Now that Spring has finally arrived and the rain that has kept us indoors for over a week has finally left I've been able to take a look at the herbs I grow. I keep most of them in pots on the patio, only a few feet from the house so that if I need to use any of them while cooking they are close at hand.
The two bay shrubs, each in its own pot, are both looking rudely healthy - but then they always do. Neither grows very quickly, but then Bays don't, though I could have sworn that when they were much smaller and growing on the kitchen windowsill they grew much faster than they do now. Perhaps when they get used to being outside - though they've been out there for about two years once I no longer had room for them indoors.
I am staggered by the speed at which new shoots are growing on the Spearmint. I tidied it up about two days ago and it looks as if the shoots have doubled in size since then. The Chocolate Mint is also beginning to show now but is clearly a little later than its brother the Spearmint.
I am surprised and very pleased at the French Tarragon. It has a reputation of dying when faced with a frost and as we have heavy frosts here every winter so I grew it as an annual. We had a bad winter and I saw that all the twigs above ground in the pot were dead and so I expected that the whole plant had died. However now lots of healthy baby Tarragon shoots have emerged in the pot.
The Chives died right back over winter but suddenly reappeared a few weeks ago and now I have a very healthy amount all ready for harvesting. What did surprise me, however, were the tiny Chives shoots I found emerging in the two pots of Mint. I removed them but perhaps I shouldn't - I could have had the Battle of the Thugs.
In one pot I had a Basil, a Rosemary and an Oregano. I was expecting the Bsil to die and it did. Although hardy the Rosemary has also shuffled off this mortal coil, just leaving the Oregano beginning to show green leaves. I am not sure what to do with this pot. Neither am I sure what to do with the purple Sage in another pot. It looks a bit sorry for itself and something has been munching its leaves. I think I shall wait a bit to see if it perks up. If it doesn't I shall have to come to a decision about it.
The rest of the garden is finally coming out of the long and hard winter. Lots of shoots are emerging, some several weeks later than usual. I must be careful not to be too enthusiastic in clearing away something that is only just waking up for the Spring.
6 comments:
You and Buffy are bound together by a love of herbs, eh? Sounds like you have a wonderful assortment of the dears. I've grown an herb, now and then, but find that I don't use them so have settled for growing dill (which the monarch caterpillers like) and cilantro (of which I use a little). Perhaps, too, a bit of parsley.
Cop Car
CopCar, Buffy and I "met" at a Yahoo Group abour Herbs I can't even remember how many years ago.
I love growing aromatic plants. Just being able to crush a leaf as I pass and to smell it has always given me great pleasure so growing herbs was the next step for me to make.
As yet I haven't grown either of the herbs you mention. I Googled Cilantro and discovered that you were talking about Coriander. I don't grow it yet but perhaps this year...
The history between you and Buffy is an interesting one--that I don't recall Buffy's having told me. But...I'm sure that she must have when she first started murmurring about getting you and me together.
As to the cilantro/coriander: it is rather popular over here for putitively "Mexican" dishes. Elegant Friend and I use it in making her recipe of salsa. Over the last few years, she has caused me to change from one who could enjoy a tiny bit of cilantro in a casserole to one who can enjoy eating cilantro straight out of the garden, by the handfull.
The first summer that I grew dill (2002?), I saved seeds and gave packets away to anyone on whom I could foist them. Some are still in my cabinets. Dill will take over the world if encouraged oh-so-little. Not the way mint plants will, but through re-seeding itself copiously. I like the look of the plant. The bay bushes are probably quite cute. May have to try one.
Cop Car
"Battle of the Thugs:...CUTE! *G* And OH so true! Add that oregano to the list and we may have to worry about them taking over the world!
My chives were the first herbs up for the year. The oregano has been slower to start. I have several mats of thyme that look like they have died back from lack of snow cover this past winter, but I'll wait a bit before I prune them back.
The Scottish spearmint, the chocolate mint, pineapple mint...and one other, I can't remember the flavor, were among the earliest to leaf out here, too.
Cop Car, I LOVE dill, and so do my chipmunks. They moved the seeds from the herb garden on the north side of the house to the gardens along the walkway at the east side. Every year I have to prune out the volunteer dill or risk a worse infestation. I can't say that I care for cilantro. Maybe I need to whisper that, because I know it's really popular here.
Val, I envy you the bay trees. I just don't have the light to winter them over. I'd also like to grow lemon verbena and rosemary as perennials, but it's too cold here.
Happy gardening, and nice weather, Val!
Buffy
OK, now I'm back and the computer is working properly I can reply very belatedly to these postings by CopCar and Buffy, My profuse apologies for the late replies but my computer was working so slowly and kept on crashing and I get very demotivated to use it. Anyway...
Dill and Coriander I see from my Jekka McVicar Herb book are both Annuals, which is probably why up to now I haven't thought about growing. I tend to grow hardy plants normally. But now I've been successful with the French Tarragon regrowing I may try growing them both once I've got a couple more terracotta pots to put them in - all my pots are grown in pots outside the back door (the garden is full of flowers).
I bought two very small "baby" Bays for only a couple of Pounds and for years they sat on my kitchen windowsill very happily. Even now they are still not very big and if I had a greenhouse they would be easily moved indoors in the winter. They may have big Bays on TV programms but that doesn't mean that we have to have such large and expensive plants actually growing in the gardens. They grow very slowly too.
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