I love the lemon scent and flavor of herbs. They are great in the scratch and sniff garden as well as culinary uses. I have the following herbs and wonder if there are any others I could go in search of....
Lemon Thyme
Lemon Basil
Lemon Balm
Lemon Grass
Lemon Mint
and my personal favorite...
Lemon Verbena
I keep them all in pots so they can be protected throughout the year. I would appreciate suggestions on any other lemon scents I am lacking.
pod
I have these lemon herbs and wonder, have I overlooked any?
I just tried Lemon Verbena for the first time, it is so nice! How do you use Lemon Verbena?
Have you seen the lemon scented geraniums? These are nice, come in alot of different scents, rose, lime, cinnamon...
That's what I was going to suggest! Pelargoniums, aka Scented Geraniums, come in some wonderful scents! There's a 'Citronella' one which I find overwhelming and a bunch of other nice lemon-scented varieties. There are also some lemon-rose scented geraniums, such as 'Rober's Lemon Rose', which I saw just this morning at the farmer's market!
Kimmers The lemon verbena I have is a topiary in a pot. About 6 months old. I pinch leaves to shape and float one now and again in tea but have not used it yet. I love the smell, it is instant gratification.
I had not thought about the scented geraniums. I will have to check them out. This could open a new can of worms, thanks to you both. pod
I've gotten my SGs either at the farmer's market or at DeBaggios, but neither place does mail order. Sandy Mush Herb Nursery carries a large selection, however!
I keep meaning to stick some cuttings so I can share mine around.... will try to get to it!
I am so far in the woods, it takes sunlight a week to get here. If I branch out in the scented geraniums, it will be by mail. I like my lot in life and don't have much occasion to leave here. I will start shopping online. Can I overwinter them here? Always a new gardening challenge around the corner. Thanks, pod
This message was edited Jun 25, 2006 10:01 PM
I've had SGs survive a couple of light frosts, but they weren't happy about it. I bring them inside in the winter here when it gets below 35 at night. I imagine you should be able to leave them outside (?) but keep an eye on the forecast in case they need a little protection.
Thanks for the suggestion and advice. I've never been successful at cuttings but hate to lose plants I love. That gets me in the boat I'm in.... pod
Pod, I confess that I can never remember for sure which part of TX is in which zone... you might think about adding your zone to your info so it appears to the left of your posts... that would make questions about overwintering easier to answer. :-)
Good idea. I think about that periodically but never quit touring Daves garden long enough to do it. Will try to remember... I suffer from sometimers disease. Sometimes I remember, sometimes I forget.
PF lists SGs as hardy only to zone 10.... so you might need to give them a little extra protection during cold spells, or plant them in pots so you can bring them in when necessary, or just take a few cuttings in fall for "insurance."
For Tom DeBaggio's suggestions on rooting cuttings, see http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/597232/
A couple of my SGs root fairly readily in water ('Peppermint Rose', 'Cocoa Mint Rose', 'Attar of Roses'), and I've had good luck more often than not with sticking them as Tom describes. The only one I've been completely unable to root is 'Coconut', but I've had luck with that one from seed.
What an informative link. I can find fault with my track record just reading it. I must add that book to my library but don't know what I will get rid of to make room. Maybe some cookbooks, I'd rather garden... Thanks pod