add to my collection and a "jim's Best" variegated oregano I just had to have. And another mint....that must put me up to about 20 mints now. Like I needed another mint!
Debbie
I know the feeling! I only have half a dozen mints, but they're great. Some people might think I have too many herbs, but they're free to think what they please. I just love growing herbs and using them. Mainly just getting up in the morning and talking to them and smelling them! Nothing nicer than sticking your face in some rosemary, or chewing a chocolate mint and some stevia at the same time. If I won the lottery, I think I'd do nothing else. (But then I could hire someone to do the tilling!)
Aromatic plants are the greatest.