Hi GGG! Good to see you over here! Angelcub put out a note about this forum over on the CG forum. Brand new potager forum---YAY!!!

Papalo sounds interesting--- I will be Googling that one.

I have a small garden, and do a lot of container gardening. Currently, I have three types of mint (in containers!), lemon balm---(I want some lemon verbena, too), oregano, 2 types rosemary, and lavenders (4 types). Had tarragon and marjoram, but they died out. Can't seem to grow cilantro or parsley--- I think it just gets too hot here in the summertime. When the weather warms a bit I will grow Genovese basil (great for pesto), thyme and sage. Anyone know what types of thyme and sage are good eating?

Oh, I also grow some tomatoes and several types of peppers (all in pots) including bells and habaneros--- did you know habaneros make an excellent jelly (not too hot at all---great with toasted English muffins & cream cheese---takes off some of the heat---really good!). Neighbors gave me a habanero plant last summer (I never would have bought it for myself), and I had to try making something with these notoriously HOT fruits (veggies?), thus the jelly.

Becky

I have Papalo seed ready to sow, thanks to your tip a while back. I also have lemon balm seed along with a few others I do not remember off hand.
I currently have lemon grass, garlic chives, mint, tansy, parsley, cilantro, lemon thyme and lemon verbena growing. I took out an overgrown rosemary and miss it so a new one is coming.
The one I am most excited about is sweet cicely, myrrhis odorata, that I have sprouted. It takes a couple months in the fridge on a damp paper towel to sprout.

In the book The Complete Book of Herbs, by Lesley Bremness, all sorts of plants are named as herbs. Others I have include:
peony
nasturtium
aloe vera
forget me not
columbine
filipendula ulmaria
wild strawberry
sweet woodruff
foxglove
nigella
delphinium
lavender
monarda
poppies
pelargoniums
roses
viola
lettuce
sweet violet
Plus marigold, sunflower, basil, and others in season

There are so many more; some like oregano I have tried but reseed too heavily, others like hyssop just disappear, and some like fennel and rue I decide I do not like.

Another herb I plan to find is vervain, verbena officianalis, called the herb of grace. It is the theme of the book Pilgrim's Inn by Elizabeth Goudge.

Wow - you guys grow lots of herbs. GGG, I remember you touting the many wonderful attributes of Papalo a while back on the cottage forum. I've been meaning to try that one, so thanks for the reminder!

Right now, I've got the old standbys. Rosemary, lavender (french and spanish - but lavender hates Florida, so I expect them to die just like all the lavenders before them), culantro, tarragon, garlic chives, bronze leaf fennel, nasturtiums, a rose scented geranium, lemon verbena (my most very favorite scent in the universe). I also have roselle, perilla and okinowa spinach - not sure if those are really herbs. I'm trying hyssop for the first time, and I have a new one that has a cucumber flavor to the leaves. I can't remember the name right now.

But usually, I can expect my herbs to bite the dust when the heat settles in.

Nikki, the heat does not bother my herbs at all, except for the cool weather ones like cilantro. Do you think it is the humidity that does them in? Try lemon grass, it is a tropical and my cat loves it.

Humidity certainly can do herbs in. I have to be very careful about the soil I grow certain herbs in...it must be very sharply draining and with no hardpan. That's why I have a 3' raised stone bed for many of them.
I'm going to be growing costmary again. A wonderful GW trader, and I suspect herb nursery owner (trader had same name as owner of nursery I ordered plants from this year) sent me one a few years ago. IT was sited wrongly, so I passed it along to a friend. Now I know how to site it better...I want it back! But please, don't eat this one!! I'm growing it so I can give the leaves to friends to use in their Prayer books and bibles (it's called Bible Leaf).
I have several herb books, and kept mostly those on Southern herb growing. I was very disappointed with an AHS herb encyclopedia I purchased. It was missing hundreds of plants that should have been included. Nothing unusual or rare was present.

I have a pink vervain I have winter sown, Debbie. Would you like some seeds?

GGG

Just about everything mentioned, but my fav last season was the cinnamon basil. It was a tiny little thing in a 4" pot that grew to be 4 feet. It was in the SE corner of my potager, full sun and regular water. It smelled wonderful! I am going to grow some outside the potager this year, maybe closer to the house. It is very attractive and gets small, pretty flowers. Oh and the smell - did I mention it was wonderful?!

Diana

Yikes! I feel like a pig! I grow year round.....(evergreen)
Thymus vulgaris
Lemon Thyme, green (the better of the two lemons)
Variegated Lemon Thyme
Thyme 'Argentus'
Salvia off.
Salvia tricolor
White Sage
Golden Sage
Purple Sage
Rosemary 'Tuscan Blue'
Rosemary, creeping
Oregano
Oregano, hot
Creeping Thyme
Wooly Thyme
Several varieties of Lavender
Spearmint
Black Stem Peppermint
Big green leaf peppermint?
Orange bergamont mint
Pineapple mint (or apple mint?)
Lime Mint (My favorite!!!)
Chives
Garlic Chives I think thats it.

Annually...
Basil
Dill
Cilantro
Sweet Marjoram
Then there are others such as Calendula, Borage and such. Just listed the culinary.
I love the perennials for their ornamental value. They taste good too! I love my flowers but I think I love my herbs better. Michele

Hey Becky, I just noticed your question. The best Thyme for cooking is Thymus vugaris. It is a very small shrub. It does need haircuts to keep it from getting woody. I just take the scissors and cut it down to the wood and keep all the clippings for cooking.
The Sage to cook with is Salvia officinalis. I believe you can cook with varieties with different colored leafs but have not tried them. They are also quite beautiful when in flower.

Thanks Michelle. :) As soon as the stores start carrying this stuff in small pots, I will be purchasing these varieties. My second favorite hobby after gardening is cooking. lol.

Becky

I get mine at Fred Meyer. I am not sure in what states they are located. They are $1.79 for a 4-in pot. I couldn't help getting all the different varieties! Michele

Girlgroupgirl, how did you start your papalo? I had trouble with seed germination last time I tried it. The ajmud has been pretty easy to grow & looks like it will overwinter well in So Cal. If you ever want to post a picture of your Vietnamese stuff I might be able to find out what it is.

I guess I am just into the basics for cooking too: rosemary, basil, parsley, oregano, chives, lavender, mint, thyme. I never seem to have luck with sage. Any pointers out there?
Adriene

PS Is everyone else getting an aggrevating commercial each time you change pages? How can I get rid of this?

Baci: I started papallo in the greenhouse last year. I think it needs humidity to germinate. The seed descriptions say "does well were cilantro fails, enjoys heat and humidity". So try it at about 75 in a domed enviornment until it's gerimanted. Then vent your dome (or plastic bag etc.)...that should do the trick. If not, up the heat to 80 if you can (place closer to a window for warmer sun??).

I recieved the Richters catalog last night. I'm considering bringing plants back with me from Canada (I'm going to get a phyto certificate)...Richters is very close to my Mom's house. They have interesting seeds too:

Afrodite parsley: "leaves so curled they look like moss". I'm thinking of filling up all my beds next winter with that. How pretty!!

Tagetes Minuta: someone here sells the seed locally at a high price! This is the mexican mint marigold. "KILLS GROUND IVY". That sold me!

Golden Hops: Not for the garden, but for a huge container on the driveway, I hope!

culantro: mexican corriander

Midget savory

Santolina santa (a favorite herb for scent)

Milkthistle (it's gorgeous!!)

Plus a few plants Richters has now patent and are available by plant only.

GGG

Nice subject! Right now I have St. John's wort, rosemary, three kinds of sage, lavender, pennyroyal, thyme, germander, bunch of different kinds of mint, and I can't remember what else. This year I'll be growing basil, oregano to replace mine that died, chives (regular and garlic) also, and I hope to add to the medicinal herb list ~ I'd love to have MANY more medicinals.

Becky, parsley and cilantro do a LOT better in winter for those of us in hotter zones. Try it this fall! I think you'll like the results! :) And the other poster is right ~ Salvia officinalis is the one you cook with. I have regular, Tricolor and Purple and they all do well in cooking. I also had Berrgarten sage once and used it for cooking ~ pretty nice, but not as strong as the regular kind. Beautiful plant, though!

Linda

Thanks, girlgroupgirl. I did get some to germinate, but the humidity might explain my problems  my climate is very dry.
On that culantro, it starts well in moist spaghnum peat. Fresh seed starts in 2 weeks; older seed will take up to a month.

This has been a most interesting thread. I have never grown herbs at all but last year realized I now need to grow my own dill and DH would love to have fresh chives. I'm looking forward to learning more from all of you. I don't use many herbs in cooking as DH is a plain meat and potatoes man but would like to learn about various herbs that are grown mainly for their beauty or scent in the garden. Do we have a space here for FAQ's? A list that could be added to with all the herbs above would be so great to have here. Maybe it could list temp and humidity requirements, zones, annual or perennial....what else? Anyone up for this?

MeMo

MeMo, I could do it eventually, if we have FAQ abilities. I just did a descriptive list and uses for my church plant sales binder (this helps our workers answer customer questions during plant sales. They can just read it off the page without memorizing!!)
Baci, thanks for the culantro germination ideas. I'm going to buy some seed for that. I've never tried it.

I have a lot of germanders. I tried growing them as an edging in the garden around an urn/ivy feature in a "pebble pond"...but they don't do so well there. Too shady, not enough lime...some die. I'm swapping it out for some mondo grass so I can be lazy about this area...

GGG

So far my list is very small but I want to expand it.

Rosemary
Chocolate Mint
Curly Mint
Cilantro - forgot to save seeds
Dill
Chives (and garlic chives)
Oregano

I love to take sprigs of rosemary and put them in a pot of simmering water - makes the house smell wonderful

The oregano I use as a ground cover between my sasanquas

Dill is mainly for the butterflies, I don't use it much

I WANT to grow:

Valerian
Hyssop (seeds on order)
Thyme (seeds on order)
MORE MORE MORE chives

Oh yeah, I do grow echinacea - forgot to save those seeds too but hopefully my plants will come back. I ended up with the monster size echinacea but I really wanted the smaller variety - they were nice though

GGG, I don't see a link at the top for FAQ's but perhaps it's something we have to ask for since this is a new forum? Thanks for the offer to do this, so much! I'd do it myself if I knew ANYTHING about herbs! LOL

MeMo

Hello all,

So glad to see the opening of a patager forum. I have now realized that most of my gardens would be characterized as potagers. I have always included flowers, herbs and vegetables in every garden that I have made. So this is a list of the herbs that I have

Fennel
Dill
parsley, curled
parsley, flat leaf
valerian
oragano
cilantro
culantro
chives
garlic chives
peppermint
spearmint
catnip
wriggly's mint
double mint
garlic
marigolds
calendula
thyme
basils
summer savory
lemon balm
lemon mint
anise hyssop

I think that is just about it.

Stacie

southshoregardener, my daughter and I both have sage plants that are several years old, and make it through all kinds of winters (we never have two the same here). I dug my plant from her garden and planted it in mine, and it is doing well. As someone else pointed out, good drainage is critical. Sages also like poor soil. The only sage I've ever had die rotted out in heavy, damp soil.

I love growing herbs, and have always had an extensive collection. I have just started my herb garden here at this house, so for perennials so far only have fine chives, ornamental chives, garlic chives, sage, oregano, and four thymes in the garden. I usually plant garlic in the fall, but didn't this year for some reason (I forgot?).

I always plant flat parsley, cilantro, several kinds of basil, leaf dill amongst the other garden plants. No room in this tiny garden for the larger herbs, but I might see if I can include some in the cottage garden in front.

Rosemary is tender here, but I have had one in a large pot now for several years (it is blooming right now, safe inside the southwest facing basement slider). I also have a huge pot of ginger, and another of lemon grass. These tend to go dormant in the winter, but re-emerge when the weather warms up and I move them outside. I dig up the ginger to use, and plant a chunk in fresh soil to grow-- it will fill the pot by fall. Very pretty plant. The potted plants are on marble bases (slabs found laying around these parts) outside the sliding door in the summer.

Dayle Ann

I forgot a few more herbs I have like mints, chives, garlic chives... and some more interesting ones like Lemongrass and Lemon & Rose Scented Geraniums. I LOVE my Lemongrass, the white part & leaves are wonderful in stirfries & Asian soups, and the leaves brew a nice tea. Rose and lemon scented geraniums: the chopped leaves make wonderful additions to baked goods (ie sugar cookies/shortbread), whole leaves make a nice brewed tea, and also make tasty flavored sugars.

Regarding growing sage, and others needing sharp drainage. Try growing them in pots filled with cactus mix (very sandy---quick draining). You can buy a large bag of cactus mix at big box stores like Home Depot. You could also mix sand into your ground soil to ammend it.

Becky

GGG, where did you get your Papalo? I'm having a hard time finding unusual plants/herbs. I grow from seed mostly. I like the challange. thanks for any info
hilary

GGG- my FIL is Vietnamese. He gets herbs and such
from the Asian market sticks a cutting in the ground
and before you know it, a bounty of herbs. That man can
grow anything.

I have-
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
English lavender
Spanish lavender
Vietnamese peppers *HOT!*
Red bell peppers
Cilantro
Parsley
Various mints
Fennel (such a pretty plant)

This year growing from seed-
Heirloom tomatoes
Luffa
Dill
Purple mustard

Garlic from bulbs

I've never grown catmint, it's always been on
my -going to get some day- list.

I never had luck growing my Sage in poor soil. I grow it in loamy soil but it is very well drained. It rains a lot here!
Michele