OO!

[4pygmies]

I love herbs! It was 'erbs wot drew me to gardening properly (ish). Started when I was a student and made things like chamomile tea but sadly it turned out to be stinking mayweed, ahem....then tried nettle potage (free and everywhere - good fun) but ...OMG it's vile.
Then started to want a real herb garden, read every book I could find and here I am 30 years later still growing as many as I can.
HERBS ARE AMAZING.

[Rosefriend]

Hi 4P

We have had a bit of a conversation about this before, and I know that the herbs that you plant are basically the herbs that you like the best BUT (for a non-herb garden person) what are the most important herbs to have in a garden?

Also what about herbs in pots - my garden isn't so terribly big.

Rosefriend

[Dr Bill]

rosefriend said:

.what are the most important herbs to have in a garden?

Also what about herbs in pots - my garden isn't so terribly big.

Rosefriend

Pardon me for butting in. Most herbs are fine in pots. In fact mint is better confined to a container otherwise it will rampage through the bed.

As for what to grow my list (assuming it is culinary herbs you are looking for) would be

mint
basil
parsley
chives
thyme
sage
rosemary
bay

All of these can be successfully grown in containers

[Rosefriend]

Hi drbill

Thanks for the list - however - Rosemary as far as I know isn't hardy enough (must be minus 15+ ) for here.

I have a pot of mint from my late Mum's garden - I guard it with my life actually. The mint that they mostly sell here as "English Mint" is infact peppermint!!

Now then Basil isn't easy either - or so I have heard. Chives I always have. What about thyme, bay and sage varieties. Isn't Bay from the Med. and no good for me or am I getting things mixed up a bit.

All help is gratefully received.
Rosefriend

[isabella]

I grow all of the above but also Dill,Pineapple Sage, Lemon Verbena,French Tarragon,Chocolate Mint,Pineapple Mint,Coriander,Garlic Chives and probably some others I have forgotten about.Oh yes Lemon Balm.

[isabella]

P.S. Apart from the Pineapple Sage and Lemon Verbena they are all in pots or troughs.

[Dr Bill]

rosefriend said:

Hi drbill

Thanks for the list - however - Rosemary as far as I know isn't hardy enough (must be minus 15+ ) for here.

I have a pot of mint from my late Mum's garden - I guard it with my life actually. The mint that they mostly sell here as "English Mint" is infact peppermint!!

Now then Basil isn't easy either - or so I have heard. Chives I always have. What about thyme, bay and sage varieties. Isn't Bay from the Med. and no good for me or am I getting things mixed up a bit.

All help is gratefully received.
Rosefriend

I don't have any figures for hardiness but both Bay and Rosemary do very well here. I have both in containers and also a Bay in the garden which grew huge (pruned it hard back at the beginning of the year and it is thriving again)

There are a lot of mints. Spearmint seems to be the one commonly grown here, but I think Apple Mint has a much better flavour and is more attractive. There is a variegated variety.

I don't know that Basil is particularly difficult. It is an annual of course so needs to be sown fresh each year, as does parsley. I just sow them both in a pot of peat-free compost and they seem to do fine.

All of these are mediterranean so need good drainage -they don't like damp. But they seem hardy enough (except Basil)

[4pygmies]

Right !(oh blimey, don't get her started...), Well, herbs for pots - well as DrBill says, many many herbs will grow perfectly well in pots except perennial ones with long tap roots like Fennel (but even they will be fine for a season) but it is the drainage really that is the decider. Even Meditterranean herbs will tolerate freezing weather as long as they are not in wet soil. I grow as many as I can but I wouldn't be without: Parsley, Chives, Garlic Chives, Lavender, Fennel, Sages, Basil, Bay, Comfrey, Elecampane, Hyssop, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena(goes in my conservatory for the winter), Mints, Rosemary, Marigold, Organs, Thyme, Sweet Cicley , Borage...oh dear, loads! Some are for cooking with, some for scent, some for practical gardening things like compost eg Comfrey but most just because I love their scent or growing habit or flowers. They just lift my spirits so much!
Bay is quite tough actually but it hates the wind. Sage will survive very cold temperatures but needs shelter and is fairly shortlived anyway. Many of the herbs you mentioned, Rosefriend, would probably survive if you threw a double layer of fleece over them but Basil is extremely sensitive to the cold so you might have a very short season. I think it's just as easy to buy supermarket Basil and repot it, it will respond very quickly to some TLC and can be brought indoors to prolong its life. French Lavender wouldn't like your winters (they don't like ours even) but I think most of the culinary herbs would be worth a go. They are such good plants generally, it's worth a try!
Really sorry to babble on but I really love Herbs!

[toonia]

If it helps, Rosefriend, it gets very cold here too in winter.
After some expensive mistakes I now keep bay and rosemary in pots and take them into the greenhouse. Everything else seems to survive in the ground, the sage and thyme do.
It was a good year for basil here, sometimes it struggles!

[Cheerypeabrain]

I bought a new peppermint today ' chocolate mint'...smells like 'after eights'....<sings>'Heaven...I'm in Heaven....

[Deleted]

I've got:

Parsley flat & curley , Chives, Lavender, common or garden Sage, Basil (one from last year still surviving which is kept in the kitchen and another pot grown this year) , Comfrey, Lemon Balm (which i brought up from london with me, Mints - spearmint and normal, Rosemary, Marigold, Thyme (orange ?), coriander (bolted) and Borage.

I forgot that i had a herb book on the shelf - Jekka McVicar's complete herb book and i just love flicking through it.

i want some lemon and lime basil next year.

trouble is the OH does most of the cooking and forgets that we can use loads of these.

thanks 4pygmies for letting me cut and paste from your list and i'm sure i haven't got any extras !

;D

[Main Admin]

I don't have a favourate herb but one of my ex-girl friends was Rosemary and i was young and daft enoughto have her name tattood on to my arm at the wrist where all can see it, they often ask is that the mrs, no I say it's my favourate herb, I just have it there as so I remember to add it to my cooking. ;D Some actually believe that.

[sweetleaf]

Tattoos are never a good idea when you sober up, christiebhoy, a friend of mine woke up with his ex-girlfriends name on his arm, his wife was not amused, and he had no memory of how it got there
Back on topic I grow some herbs but plan to expand on to the lottie except for the basil as slugs love it.
Sage doesnt like the soil at home as its a bit heavy but should do ok on the lottie as its quite sandy where I plan to have my herbs,fancy making a herb wheel........

[toonia]

I have got to have chocolate mint! I need it!
Any tips on how to get hold of some? Its botanical name?
If I put "menthe au chocolat" into Google France it will come back with After Eights, I'm sure!

[Dr Bill]

toonia said:

I have got to have chocolate mint! I need it!
Any tips on how to get hold of some? Its botanical name?

Mentha x piperita according to Wkipaedia

If I put "menthe au chocolat" into Google France it will come back with After Eights, I'm sure!

www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette.cfm?num_recette=29472

[toonia]

Thanks Dr Bill! Is that what Google came up with? I don't think I fancy that recipe much but can now try with the botanical name!

[toonia]

Tee-hee! I've just looked, apparently I can get milk chocolate perfumed shower gel with peppermint oil in it -that's the closest!

[Cheerypeabrain]

Hi toonia...I've still got the label somewhere...I'll dig it out tomorrow. Today I got a oreganum 'dingle fairy' oOoOooOo
It has sweet little flowers on it as well...I'll try and take a photo tomorrow too...can't go out there at the moment as I'm sitting here in a towel post-shower!

[Rosefriend]

Hi all,

I have been busily trying to find out what I can and cannot grown here and I will start next year with a few pots of herbs. I cannot have many as the garden is small but I have a very sunny spot that is ideal - I hope!!

I have loads of fleece so I can wrap them up well for the winter. I gave up the greenhouse years ago unfortunately.

I hope that you will all be still around to give me Tips - this really is new land for me.

Thanks again
Rosefriend

[Deleted]

Hi all ... my first time on the new board, the different categories are great. Perhaps an experienced herb gardener can help me: I'm growing rosemary, sage, mint, oregano, bay and laksa leaf (Thai herb). I've read about pruning herbs, but am not sure how to go about this - I had a thyme plant which I have a haircut to in spring, and it promptly died. The two oregano plants, especially, are fast growing their allotted space ... when and how should these be trimmed. Any advice gratefully received ... cheers ...

[4pygmies]

Hello CC, oregano is as tough as old boots and a trim won't bother it. It can be a bit of a thug if allowed to grow unchecked. You just treat them as herbaceous perennials really. If in doubt, most herbs will be fine with a light trim after flowering (unless you want the seeds obviously) and then if necessary a cut in Spring. Thyme can be temperamental, I've found, as it needs very good drainage during the winter. It doesn't like damp at all. Herbs are easy to look after mostly though.

[Deleted]

Thanks!! Incidentally ... I note that your region (i.e. Norfolk) comes up, which is obviously useful since gardening is so region-dependent, but when I registered there was nothing about region?? Oh dear, I should probably be directing this to an administrator ... anyway, thanks for the info re. oregano. Yes, it is a thug but since it is growing side-by-side with the mint they can battle it out. Cheers ...

[4pygmies]

I think you can update your profile to put your location on it CC.

[Deleted]

Thanks 4pygmies, it worked ...

[Cheerypeabrain]

Aren't there a lot of varieties of each herb!? I have 4 types of thyme, 5 of lavender, 2 Rosemary, and 4 of mint. Although I only have one type of oregano, sage, fennel and basil...(and other stuff can't remember them all) I'm quite sure that there are LOADS of different sorts...
Here, 4P did you manage to grow any Greek Bush Basil? I had eleventytwelve (approx) plants and was v popular at work when I gave some to colleagues.... ;D

[4pygmies]

Yep, that Greek Bush Basil was really lovely, I sold quite a few (thanks dearie, do you want a share, they were your seeds!). It's a lovely neat little bush, isn't it? I still have some on my kitchen window. Right purty. Next year, have a go at some of the different ones - like Cinnnemon Basil, Lemon Basil, even Lime Basil - they're scrummy. It's prolly my turn to buy the seeds.

[Dr Bill]

Went to the Herb Garden today and found a super purple perennial basil. I have planted up a small area as a herb garden today.

[4pygmies]

Aha! Drbill, I wonder if that was the plant I tried to get at Jekka McVicar's stall at CWLive a couple of years ago. Is it a real Basil (Ocimum basilicum) or has it another latin name? I'd be very interested to hear if it makes it through winter. Some times they call plants by a common name when, in fact, they are from a quite different family. A perennial Basil would be fantastic though, wouldn't it

[Dr Bill]

Hi, 4P. It is African Blue Basil

Ocimum kilimanscharium x
Ocimum basilicum purpurescens


It isn't winter hardy so will come into the greenhouse come the frosts

[MamIDdau]

I don't grow my herbs for culinary uses. I grow them because I like the scent and also for (please don't laugh) magickal purposes.

Rosemary is good to grow at your front door for protection, mint for prosperity/cleansing/healing etc. Also the vast uses for Lavender and it's gorgeous scent make it a must for the garden.

I was going to grow Rosemary from seed but as they messed up on the pricing at work and I then got my discount on top, I got a good sized plant for £1.32 :-D

And I have peppermint essential oil which I'm sure the latin name for is mentha piperita, doesn't chocolate mint have something else after it? I know spearmint is mentha spicata... Anyway, it's along the right lines lol