Herbs. The foundation of cooking, gorgeous natural body products, and a beautiful garden. But…how many of you have purchased kitchen herbs from the garden store, dropped them in soil, and immediately they 'bolted' or began to flower? Know your herbs, their preferred way to begin, and you'll see success, I promise. Consider integrating them into the garden as foundation plants, as well. They certainly don't need to be relegated to a small kitchen pot.
Common Annual Herbs: Plant these each year, and they will die back after one growing season, having completed their life cycle:
Basil
Dill
Cilantro
These herbs prefer to be planted BY SEED (not by starts, which are the plants you purchase at the store) If you plant them by starts, they will almost certainly bolt immediately and go to flower, rendering them useless for your use. Today is a perfect day to begin, when weather is cool, the sun is not too hot yet, and the soil is moist from winter rains. Prepare your planting area (pots, planters or garden) by adding compost to your soil. Make a little channel about ¼ inch deep, and drop in the teeny tiny little seeds, as individually as you can. Sprinkle a light potting soil or peat moss to cover very lightly. Darkness helps with germination. Sprinkle water very lightly each day with a watering can. Once the plant is a few inches tall (within about 14 days depending on soil/air temperature), remove any extra plants, so that you have one plant per 6 - 8 inches. This is called thinning, and feels terrible because your tender little seedling did so much work to grow, and you're removing and composting several. But believe me, I've run an experiment, and my thinned basil grew to a full plant, bushy and lush. Non-thinned plants stayed stunted and a few inches tall. So do them a favor and reduce competition. We'll talk about herb maintenance in a future newsletter.
Aim to purchase high quality seeds
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Common Perennial Herbs - These plants remain evergreen (keep their leaves all year), and continue to grow year after year. Consider adding these to your garden as foundation plants.
Tender Perennials - start from seed:
Chives - I have them everywhere in my garden, as companions to hostas, blueberries, rhubarb, other herbs,and more. They stay tidy, have a pretty purple flower, and deter pests because of their stronger scent.
Parsley - Plant by seed. This plant will stay fresh and useable through the winter in Seattle. Trim out any thick stalks and flowers throughout the season to keep the parsley leaves fresh, tender and non-bitter.
Start these woody stemmed perennials from a ‘start’ (small plant) from a good garden store:
Sage - Will get 2 - 3 feet wide even though it has like ten leaves when you buy a 4 inch pot. Don't be fooled. Great perennial foundation plant.
Thyme - Will get about 12 - 18 inches wide, great foundation plant. Many varieties, so get the kind you will use.
Oregano - Will spread, so give it good space or grow it in a pot. Many varieties, so get the kind you will use.
Lavender - Tons of varieties, so search for the flower color and plant size you prefer. Great foundation plant, beautiful for borders or integrated into the design. Trim flowers throughout the season to keep them looking fresh, encourage new growth, and keep the plant looking tidy.
Rosemary - Can get huge, 4+ feet tall and wide. Great foundation plant with beautiful flowers (best for back of the garden, but in a place you can access). Trim with care to keep the shrub in the shape you prefer.
The above five plants are WOODY STEMMED perennials. If you trim too deep into their stems, which turn quite woody after year 2, they can freak out and suffer. So, to control their size and to have the freshest herbs, trim the new growth pretty regularly, trying to keep your trimming to the more flexible/light green stem, avoiding the woody stem. If you can't use all of that fresh herb, gift it to a neighbor, dry in bundles for future use in cooking, sachets, scented pillows, use in herbal bath products, or simply compost them.
Have any questions? Feel free to send me a note!