Sage, Chamomile, Basil, Oregano... which cultivars?

[RouxTheDay]

Getting ready to greatly expand my herb garden. Some are missing due to a previous lack of space (sometimes when something else in the garden dies it's a GOOD thing!). Others are missing because they were eaten to the ground by rabbits or lost through some other mishap.

Anyway. There are a few I'm having a hard time deciding on. There are just SO MANY salvia (sage) and basil cultivars, and I'm just having a hard time deciding which to plant. I have room for a couple or three basils, and maybe two sages. After thyme, which is already well represented, these two are among my most-used herbs.

Even oregano has enough variety that I'm wondering whether I should consider adding something special.

Finally, I've never grown chamomile, so I don't know whether there are different varieties, and if so, which are preferred for tea.

[KYHeirloomer]

For tea you want the German chamomile, Matricaria recutita. That's the one that produces the delightful yellow/white flowers.

The other is Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), a perennial ground cover.

[RouxTheDay]

Thanks for the chamomile info, KYH.

Can anybody help me out with the sage? I know they're not all considered culinary...

[bughut]

Cant help with the sage. Only just turning on to it myself. Never liked it in the past. Whenever i think of camomile i remember the camomile lawn. A book i read yonks ago. The grass seed was mixed with camomile seeds so you smelt it as you walked on the lawn.
Coriander (cilantro) is my personal favourite. If i never plant anything else i always have a huge patch. it goes to seed quickly but thats okay too as your own coriander seeds are so much more pungent than shop bought. And the roots are ground and frozen for Thai recipes. My Indian chef has persuaded me to plant Methi this year. And I will. Its fabulous

[KYHeirloomer]

On the others, I'm just a traditionalist I reckon.

For sage I just grow plain old garden sage, (Salvia officinalis). Keep in mind that I grow medicinal as well as culinary herbs, and this one serves both functions perfectly. I grow white sage, (Salvia apiana) as well, but that has no culinary purposes.

For basil I grow Genovese, because I like the large leaves it produces. Grew one plant of Thai basil last year. Loved what it looked like, but wound up never using it in any dishes.

I've never grown oregano, so have no preferences.

[stir it up]

yeah, KYH is right on about the German chamomile, the Roman tastes awful. Grow it from seed not plants to have enough. There's great herb seeds available from Richters Herbs - Medicinal, Culinary, Aromatic - Plants & Seeds and no charge for shipping seeds. They're based in Canada but ordering to the US is no problem. They have a "improved" version of Matricaria recutita 'Bodegold' which is an improved tetraploid version of German Chamomile made for commercial production with larger flowers and more medicinal compound/essential oil.

Also on the sage, I grow the basic one too like KYH says. But I grow one or two others for garnish. One I really like is Golden Sage for garnish, it is two-tone, with interesting patterns on the leaves. There's also tricolor, and others.

On the oregano, my fave for flavor and other reasons is Greek Oregano, I understand the one sold by Richters is the same one collected in the wild in the mountains of Greece.
On Basil, I'm also like KYH, the Genovese is my preferred. Pesto !!! If I were growing three I'd grow Genovese, then a purple one, and a Thai (I've used my Thai basil, not as regularly as the others, but for a certain flavor there's nothing like it).

[KYHeirloomer]

One cautionary note re: Richters: There have been problems in the past on shipments to the U.S., and the company has refused to make good on them.

Anyone interested in herbs, though, should have the Richters catalog, if for no other reason than the photos.

In the US, I always order seeds (and sometimes plants) from Horizon Herbs (Horizon Herbs-Organic growers of medicinal herb seeds & medicinal herb plants.). Great selection, fantastic service, and if you have any questions or problems an email or phone call gets it resolved right now!