herbs – Fafard

The Ten Most Beautiful Edibles

Ornamental vegetables look pretty when planted in tidy, geometric arrangements.

The traditional French potager, or kitchen garden, combined both edible and ornamental elements to create beds that were both beautiful and productive. Given the array of fruit, vegetable, and herb varieties available now, just about anyone can do the same thing.

Grow The Edibles That You Love

Where should you start? As always, grow what you love, starting with edible varieties that you most want to eat. There is no point in raising a beautiful zucchini if you hate that vegetable. Once you know what you want to grow, search through garden centers, online, and catalog vendors to find the most beautiful varieties. Remember that some plants have lovely leaves, others sprout gorgeous flowers, and still, others boast flashy stems. A few combine all of those things.

Next, decide whether you want to grow from seed or buy as small starter plants. Starter plants get larger sooner, but the selection of varieties may be smaller. Growing from seed requires more patience, but the choices are larger. Your potager can be beautiful either way.

The Ten Most Beautiful Edible Crops

Bushy Blueberries

Jelly Bean® is beautiful and produces lots of delicious berries. (Image by Bushel and Berry®)

Blueberries are three-season stunners, sporting bell-shaped pinkish-white flowers in spring, glaucous blue fruits in early summer, and bright red fall leaves. The most widely grown and hybridized type is the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), including the popular large-fruited ‘Chandler’, but these tend to be leggier and less bushy. For tidy, attractive landscape shrubs with loads of berries, the better option is lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium) types, like ‘Top Hat’, which is compact, bushy, and has nice, dense, foliage. Container and small-space gardeners may prefer designer varieties, like the boxwood-like Jelly Bean®, which grows only 12 to 24 inches tall and wide, bears lots of small berries, and has flame-red fall color. All crave fast-draining, acid soil, and full sun.

Personnel at your local garden center can help you choose species and varieties suitable to your region and space situation.

Feathery Fennel

Bulb fennel is delicious and its feathery foliage and white bulbs look striking in a garden or container.

Anise-flavored fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), a member of the carrot family, is a beautiful garden plant in either its green or purple-leafed (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’) forms. Leaf fennel is grown for its decorative, feathery, sweet-tasting leaves. Bulb fennel, like the ‘Orazio’ variety, is grown for its swollen bulbs. In both types, all parts of the plant are edible. The flowers will remind you of fennel’s carrot-family relative, Queen Anne’s lace or wild carrot, and will eventually provide fennel seeds for culinary use. Swallowtail butterflies also use the fennel as a host plant, making the kitchen garden even more beautiful.

Striking Swiss Chard

The highly ornamental Swiss chard comes in shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, and white.

Spinach-like Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) leaves can be harvested when young or mature and eaten raw or cooked. In the garden, the showy stems of ‘Ruby Red’ or ‘Bright Yellow’ or Bright Lights Mix light up the landscape. These relatives of common beets grow best in sunny spots where the soil is somewhat alkaline. Swiss chard tastes sweeter as fall temperatures drop and will continue to ornament your garden and provide culinary ingredients well into late fall. Plants may even overwinter in mild- to warm-winter climates.

Colorful Winter Squash

Striped ‘Delicata’ squash are beautiful as are the deepest orange kabocha squash (far left).

The cucurbit family of plants includes all kinds of squashes, melons, and cucumbers. Most are edible, though a few, like ornamental gourds, are grown mostly for decorative value. All start with large, funnel-shaped blooms, and some yield fruits pretty enough to ornament even the most lavish potager. Among the showier cucurbits is delicata squash (Cucurbito pepo ‘Delicata’), a winter squash that features cylindrical fruits striped in cream, yellow, and green. The skin is thin and the flesh is sweet and especially good baked. Another winter squash for bright color in the garden and on a harvest table are Japanese kabocha squashes. The deepest red ‘Red Kuri’ (C. maxima ‘Red Kuri’) has very sweet flesh and is an excellent winter keeper.

Plant squash in hills—8- to 10-inch tall soil mounds—provide plenty of water, and make sure the plants have enough sunny space, as they tend to sprawl. The vines can also be trained to grow up sturdy supporting structures like trellises or fences.

Flashy Cabbage

Purple cabbages can be very striking in fall gardens! This is also when they taste best.

Some gardeners grow ornamental cabbages and kales purely for fall decorations. But edible cabbage varieties (Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) can be just as lovely. One beauty is ‘Deadon’, a Savoy-type cabbage with brilliant magenta-purple leaves. Another is ‘Red Express’, an early-yielding variety with purple and grey-green leaves. In both varieties, the color deepens as fall weather cools off.

Cabbages like rich soil, full sun, and regular moisture, and benefit from soil amended with a product like Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost.

Colorful Okra

If you don’t grow okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) for its tasty pods, you might be tempted to grow it for the flowers alone or the attractive dried winter pods. The blooms and leaves betray okra’s membership in the mallow family (Malvaceae), which is also home to hibiscus and hollyhocks. The main stalks grow somewhat slowly, but the flowers–pale yellow trumpets accented by maroon centers—are worth the wait. Eventually, the edible pods appear. The red pods of ‘Bowling Red‘ are especially pretty. The bold plants reach a whopping 7-8 feet tall.

Okra loves warmth, so plant it when day and nighttime temperatures are above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. While not as thirsty as some other edible plants, they appreciate at least one inch of water per week, along with enriched soil.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Hummingbirds, butterflies, and humans are all drawn to the brilliant red flowers of scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). The flowers are edible, but leaving them on the fast-growing vines yields tender beans after about 45 days. Picking the beans triggers more blooms and fruits, so harvest often. Trained up teepees, trellises, or other supports located in sunny spots, scarlet runner beans make great focal points for the vegetable garden.

Purple Cauliflower

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group) is showing up everywhere these days, from pizza crusts to cauliflower “rice”. Those who really prize the cruciferous vegetable, like it best straight from the garden. That garden can be much more beautiful when adorned with a purple cauliflower variety, like ‘Grafitti’ or ‘Purple of Sicily‘.

Cauliflower is a cool-season species that should be planted in early spring or early fall and receive consistent moisture. Harvest when the heads are 6 to 8 inches wide.

Pink-Flowered Strawberries

Berried Treasure Pink has double-pink flowers and delicious red berries. (Image by Proven Winners)

Strawberry flowers are normally white and winsome, but for a little more color in containers or at the edges of beds, try one of the pink-flowered varieties, like ‘Toscana’, with its deepest magenta flowers, or the double-pale-pink flowered Berred Treasure Pink. Both plants produce pink flowers followed by juicy, red berries. For best results, plant in a sunny spot with well-drained soil and water regularly. Strawberries are also right at home in pots filled with Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix. Like many strawberries, the plants reproduce by means of runners.

Variegated Lemon Thyme

Delectable and beautiful, variegated lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus ‘Variegata Aurea’) is another plant that works equally well as an edger, or a rock garden or container subject. The tiny fragrant leaves are green edged in creamy yellow and lemon-scented. Clusters of purple tubular flowers appear in July and beckon pollinators. Harvest sprigs of leaves regularly to keep stems from becoming woody. Like other thymes, the variegated variety prefers full sun and well-drained soil.

Grow a Mexican Herb Garden

Several key herbs and peppers create the foundation of Mexican cuisine. Everyone knows and loves cilantro and chile peppers, but have you ever tried epazote, Mexican oregano, or Mexican mint marigold? Add some authenticity and good flavor to your Mexican dishes this season with these herbs and spices!

Mexican Herbs

Some of the herbs essential to Mexican cooking originate from the Old World, such are cilantro, cumin, and Mexican thyme. But, most other herbs common to Mexican cuisine are regional natives that have been used to flavor the traditional foods of indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

Delicate white flowers of cilantro — The delicate white flowers of cilantro develop into coriander seeds. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Annatto

Annatto (Bixa orellana, 20–33 feet, USDA Hardiness Zones 10-12), also called lipstick tree or achiote, is a tender tropical tree or shrub, but it can be grown and trained as a container specimen in cold-winter zones. It is native to the tropical Americas where its seeds have been used to impart sweet, peppery flavor, and bright orange-red color to foods for centuries. Southern Native American tribes also used it to color their skin and hair.

Gardeners in temperate areas can grow annatto in containers that can be brought outdoors in summer and overwintered in a sunny indoor location. They grow best in slightly acid soil that is evenly moist and fertile. Fafard® Professional Potting Mix is a good potting mix choice. Plant them in a large container, and keep them well pruned. In a couple of years, the evergreen shrubs will begin producing clusters of pretty, five-petaled pink flowers followed by hairy brownish-orange pods. These pods are filled with orange seeds that can be dried and enjoyed for cooking.

Epazote

The aromatic leaves of epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides, 2-3 feet, USDA Hardiness Zones 8-11) have a distinctive fennel taste when raw and develop a citrusy flavor when cooked. The leaves are commonly used in moles and soups. The rangy plants are not attractive, so surround them with prettier herbs, if garden appearance is important to you. The seeds are toxic, so cut back the flower heads to keep plants from setting seed. The leaves can also be a skin irritant for some.

Cilantro

The flavorful leaves of cilantro (Coriandrum sativum, 18-24 inches) are common in many Mexican dishes and salsas, and the seeds are ground to make the spice, coriander. Cilantro is a cool-season annual herb that grows best in spring and fall. It prefers full sun and well-drained, fertile soil. Its frilly white flowers set round seed heads that readily self-sow, so don’t be afraid to sprinkle some of its seeds on the ground after it has begun to die back.

Cumin

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum, 12-15 inches) is a warm-season, drought-tolerant annual that has feathery, aromatic leaves that can be added to salads. Its flower heads look like delicate Queen-Anne’s-lace blooms. Once they have set seed, collect the seeds, and grind them to make the spice cumin. Grow it as you would cilantro, and give the plants at least three months to produce seed. Cumin is a key component of taco seasoning but also has a place in more traditional Mexican dishes.

Mexican Oregano

Native to the American Southwest down to Central America, Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens, 2-4 feet, USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11) tastes a bit like oregano but has a distinctive lemony flavor. The leaves are used to season meats, beans, and vegetables. Mexican oregano is a small, open shrub that bears clusters of pretty white summer flowers (similar to the blooms of Lantana camara), which are pollinated by butterflies. Its leaves can be used dried or fresh.

Mexican Thyme

This semi-succulent African herb was brought to Mexico by the Spanish. Mexican thyme (Plectranthus amboinicus, 12-24 inches, USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11), also called Cuban oregano, has a strong oregano-like flavor and can be used fresh or dried to flavor meats. It grows best in partial sun and produces spikes of pretty lavender flowers during the growing months. This tender herb can be brought indoors in winter as a potted plant and is easy to propagate from cuttings. It likes well-drained potting soil, like OMRI Listed Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix.

Mexican Mint Marigold

Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida, 18-24 inches, USDA Hardiness Zones 8-10) is a native of Mexico and Central America, so it will tolerate high heat and drought. The slender, fragrant leaves of this herbal marigold are used to flavor pork, chicken, and vegetables. The shrubby tender perennial bears pretty yellow flowers in summer that attract bees. Grow it in full sun and average soil with good drainage.

Mexican Peppers

Peppers are New World plants native from southern North America to northern South America. Many different varieties are used to flavor food in Mexico, but several are more common in traditional foods.

Plant all peppers in full sun and provide them with well-drained soil fortified with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost. They will also grow better if fed with a tomato and vegetable fertilizer. Their small white flowers are bee-pollinated, so be sure to avoid using insecticides on them. Most peppers require staking or caging to support their heavy fruits. (Click here for our video about pepper growing.) Here are three essential peppers for Mexican cooking.

Jalapeño

Favored for spicing up salsas, jalapeño peppers (Capsicum annuum, 24-30 inches) are often harvested green, though they will mature to a deep red color. Like all peppers, they are warm-season vegetables that thrive in heat and will tolerate drought. Jalapeños have medium heat (3,500 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units).

Poblano (Ancho) Chile

Poblano peppers are most productive in late summer.

The poblano chile (Capsicum annuum, 2.5-4 feet, has mild heat (1000-1500 Scoville Heat Units), and its origin is attributed to Puebla, Mexico. The peppers mature to a purplish brown, and when dried are called ancho chiles. The tall plants must be supported with a sturdy cage. These are the classic peppers used for chiles Rellenos and when dried they are used to flavor moles.

Serrano Chile

Spicy serrano chiles (Capsicum annuum, 2–4 feet) are generally harvested red and added to fresh salsas. They are spicy (10,000–23,000 Scoville Heat Units), very flavorful, and sweet when fully mature. One plant will produce a wealth of peppers.

Any one of these herbs or peppers will spice up your garden and cooking, so consider planting your own Mexican herb garden this season!

Creative Four-Ingredient Edible Gardens

Now that spring is well underway, it’s time to think about interesting ideas for simple, productive gardening. Even the most efficient gardeners tend to glaze over when confronted with a long plant list, but most of us can cope with cleverly devised, four-plant gardens.

Below are “recipes” for three different themed planting combinations containing edible and ornamental elements that can be contained or planted in gardens as space permits. The end results combine garden multi-tasking with great flavors and high ornamental value. And, if you want more options, you can create your own!

Herbal Tea Garden

Ingredients:

Variegated Pineapple Mint (Mentha suaveolens ‘Variegata’, USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9)
Everblooming Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis
Lady Godiva® Orange)
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis, Zones 3-7)
Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa, Zones 2-7)

Turn leaves or flowers of these easy-to-grow plants into tasty teas. The requirements are simple: full sun (at least six hours per day for roses) and well-drained, average soil. Make sure to avoid spraying the plants with any product not formulated for use on edible crops.

If you have a bit of space, create a dedicated four-ingredient tea garden with a rose at the center, surrounded by lemon balm, pot marigolds, and variegated pineapple mint. Container gardeners can grow the ingredients in separate pots, or mixed in a large container or two.

Rugosa roses are fragrant enough for their petals to be of value in teas, but their hips are the most common herbal tea ingredient. They will not form if the roses are cut, so let the flowers set fruit. Rugosas are noted for their large hips, which resemble cherry tomatoes. Mature hips will be bright orange-red and give slightly when pressed.

Among the best hip producers are those of fragrant hybrids, like the pink-flowered ‘Fru Dagmar Hastrup’ or the double white ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’. They also bear thorny stems, so harvest carefully. Use the hips fresh or dry until brittle in a slow oven (110 degrees Fahrenheit) or dehydrator. Drying time varies depending on the size and quantity of hips.

Lemon balm and pineapple mint are vigorous members of the mint family, but both are wonderfully fragrant with leaves that maintain their flavor when dry. Lemon balm has been known to self-sow and escape garden confinement if neglected, so shear off its tiny blooms as they appear. Likewise, pineapple mint spreads by rooting stems, so it is best contained in a pot. Fortunately, the variegated form is more ornamental and less aggressive. Harvest pineapple mint and lemon balm leaves before the flowers form and air dry by arranging the leaves on trays and setting them aside for several days until dry and crumbly.

Pot marigold is the only annual in the garden, so it will need to be planted yearly. Standard types set lots of seed and tend to self-sow, but Lady Godiva® does not. As a result, it is not messy, and it blooms all summer long, unlike the others. Gather fresh pot marigold flowers for tea. Dry them as you would balm and mint leaves.

Marinara Garden

Roma Tomatoes, Bush Basil, Greek Oregano, Flatleaf Parsley — Plant these to make fresh marinara. Just add garlic–to the sauce or your garden.

Ingredients:

Bush Basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Spicy Bush’)
Greek Oregano (Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum)
Italian Flatleaf Parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum)
Roma Plum Tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum Roma varieties)

Put an Italian accent in your garden and kitchen with these four plants. Start with the tomatoes. Bush-type (determinate) Roma tomatoes are squat, meaty, and full of flavor for sauces and paste. Provide them with at least eight hours of sunlight per day. Choose quality varieties, such as the high-yielding ‘Paisano‘ or tasty golden ‘Sunrise Sauce‘. A spacious half whiskey barrel filled with a rich potting mix, like Fafard^® Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix, and a caged tomato plant in the center is a great starting point. Install the low-growing herbs around the outside edges of the barrel. Be sure to feed with a fertilizer formulated for vegetables and herbs. (Click here to learn more about growing tomatoes in pots.)

Rich, aromatic annual basil is probably the best-known herb for flavoring tomato sauce and the easiest to grow, given full sun and good soil. There are many available basils, but compact sweet basils, such as ‘Spicy Bush‘, are best for container growing. (Click here to learn more about growing basil in containers.) Use them as an exuberant edging around tomato plants, either alone or alternating with other herbs. Pinch off the flowers before they bloom to encourage foliage, and harvest leaves regularly for best taste. Macerate them in olive oil and freeze to store.

A low-grower with good heat and drought tolerance, Greek oregano is another indispensable marinara ingredient. Grow it along with basil and parsley in beds or containers by the kitchen door, or alternate with basil and parsley in a dedicated tomato bed. Its leaves are best dried for longterm use.

Low-growing flat-leaf parsley is the fourth member of the marinara quartet. With its fresh flavor, it can stand up to the bold tastes of basil, oregano, and tomatoes. It can also stand with them in plantings, brightening up a window box or planted in a large container alongside basil and oregano. Versatile and full of vitamins, flat-leaf parsley is also a champion seasonal edging plant. Preserve it as you would basil.

Summer Fruit Salad Garden

Compact Raspberries, Compact Blueberries, Compact Melon, Everbearing Strawberries

Ingredients:

Everbearing Strawberry (Fragaria x ananasa ‘Tristar’)
Compact Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo ‘Green Machine’)
Compact Raspberries (Rubus idaeus Raspberry Shortcake®)
Compact Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum Jelly Bean®)

You don’t have to own an orchard—or even a garden plot—to grow your own fruit. A mixed planting of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries will provide snacks and desserts through much of the summer.

Blueberries bushes feature pink or white, bell-like flowers in spring, followed by tasty berries in July and lovely red leaves in the fall. Use a compact variety, like Jelly Bean® (1-2 feet), along with a petite raspberry bush-like Raspberry Shortcake® (2-3 feet) as the centerpieces of your sunny planting scheme. The little shrubs will flourish in garden situations or large containers. Surround them with smaller pots or edge with strawberries, like the everbearing ‘Tristar’, which provides lots of berries in June and then a consistent flow of berries until fall.

A short-vined, small-fruited melon, such as the “ice cream” muskmelon ‘Green Machine’, will provide you with delectable melons in a small garden space or pot. Give them full sun and great garden soil amended with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost or potting mix, and the vines will give you sweet melons that are just the right size for a scoop of ice cream. (Click here to learn more about how to grow edibles in containers.)

Your fruitful garden will need consistent moisture throughout the growing season. Investing in netting or other protection to keep away hungry birds and guarantee you a taste of the sweet fruits of your labors.

Zesty Edible Flowers for Good Looks and Good Eats

Some edible flowers pack a big ornamental punch in the garden and an equally large flavor punch in the kitchen. These include the blooms of a few traditional garden annuals as well as the flowers of some lesser-known ornamental herbs that should be a mainstay in any edible ornamental garden. Add them to salads, flavorful herbal butter, and vegetable dishes to provide an impressive flourish to your cooking.

Herbal Edible Flowers

There are lots of herbs that double up as garden flowers and garden flowers with herbal qualities. Here are some of the best.

This African Blue basil in bud — This African Blue basil is in bud and on the verge of producing copious lavender-pink flowers.

African Blue Basil (Ocimum ‘African Blue’, 18 to 24 inches) is likely the most beautiful garden basil of them all. Plant it as an ornamental annual for its purplish leaves and copious spikes of attractive lavender-pink flowers that just keep coming. Bees love them, too. Pick a stem of flowers to top off pasta dishes, salads, and vegetables. Pinch back spent flower stems to keep more coming. Its leaves also made a punchy pesto.

'Slam Queen' Thai basil — ‘Siam Queen’ Thai basil (Image thanks to AAS Winners)

Gardeners that love Thai food should not be without the award-winning annual Siam Queen basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Siam Queen’, 12-18 inches). It is one of those plants that never disappoints. Not only do its leaves and flowers have a strong clove and anisette-like flavor ideal for Thai cooking, but its equally edible clusters of purplish-maroon flowers bloom nonstop and the plant thrives in the heat.

Herrenhauses oregano flowers — Herrenhausen oregano has beautiful flower clusters that are tasty and attract lots of bees.

There are many ornamental oreganos, but Herrenhausen oregano (Origanum laevigatum ‘Herrenhausen’, USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9) is a classic perennial that reaches 18-24 inches and produces flushes of rosy-purple flowers in summer that the bees cannot resist. The aromatic flowers are also very flavorful and impart a sweet oregano flavor.

Butterfly on chive blossoms — Chive blossoms have a mild oniony flavor, and the flowers lure bees and butterflies,

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum, Zones 3-9) are spring bloomers with some of the tastiest and prettiest mauve flowers that lend a gentle kick of onion to salads and vegetable dishes. The perennial herb looks lush in spring, tapers off in summer, and then provides a flush of fresh chive leaves again in fall.

When in full bloom, annual Signet marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia, 12-18 inches) create a mound of bright color and their little petals have a pungent, somewhat citrusy flavor that lends good taste to heirloom tomato salads and other festive summer vegetable dishes.

Lady Godiva® Orange pot marigold (Image thanks to Proven Winners®) — Lady Godiva® Orange pot marigold creates a spectacular specimen plant. (Image thanks to Proven Winners®)

Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) is a cheerful, cool weather annual that has flowers in warm colors. Its petals have a spicy flavor that lends interest to salads. You can also dry them to make herbal tea. Normally, the plants start to decline as they set seed, but the Proven Winners® variety Lady Godiva® Orange does not set seed, so it blooms nonstop and creates a spectacular specimen plant with tasty petals.

Nasturtiums in the Alaska series have brilliant flowers and variegated leaves.

Summer blooming nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) have beautiful flowers of orange, gold, pink, and red with a peppery taste like watercress. The plants grow as vines or compact specimens. There are many beautiful varieties available. Those in the Whirlybird Mix are compact, come in all colors, are easy to grow, and just the right size for pots. Those in the Alaska series are equally compact and pretty but their leaves are variegated. If you’re more interested in a large, vining variety, try ‘Empress of India‘. The 1889 heirloom has blue-green leaves and deepest orange flowers. Add the blooms to salads or to decorate a savory summer cocktail, like a bloody Mary.

Growing Edible Flowers

Stressed nasturtium in this pot (Image by Jessie Keith) — The nasturtium in this pot is showing stress because the container is not quite large enough to sustain it through a season. (Image by Jessie Keith)

The beauty of growing these edible flowers is that all of them are very easy to successfully cultivate, and their growing needs are largely the same. Grow them in full sun and provide quality garden soil with good drainage and average soil moisture. The addition of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost will improve overall performance. A granular fertilizer formulated for flowering is also recommended. If planting them in containers, choose large containers spacious enough to accommodate the plants, and fill them with Fafard^® Ultra Container Mix with Extended Feed. Then harvest and enjoy your edible flowers through the season.

DIY Herbal Cold and Flu Remedies

Aside from COVID-19, it’s the season for colds, flu, and other bugs that bring us down in the chillier months. Despite social distancing, flu shots, good care, vitamins, and other attempts to ward them off, these bugs always arrive, unwelcome, and uninvited. So, how do you treat colds and flu naturally? DIY herbal remedies, of course! (Your favorite chicken soup recipe should be a close second.)

Healing Culinary Herbs

Tea infuser with loose leaf tea — Be sure that you have a tea infuser for the loose leaf tea recipes.

During the summer months, I grow plenty of herbs for teas, salves, soaps, and tinctures that I use in the winter. Some years I also grow medicinal herbs indoors on my sunny kitchen windowsill. They are inexpensive and effective, while also smelling pleasant and tasting good. Even nicer, some of the best grow like weeds, including peppermint, chamomile, garlic, cayenne pepper, lavender, and elderberry. Others, like ginger, are tender plants that can be grown indoors in winter or outdoors in summer. (Click here to learn more about growing ginger indoors.)

Anyone who has grown the classic herbs peppermint and chamomile knows that they’re wild and must be kept in bounds. Nonetheless, their usefulness far outweighs their weediness.

Pot Marigold

Pretty pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis) produce single or double daisies of orange or gold, and they thrive in cool weather. Their dried petals are used to make teas that are calming and ease the stomach. Combine them with other tea-making herbs that help with cold symptoms and congestion. Calendula is also used to make very effective creams to heal the skin. Let some of your calendula seedheads dry and sprinkle the seeds on the ground to sow themselves year after year.

Chamomile

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is a sun-loving herb that generally germinates in summer or fall, remains a low-growing foliage rosette through winter, and blooms in spring, producing a cloud of little white daisies. These choice flowers should be harvested at their prime and quickly dried to make herbal teas or inhalations. (Be cautious about letting them set seed; they can become weedy!)

Orange Chamomile Inhalant or Tea

A combination of dried orange peel and dried chamomile flowers makes a lovely tea or inhalant that will ease the stomach or gently clear the sinuses. Just add one teaspoon of dried or fresh orange peel and three tablespoons of dried chamomile flowers to two cups of boiling water. Steep it for 5 minutes, for tea, or place it in a heat-safe bowl and breathe it in after several minutes. Cover your head with a towel to keep the steam in.

Peppermint

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) has rhizomatous roots that spread like wildfire, so I grow mine in large pots in sunny spots. The summer foliage and flowers are easily harvested and dried for year-round use. Peppermint can be used to make inhalations and compresses as well as head-clearing tea.

Peppery Peppermint Tea Recipe

A good, simple mint tea recipe for colds contains peppermint and a few other ingredients. For one pot fill your infuser with two teaspoons of dried elderberries, two tablespoons of dried peppermint leaves, and a few peppercorns or some cayenne flakes to fire up the spice. Fill your pot with boiling water, steep for 5 minutes, and serve with honey.

Garlic

Garlic has proven cold-fighting benefits and is truly a plant-it-and-leave-it crop requiring next to no care. Simply plant it in rich, well-drained soil in fall, and let it grow and bulb up in spring and summer. As any garlic grower can tell you, garden-fresh garlic is worlds more flavorful than the store stuff. Still, grocery garlic works just as well as a cold fighter.

Lemon Garlic Tonic

Fresh lemon-garlic tonic is a standby for cold sufferers. Simply add three large (or four small) sliced garlic cloves and the zest and juice of two lemons to three cups of boiling water in a saucepan. (Add some cayenne if your sinuses are troubling you.) Allow the mix to boil for 5 minutes before removing it from the heat and straining. Add a teaspoon of honey to each cup, and you’ll have a truly useful cold treatment.

Cayenne Pepper

Nothing clears the head and chest like something spicy. That’s why cayenne and other chilis (Capsicum annuum) are sought after as herbal remedies for cold sufferers. The sun- and heat-loving vegetable is easy as pie to grow during the summer months and just as easy to dry when red and ripe. Crushed cayenne can be added to any simple herbal tea as a stimulant to get the blood flowing. It is believed to help with headache pain and it clears stuffy sinuses.

Lavender

Lavender (Lavandula spp.) is one of the most beautiful, sun-loving plants, and its dried fragrant flowers and leaves are versatile herbs for health. Not only can they be added to soaps and creams, but they make wonderful cold inhalations.

Lavender Eucalyptus Inhalation

Infuse one tablespoon eucalyptus leaves and two tablespoons of lavender flowers into two cups of boiling water, steep for 5 minutes, and breath in under the cover of a towel. (Keep in mind that eucalyptus cannot be ingested, so do not drink this mix.) The two fragrant botanicals are harmonious partners. In fact, their oils may help to relieve depression, inflammation, and congestion, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH).

Elderberry

Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis 'Nova' — Elderberries can be dried and added to various herbal tea remedies.

Gardeners with a good bit of space can and should grow elderberries (Sambucus spp.). Not only do they make delicious jam, jelly, and wine, they are also healthful and medicinal. The shrubs grow well in full sun or partial shade, though plants grown in more sun yield more fruits. Umbels of fragrant, yellowish spring flowers give way to dark, edible berries in late summer. Both the flowers and berries can be dried to make teas. The berries also make a delicious syrup that can be used to sweeten and flavor any herbal tea. All are believed to alleviate cough and allergy symptoms.

One warning: Elderberry seeds contain toxic chemicals (glycosides). There are two ways to make them safe. Avoid cracking elderberry seeds when drying them, or cook the fruits. They are rendered safe in the cooking process because the harmful chemicals are broken down.

Elderflower and Apple Tea

Fill your infuser with 2 tablespoons chopped, dried apples, and two tablespoons dried elderflower, and fill the pot with boiling water. Let it steep for 5 minutes and then sweeten with honey or sugar.

Ginger

Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) is delicious and desirable in more ways than one. Like cayenne, it’s spicy, so it acts as a stimulant that gets the blood flowing and clears the head and sinuses when added to tea or an infusion. It also helps soothe the stomach. Ginger is most easily grown in a pot outdoors in summer or in a sunny window or sunroom in winter. It’s plump, spicy roots can be harvested as needed.

Fresh Ginger & Cinnamon Tea

For delicious fresh ginger tea, boil five large slices of ginger root in three cups of water with a cinnamon stick for 10 minutes, strain, and serve with sugar or honey. (Click here to learn how to grow ginger.)

All of the plants mentioned grow best in soils with average to good fertility and excellent drainage. Before planting them in spring, amend the soil with Fafard Garden Manure Blend. Likewise, ginger plants grown indoors thrive when planted in Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Mix.

Two great reference books for medicinal herbal plants are The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne (2016), Grow It Heal It by Christopher Hobbs and Leslie Gardener (Rodale Books, 2013), and the classic Complete Medical Herbal by Penelope Ody (DK, 1993)

Though all of these herbal remedies are deemed safe by health experts, but it’s always smart to talk to your doctor before partaking in any herbal remedies. Also, be sure that you have no allergies to these plants before using them. Some planning ahead is required if you want to grow your own herbal remedies, but when the winter sniffles arrive, you will be glad you broke ground and took the time.

Beautiful Culinary Sage

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For better or worse, we live in the age of multitasking, when the ability to do at least two things at once has become a common goal. As we multitask through our days, we gardeners can’t help but ask our plants to do the same. Fortunately, the enormous salvia clan has been multitasking for millennia. Ornamental forms of culinary sage, mostly Salvia officinalis, are champion multitaskers, contributing flavor to our food and beauty to our landscapes. Gardening and life don’t get much better than that.

Culinary sage is a pungent herb. For many families, it does a star turn at Thanksgiving in turkey dressing. It also has affinities to pork, poultry, eggs, sausage, and savory ravioli. When food is rich, a little sage can save the day by cutting tastefully through heavy flavors.

Sage also remains beautiful in the garden from fall and through winter. Its evergreen leaves may droop on the coldest winter days, but they maintain substance and can still be harvested.

Growing Sage

Standard sage is evergreen and pretty in its own right.

The plants are shrubby perennials that generally grow 12- to 18-inches tall and wide but can be kept shorter by timely light pruning in late spring or after flowering. Standard varieties have elongated oval leaves that are velvety and a little wrinkled on the surface. Lavender-blue or purple flowers appear in May or June. These are also edible.

In the garden, sage favors sunny, well-drained spaces, and benefits from quality soil amendments like Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost and Garden Manure Blend. Once established, sages require little care and offer a steady supply of evergreen leaves for fresh or dry use. (Dry by hanging tied stems in a cool, dry place until crisp.) Hardiness depends on the variety but sage can generally withstand quite cold winters. It is wise to check plant tags at purchase time for hardiness specifics.

Culinary Sage Varieties

'Tricolor' sage — ‘Tricolor’ sage is ivory edged with purplish new growth.

One of the most beautiful varieties is ‘Tricolor’ (USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9). The plants feature elongated gray-green leaves edged and marked with cream. New growth is both purple and ivory edged. Equally suitable for pots, herb gardens, or front- to mid-border positions, ‘Tricolor’ is also a useful, aromatic filler for bouquets.

Another eye-catching variety is ‘Purpurescens’ or purple sage (Zones 6-9). The young leaves are purple, while older ones age to gray-green. Its flavor is as intense as any culinary sage, and the colors bring real life to beds and borders.

Golden sage has the brightest color of the ornamental culinary sage varieties.

For something a little more luxurious, try ‘Aurea’. Featuring brighter green leaves, it attracts attention with its golden edging. ‘Icterina’ is similar to ‘Aurea’, but the foliage is more subdued and edged in pale green. Like ‘Ictarina’, the less common ‘Woodcote’ also boasts pale-green leaf edges, contrasting with darker green centers.

'Berggarten' sage — The silver-grey leaves of ‘Berggarten’ sage are broad and ornamental.

‘Berggarten’ features more silvery leaves that are fatter. Its habit is also neater and mounded, making it especially useful for flower gardens and container culture. For dramatic edging in a large bed, alternate ‘Berggarten’ with its bi-colored sport, ‘Variegated Berggarten’, which features leaves with creamy-yellow leaf edges.

'Ictarina' sage — ‘Ictarina’ is a more subdued variegated sage.

In addition to pretty leaves, culinary salvia produces spikes of lavender-blue or purple blooms that attract bees while discouraging deer and other marauding creatures. For flower contrast and culinary prowess, choose pink-flowered ‘Rosea’. The leaves are solid green and aromatic, growing on plants that may be a little larger (36 inches tall and wide) than some other salvias.

Decorative culinary sages can also work well in smaller spaces. The petite ‘Compacta’ tops out at about eight inches. Its flowers are vivid purple and aromatic leaves contribute the same flavor punch.

Pineapple Sage

Other species are also edible and ornamental. Bushy pineapple sage (Salvia elegans, Zones 8-10) reaches a great height of 3-4 feet. The tender perennial grows quickly and should be treated as an annual in cold-winter climates. It features intensely aromatic leaves that exude the fruity scent of fresh pineapple. Minced in fruit salad or muddled in hot or cold drinks, the leaves are a great addition to the home cook’s herbal arsenal. It is a fall bloomer that sports vivid scarlet blooms that lure migrating hummingbirds.

The ‘Golden Delicious’ variety adds an extra dimension to the landscape with the brightest golden-green, aromatic leaves. This one also reaches great heights, so it needs ample space, but don’t let this deter you from growing it. Judicious pruning can reduce its overall dimensions and stimulate branching and more flowers.

You can use culinary sages to adorn herb gardens, but don’t stop there. Beds, borders, containers (mixed or single variety) and window boxes all become more interesting when decorative culinary sage is added to the mix.

Vegetable Companion Plants that Repel Insect Pests

Some attractive and useful companion plants really do help ward off certain insect pests from specific crops. Plant these companions in quantity, and they can serve to reduce the populations of common insect pests of vegetables.

Research has shown that some companion plantings reduce the number of insect pests that attack vegetable crops. Some companion plants are trap crops that attract insect pests, luring them away from your favorite vegetables. Others are insect-repelling companion plants that produce aromatic chemicals that some pests dislike.

Trap crops take up a lot of space and are not practical for most home gardeners, while desirable repellant plants are more viable to grow. These are the plants covered. Companion with some value to gardeners, in addition to protective properties, are a win-win.

Insect-Repelling Companion Plants

Note that repelling plants will never totally protect vegetables from the pests that attack them, but they can reduce the number of pests. Here are a few good examples of protective plants (mostly herbs) and the pests they repel.

Basil

A few key culinary herbs have been shown to offer repellent protection to specific veggies. One of these is everyone’s favorite herb, basil. Research has shown that rows of tall basil (Ocimum basilicum) around tomatoes can reduce the number of tomato hornworms on tomatoes and eggplant. Tomato hornworms are very damaging, defoliating tomatoes in no time. They are also so large, they are very unpleasant to kill.

Basil also wards off thrips from developing flowers and other plant tissues. The little insect pests suck juices from flowers, fruits, and leaves causing ugly mottled spots.

Good basil varieties for the task include the tall, Italian Genovese basil, purple ‘Opal basil, hybrid lemon basil (Ocimum × africanum), and beautiful ‘Pesto Purpetuo‘ basil, which is tall, highly fragrant, non-blooming, and has beautiful variegated leaves.

Catnip

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) can reduce damage by flea beetles, a pest that attacks eggplant, brassicas ( like collards, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower), tomatoes, and other common crops. There is also some evidence that it wards off cabbage loopers, which also attack brassicas. A series of predating beetles, including Colorado potato beetles, cucumber beetles, and Japanese beetles, which can attack okra and beans, are also repelled. Squash bugs also avoid these plants.

Another benefit of catnip is that it repels mosquitoes very well.

Chives and Onions

Chives, leeks, and onions (Allium spp.) are welcome additions to any garden and some vegetable pests really dislike them. The pests they deter include damaging moths (like cabbage moths), aphids, and spider mites. All three of these pests attack a wide host of vegetable plants, such as brassicas, beans, and squash, so a border of chives or onion relatives can really help in the garden.

Evergreen Culinary Herbs

There is a host of favorite culinary evergreen herbs that repel certain pests from brassicas. Many of hese effective herbs in the mint family. This should come as no surprise because they are all strongly aromatic and resinous, which is why they tend to have few to no insect predators. Three of the best include sage (Salvia officinalis), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and thyme (Thymus vulgaris).

Sage has been shown to protect brassicas from cabbage moths as well as carrots, parsley, and parsnips from carrot flies. Rosemary also protects against carrot flies in addition to snails and slugs. Finally, whiteflies, which damage the foliage and overall health of many crops, disfavor thyme.

Daisy-Family Herbs

Collecting chamomile — Chamomile makes delicious tea and provides brassicas some protection from cabbage loopers.

Strongly aromatic herbs in the daisy family can really pack a punch against pests. Some are very large, so they need space to grow, but they are reliable companions to many vegetables.

From spring to midsummer, chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) shines in the garden providing some protection to brassicas from cabbage loopers. The dried flowers of chamomile can also be used to make a flavorful, soothing tea.

Marigolds of all kinds help ward off a serious underground pest of tomatoes, tomato root-knot nematodes. These attack the roots of tomatoes, stunting the plants and reducing their productivity. Planting tomatoes and marigolds in rotation from year to year can help keep these pests away. (C lick here to learn more about marigolds and root-knot nematodes.)

Even more effective members of this family include the non-culinary, herbs wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), the herb used to make absynthe, southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum), and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare). All are strongly fragrant and have been shown to reduce damage by flea beetles, a pest that attacks eggplant, brassicas, tomatoes, and other common crops. Southernwood and wormwood also protect against cabbage loopers and cabbage butterflies. And, Japanese beetles and Colorado potato beetles don’t like tansy.

One downside to these three non-culinary repellent plants in the daisy family is that they tend to spread and become weedy. So, be sure to clip back their flowers to keep them from setting seed.

In general, herbs grow best in fertile to semi-fertile soil enriched with compost. Companion plantings are most effective if you plant them in rows or rings surrounding the vegetables that you want to protect. And, if you plant favorite culinary herbs, you can harvest and enjoy these as well.

Bringing Herbs Indoors for Winter

Summer vacation is wonderful for people with culinary herbs. While you enjoy longer days and uninterrupted stretches of shorts-and-sandals weather, your plants are basking in summer sunshine and warmth. Basil grows bushy, thyme exudes powerful fragrance, and mints threaten to take over the landscape. You can harvest herbs whenever you need them, secure in the knowledge that the summer garden will provide an ever-ready supply.
Continue reading “Bringing Herbs Indoors for Winter”

Windowsill Herbs and Vegetables for Kitchen Gardeners

Homegrown fresh herbs and vegetables are not just a product of the warm growing months. Several can be easily cultivated along a sunny, south-facing windowsill during winter. Then when temperatures grow warmer, you can plant them outdoors to extend your summer gardening efforts.

Herbs for Indoor Growing

Pots of sweet basil and other herbs grow in a sunny window.

Basil– Fresh sweet basil pesto can just be an arms-length away if you have a sunny kitchen window. Some grocery stores or retail greenhouses sell plants in colder months, but you can also quickly grow your own from seed. Many varieties take only 40-50 days to grow to a harvestable size.

Small bush varieties, such as ‘Piccolino’ and ‘Pluto’, are the fastest-growing sweet basil types to grow from seed. The large-leaved ‘Pesto Party’ is also fast-growing and tasty. Sow seed on the surface of a small pot filled with Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil, which is approved for organic gardening. Keep the soil moist and place your pot in a sunny window. In just one week, the seeds should sprout. Give them even moisture, full sun, and they should thrive.

Small bush basil 'Piccolino' — The small bush basil ‘Piccolino’. (Photo by Johnny’s Selected Seeds)

Rosemary– Pruned rosemary plants are often sold in winter for home growing. New growth can be trimmed off to flavor meats and or pasta sauces. Just be sure to give rosemary lots of sun, and turn window-grown plants every few days for even growth. Refrain from overwatering them because their roots are sensitive to rot caused by excessive moisture.

Thyme– Pots of low-growing French thyme (Thymus vulgaris) or lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) look pretty and taste great on vegetables, meats, or added to fresh salad dressings. If you have an outdoor plant, you can easily root cuttings for indoor growing. Simply take 6” cuttings, remove the leaves from the bottom 2-inches of the stems, and place them in a clean glass of water. Refresh the water if it starts to look murky. In just a couple of weeks, they will root and can be potted. Like rosemary, thyme requires light watering and lots of sunlight.

Cilantro in pot — Cilantro is very easy to grow indoors. (Image by Johnny’s Selected Seeds)

Cilantro-This cool-season annual herb is one of the easiest to grow indoors. Like basil, it is best grown from seed—with leaves ready for harvest in just 50 days. Try the tidy variety ‘Calypso’, which resists flowering and produces lots of edible leaves for salsa making. Start the seeds as you would basil.

Parsley-Pot-grown parsley thrives in sunny windowsills and quickly regrows new leaves as you trim fresh foliage for cooking. On occasion, plants are sold at grocery stores or in retail greenhouses, but seed-grown plants are probably your best bet. Parsley takes two months to reach a harvestable size from seed, so it is best seeded in late fall for winter growing. Start it as you would basil.

Vegetables for Indoor Growing

Salinova® Green Sweet Crisp lettuce is a cut-and-come-again variety for indoor growing.

Greens—Lettuce, spinach, and arugula are all fast-growing salad greens that grow well in indoor pots. In fact, some compact varieties are specially bred for indoor growing. Lettuces in the Salinova® series are compact, cut-and-come-again varieties that grow fast and produce well in pots. Try the curly Salinova® Green Sweet Crisp and red-leaved Salinova® Red Butter. Surface sow the seeds in a rectangular windowsill pot on a sunny sill, give them light moisture, and they will sprout quickly. In just 45-55 days they will be ready to harvest. The fast-growing ‘Corvair’ spinach (21 days) and ‘Esmee’ arugula (21-40 days) can be grown the same way.

Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil pack

Peppers– Tiny pepper plants with fruits of all colors and heat levels can be grown in super sunny windows. The Brazilian beak pepper ‘Biquinho’ is a new red hot pepper that reaches only 1 to 2 feet high and yields fruits in just 60 days. Lunchbox mixed sweet pepper plants reach 2 to 3 feet, and bear small green peppers in just 55 days (75 days to turn from green to red and orange).
Start seeds in small pots of Black Gold Seedling Mix, keep them just moist and place them in a sunny window. In one to two weeks they should sprout. When they reach 6-inches high, move them into a 1-gallon pot filled with Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil, and add a stake to support growing plants. Feed them regularly with a water-soluble tomato and vegetable fertilizer

Tomatoes– If you have very sunny south-facing window or sunroom, you can grow tomatoes indoors. Bush-type (determinate) tomatoes bred for northern growing will grow and fruit the best. Start them indoors from seed in mid to late fall for winter fruiting. Maintaining room temperatures above 65° F will encourage fruit production. In just 60 days, ‘Gold Nugget’ cherry tomatoes bear small, golden tomatoes on short plants reaching 2-feet. For classic red tomatoes, try the high-yielding, disease-resistant ‘Polbig’, which reaches 2-3 feet. Start tomatoes as you would peppers. Support plants with stakes to manage growth, and prune back any leggy stems

Planting herbs and vegetables indoors this winter will keep fresh food on your table until spring. These attractive edibles also provide welcome indoor greenery to brighten cold, snowy days.

Delicious Gardening with Edible and Ornamental Plants

Variegated pineapple sage and golden marjoram will brighten up any landscape while also adding valuable flavor to dishes. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Gardening with edible and ornamental plants makes gardening a little tastier and more valuable. Not many of us have the time and space for immense ornamental landscapes anymore, but lots of us take great pride in our shrubs, perennials, and annuals. At the same time, we want to eat better, fresher food, and that urge has led us back to the garden. Limited space means that we have to grow ornamentals and edibles side-by-side. Fortunately, it is easy to do, and the results can be just as beautiful as an ornamental-only landscape.

For most of horticultural history, average people grew food from necessity, with little thought to purely ornamental plants. Inevitably, though, some gardeners noticed that certain edible plants and herbs sported lovely flowers or foliage that added a dimension to the vegetable garden. Others even transplanted flowering specimens from the wild into corners of their home vegetable plots. Eventually, as great civilizations (Egyptians, Ancient Persians, and Greeks) grew wealthy, ornamental gardening came into its own, with immense ornamental landscapes designed, constructed, and documented in detail by artists and writers. Gardeners today are able to take the best from both worlds, mixing the edible and ornamental for increased garden value.

Feathery fennel is beautiful and tasty. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

Add Ornamental Vegetables

The vegetable gardener’s mantra—“Grow what you like to eat”—is a good place to start if you have decided to take the plunge and mix some edibles among your ornamental plants. The feathery fronds of bronze or green fennel make a lovely addition to any garden and also attract swallowtail butterflies, but if you don’t like fennel, growing it may waste space that is better used for other plants.

Just about everyone loves fresh tomatoes and peppers, which are easy to grow and come in many varieties. They also thrive under the same conditions as horticultural divas like roses—at least 8 hours of sunlight per day, rich soil and fairly consistent moisture. The problem is that most tomato plants—especially indeterminate types that keep growing and producing all season–need some kind of support. Typical wire tomato cages are not the loveliest addition to an ornamental garden. Solve the tomato problem by training the plants up a simple bamboo stake or decorative tuteur or trellis that can hold its own among the flowering plants.

This technique not only makes a virtue out of necessity, but it works for other vining plants like beans, cucumbers, and even squash. For a lovely garden backdrop, try scarlet runner beans trained up a trellis. The flowers are a brilliant red and the beans are delicious either raw or cooked.

Pots of tomatoes and peppers show off the beauty of these valuable garden vegetables.

For a successful edible/ornamental combination, don’t neglect adequate plant nutrition. Give both types of plants a good start by enriching your garden soil with a rich soil amendment like Fafard® Garden Manure Blend. Not only will it add needed organic matter for better water-holding capacity, but it will also enrich the soil for better overall performance.

Add Beautiful Fruits

If fruit is your idea of the perfect edible crop, and you want a beautiful ornamental plant, try growing blueberries (Vaccinium spp. and cultivars). These shrubs feature lovely pinkish-white, bell-shaped flowers in the spring, followed by neat, green oval-shaped leaves. The tasty blue fruits appear in early summer and scarlet leaves announce the arrival of fall. Blueberries like the same acid soil as rhododendrons and azaleas and would complement them well in a mixed shrub or shrub/perennial border. Smaller varieties can even be grown in containers and can hold their own among the pots of geraniums and snapdragons on a porch or terrace. The same holds true of strawberries, with their white flowers and brilliant red fruits, grown in the pockets of decorative ceramic or terra cotta strawberry pots.

Add Ornamental Herbs

Herbs have long been used as ornamentals. Purple basil makes a dramatic edging plant at the front of a border and would provide a perfect complement to red/orange marigolds or late summer dahlias. The strong aroma of the basil also helps deter garden varmints like rabbits and deer. Pineapple sage, with its variegated leaves, makes a lovely filler for a pot of flowering annuals. The leaves are also the perfect enhancement for a glass of lemonade.

Purple-flowered cinnamon basil is a dramatic beauty that looks pretty in edible and ornamental borders. (Photo by Jessie Keith)

If your ornamental landscape is mature and already filled with plants, look for “holes” where you can install a few ‘Bright Lights’ chard plants or fill in with low-growing herbs like thyme. Start small, with a few edibles and then, when the “grow your own” bug bites, increase the number of edibles. You will be amazed at how well it all fits together.

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Bushy Blueberries

Feathery Fennel

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Colorful Winter Squash

Flashy Cabbage

Colorful Okra

Scarlet Runner Beans

Purple Cauliflower

Pink-Flowered Strawberries

Variegated Lemon Thyme

Mexican Herbs

Annatto

Epazote

Cilantro

Cumin

Mexican Oregano

Mexican Thyme

Mexican Mint Marigold

Mexican Peppers

Jalapeño

Poblano (Ancho) Chile

Serrano Chile

Herbal Tea Garden

Marinara Garden

Summer Fruit Salad Garden

Herbal Edible Flowers

Growing Edible Flowers

Healing Culinary Herbs

Pot Marigold

Chamomile

Orange Chamomile Inhalant or Tea

Peppermint

Peppery Peppermint Tea Recipe

Garlic

Lemon Garlic Tonic

Cayenne Pepper

Lavender

Lavender Eucalyptus Inhalation

Elderberry

Elderflower and Apple Tea

Ginger

Fresh Ginger & Cinnamon Tea

Growing Sage

Culinary Sage Varieties

Pineapple Sage

Insect-Repelling Companion Plants

Basil

Catnip

Chives and Onions

Evergreen Culinary Herbs

Daisy-Family Herbs

Herbs for Indoor Growing

Vegetables for Indoor Growing

Add Ornamental Vegetables

Add Beautiful Fruits

Add Ornamental Herbs