what's in your herb garden ??

I haven't really planned my herb garden, yet, for this year, but already my 2 sage plants, 2 chives, 2 lemon balm, tarragon, creeping thyme, and Anise Hyssop have all returned.

Peppermint and spearmint do not cross-pollinate, so the species remain pure... how about adding chervil, sage, cilantro, garlic chives, lemon balm, English mint, fennel, & bay laurel?

Right now I have some stunted dill; sweet, Genovese, and African blue basils; chives, lemon and English thymes, Italian parsley, marjoram, spearmint mint, and the last of some cilantro.
I'm waiting for the arrival of catmint, French tarragon, pineapple sage, Autumn Sage Big Pink, lemon verbena, and burnet.
I also grew a good-sized lemon balm plant, only to find that people who take thyroid meds aren't supposed to use lemon balm. It's not a particularly interesting looking plant, so I'm not sure what to do with it. I'll see if any of my friends would like it, but most of the women I know are on Levoxyl too! ;)

Herb gardens are for people who want to experiment! Spearmint is necessary this time of year for mint Juleps. First, put one cup of sugar and one cup of water in a sauce pan and boil 'til clear. Cool. Second, muddle some mint in a glass with some of this sugar syrup. Choose a sturdy glass and a wooden utensil as muddler. Pour bourbon. Top with crushed iced. Watch the Kentucky Derby! Pretend you are in Kentucky wearing a big hat and thouroughbreds are racing the track. I like my proportion to be 1 part sugar syrup to 4 parts bourbon. Experiment to taste.

I have a few herbs.

Some are doing well and some not so.

I have Greek Basil, Garlic Chives, Coriander and Rosemary in my 'sunny' pot.

I then have Chocolate Mint and Italian Parsley in my 'shady' pot.

I love herbs!

What herbs are in the garden so far this year?

Let's see... Italian parsley, rosemary, basil, lemon balm, golden lemon balm, golden sage, sage, tri-color sage, golden oregano, Greek oregano, Italian oregano, ginger mint, English mint, emerald & gold mint, fennel, bronze fennel, apple mint, rose scented thyme, nigella, bay laurel, thyme, corsican mint, horseradish, Mexican tarragon, Vietnamese Cilantro, catnip, chives, garlic chives, welsh onion, egyptian walking onions, lemon grass, mexican oregano, cuban oregano, mexican sage, 13 varieties of heirloom garlic, lovage... comfrey, tansy, feverfew, wormwood, grey indian mint, pennyroyal, pineapple sage, catmints...

Can you tell I love herbs?

Oh Mudbug, these are fabulous! :bounce: My one experience with oregano seemed to suggest that it was prone to being invasive. Not as bad as mint, but it clearly didn't respect the personal space of other plants :D . How have you planted your FIVE varieties? And what's with having only one basil? You really don't care for tomatoes do you ;) .

Thai and Sweet basils
Tarragon that amazingly wintered over outside and is THRIVING gloriously
rosemary
lemon thyme
I really want sorrel and lemon verbena....into sour can you tell?

phoebe,
It's last night went down to 35 degrees here. That's why I don't have multiple varieties of basil out yet, they just won't grow well.

As for tomatoes, I'd have to compile my list. It's not that I don't care for tomatoes, it's just that I never liked any my whole life until I grew my own and tried the Cherokee Purple Heirloom variety. I didn't post veggies here since the question was about herbs... But I do have several heirloom varieties of tomatoes this year...

As for the oregano, it does increase in yield nicely. But it's easy to keep under control. I have plenty for my own culinary use, to dry, to share with friends or exchange thru garden forums for things I don't have. It doesn't go as crazy as mint...

;)

shroomgirl,
What type of soil is your tarragon in? I assume it's French (and not Russian) tarragon? Is it in full sun? Part shade? Container or ground? I'm not far from you and I and many others have a difficult time getting tarragon to overwinter.

How's the produce at the farmer's market this year? What's new up there?

:bounce:

Shroomgirl, my Tarragon also came back and is thriving, even with the 27 degree weather we had a few nights ago. I am going to have to cut it back soon or it may just go to seed!!!

Just added to the herbs, in my yard: Peppermint, Spearmint, Chocolate Mint, Catnip, 3 kinds of basil, lavender, Roman Chamomile, German Chamomile, Rosemary, Dill (volunteers from last year's plant), and a few more thymes. I am also planting 4-6 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and am putting in 4 raspberry bushes (2 red, 2 black) and 2 grape vines.

:eek:
Jeez Louise, that doesn't sound good! There's a rust mints get, but it's spotty rather than fully flushed: http://www.extension.umn.edu/project.../mintrust.html

But last night I ran across a note in Garden Gate magazine (April 2004). Someone wrote in that the leaves on their marigold seedlings "often turn purple." The answer was that "purple stems and leaves on seedlings may be a sign that you're planting too early." The color is linked with a nutrient deficiency that occurs when the soil is cold--"plants have a hard time taking up phosphorus." As the weather warms up, some plants recover while others may not. You could heat up the soil with black plastic if the plant looks too sick.

Rosemary several varieties, Greek Oregano, Mexican Oregano, Thyme, Lavender (growing like a weed), Sweet Basil, Thai Basil, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena (also weed like), garlic chives, Spearmint, Thyme (not doing well ), French Tarragon (not growing really well)

Does anybody have experience in growing Tarragon in a warm climate?

Man this year has been a revelation as Ive found loads of new stuff. Ive grown great rocket & salad stuff in pots...The rocket flowers & I use them to decorate salads...growing in pots keeps the snails at bay too. Herb wise I found Lemon Curd thyme, orange sage, tangerine thyme, curry plant, corsican , morrocan & chocolate mints...all wild to cook with. I warmed some butter beans with garlic, tomato, butter & tangerine thyme...it was a revelation. Herbs ROCK.

Phoebe....pot the lemon balm but dont plant it in the ground....it goes mad & grows like a huge bush , it also pollinates everywhere so keep the pot on stone or gravel. Personally I dont like the texture of the leaves & find them a bit sandpaper like.but they do smell nice.

Yeah, but it makes a great, refreshing iced tea, especially when used with just a hint of spearmint.

My next door neighbour is Greek & he introduced me to adding cinnamon sticks & moroccan (or any) mint to the teapot. For a Brit who knows his tea it was a revelation...try it n see...

Well this was my first summer in my first house where I could have a real garden. So I planted 3 Italian Plum Tomato plants, 3 Beefsteak and 3 Cherry Tomato plants. I am not seeing much out of the Cherry and Beefsteak, perhaps though that's because the Italian Plums have taken over! I have at least 100 tomatoes growing! The summer so far has been cool and wet, so I imagine as soon as we get some hot, dry weather I'll be inundated!
Other than that I planted Basil, it took awhile and the slugs were eating them but a little diatomeceous earth took care of that and they're growing well. Thyme is doing well. Oregano only 1-1/2 plants are doing anything, and that ain't much! I'm getting a few jalapenos, but the bells and anaheims aren't going much. The hot peppers are HOT!! The jalapenos just so, so. I have an Arugula plant that is flowering. I think I allowed too much flowering in general and so my production has suffered. I allowed my beautiful Cilantro to flower into a lot of Coriander, why I don't know (ignorance! Hah, I do know)My Rosemary is picking up a bit and the English Lavender is trying hard to survive.
Thank god though for my old standbyes, Mints! When everything else craps out you can always count on mint! I Have Chocolate mint, Spearmint, Peppermint and Lemon Balm and they are big, beautiful and strong!
Next year I plan on using John Evans "Alaska Bountea" and growing some beauties!!! I can't wait to do it all again. I am learning from my mistakes too. Ahh growing is good! :)

hmm, i have:

chives, garlic chives, spinach, oregano, strawberries, basil, curly parsley, roma tomatoes, thyme, corriander, mint, lavender, rosemary and a pineapple.

Last year I had a full herb garden and tried new ones as well. This summer I have not had any time to spend in the garden (literally) except to mow the lawn. The only things I have this summer are Lavender, Rosemary, and Chomomile.

Wanda recently cut a bunch of our herbs and dried them. The tarragon dried really well and the Lemon Balm looks like it did well, but haven't had time to make tea out the the dried stuff. Will let you know how it turned out. The catnip turned out well also and the cats gave their seal of approval this evening.