Beautiful!!

Your WS lavender looks way better then all of the lavender plants I bought this year:))

Bonnie, I should have those plants in my yard too. They are gorgeous! Are they perennial to zone 5a? I want to have the plants in the first 3 pictures.

Thank you, Deb! The seeds for the lavender came from Dee. I'll bet she'll share with you, or if you want to wait until this fall, I'll save some seed for you.

Neil, everything in the herb bed is perennial to at least a zone 5, except the parsley, which is a biennial. It reseeds though, so hopefully it will come back on its own, next year, without me having to resow it.

Beautiful!!!

Looks so nice, I like that you took a pic of the tiny pepper. So cute!

Karen

Your verbascum is absolutely gorgeous!! You wouldn't happen to have any seeds of that to trade, would you?
p.s. I just use the flowers of german AND roman chamomile for tea.

Do you still have seeds of those? :D hehehe

I'm afraid the Verbascum 'Southern Charm' is a sterile hybrid, so any seeds it produces would most likely not be viable. They only put about 10 tiny seeds in the pack, so I don't have any left. This year, I wintersowed Verbascum 'Copper Rose', which I got during T & M's 50% off sale last year. I'm hoping that one blooms before the summer's over.

Thanks Jaynine for the info on the chamomile! Do you add any other herbs to the tea?

There's that Penstemon again!! OMG I want that in my garden something badly LOL!

Love your Verbascum too. Please tell me it's not a invasive seed spreader like Common Mullein? I'll try it if its behaved!

Vera

Vera, I thought I had set aside some seeds from that one for you last fall, but I can't locate them. I have a few seeds left for Penstemon pinifolius if you would like them. It is very similar to 'Compactum', except the height is more like 15" - 18", rather than 12", and it has a slightly looser growth habit. I promise I will save you some seeds for the 'Compactum' this fall, and email you through GW when they are ready!

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' won't spread by seed, but the clumps are getting a little larger each year. It has a serious taproot on it. I moved one of them last year, and couldn't believe the size of the roots. I'm surprised I didn't killl it, because I accidently cut off part of the root, before I realized how deep that thing went.

Bonnie

Bonnie, what are the exact names I should be looking for in case I buy some seeds again? I really love the sage. Please let me know the complete names. :)

Thanks!

Lovely pictures. Your herbs are just gorgeous and I love the flowers on the sage. That penstemon is gorgeous too. Looks like it would attract hummers?

Years ago I grew lots of Chamomile, and used just the flowers on the Chamomile for tea. They were quite tedious to harvest though! Occasionally I would put them in a nylon stocking tied off at the ends, soak it in a hot bath, and it was very relaxing.

Loved all of the photos!

I particularly loved the lavender and the verbascum - you have a great assortment of flowers - thanks

Carrie

I have never grown lavender and I have some WS plants about and inch and a half tall. Do you plant them as individual plants? I have been told they like lots of sun and a rather lean sandy soil. I have too much shade and get quite a lot of rain so I am not sure how to handle them. Would you suggest that I try a container and add sand. Right now they have been growing just like the other WS flowers.

Neil, the sage is Broadleaf Sage (salvia offinalis). I just realized there's actually a second sage in that first photo. The plant in the top left corner is Tricolor Sage, which I believe is cutting propagated only. The lavender seed came from a GW trade, and she wasn't sure if it was Hidcote or Munstead. I'll be saving seeds from it in the fall, so let me know if you want me to set some aside for you. I'll try not to lose them, like I did Vera's! Oh, and the oregano is Greek oregano (origanum vulgare). There are a couple more herbs in that bed that aren't in that photo, that go well with the sage and lavender, chives, which have purple blooms, and thyme, which has very pale purple almost white blooms.

This isn't the best photo, because the sun was out, but from front to back its - chives, lavender (before it had buds on it), thyme, and then the sage.
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Those are so lovely and healthy. I have started several herbs this year and some are faster than others.
My german chamomile will be blooming soon I'll have to try that bath soak trick.

Thanks Bonnie. Please keep me seeds.

I have a question about herbs since I have never tried them. Do they come back every year like perennials?

Apparently, many herbs are native to the Mediterranean region, where the soil is fairly lean and well-drained. They won't tolerate soggy conditions over the winter. No wonder they do so well in Bonnie's garden!

For me, oregano, fennel, chives, and thyme are perennial. Coriander, dill, and catnip reseed abundantly. Basil and parsley are easy to WS each year. Sage, rosemary, and lavender haven't made it over the winter, but not sure why.

Neil, all of the ones in my herb bed are perennial, but there are several of herbs that are annuals. I grow all of my annual herbs in pots, because my bed space is so limited.

I'm in the same zone as you, and here are the ones that are perennial in zone 5 (this is off the top of my head, so I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting)

Agastache
Chives
Bronze Fennel
French Tarragon
Garlic Chives
Lavender
Lemon Balm (can be invasive, I grow this one in a pot)
Mint (this one is also invasive, best to grow in a pot)
Oregano
Sage
Thyme
Winter Savory

Annual herbs:
Basil
Chamomile
Cilantro
Dill
Marjoram
Stevia
Summer Savory

... and then there is parsley, which is a biennial.

I absolutely love having fresh herbs in the summer. It's so nice to just walk out and snip a few sprigs of whatever you feel like flavoring your meal with. Plus, they charge a fortune for fresh herbs at the grocery store, and they wintersow really well.

Bonnie

Bonnie -

Whatever herbs can be seed propagated (except mint), will you please save some seeds for me?

I bought some WONDERFUL cuban oreganos that I'll root cuttings of. Not specific on your list, I also have slow bolt cilantro, Black cumin, regular cumin, Black Sesame (is this really Nigella??), Greek oregano, Texas tarragon, about 10 different basils - some more decorative then culinary.

Happy Gardening -

Deb

What a lovely herb garden you have. For the chamomile tea, you use the flowers. I am trying this for the first time this year because chamomile tea is one of my DH's favourites. Be careful with the oreganos though and do not ever let them got to seed. I made that mistake at least six years ago and have been paying for it ever since. They re-seed all over the place, especially in your lawn!! I have never had to sow it since.

Deb, I'll definitely be saving seeds from everything, and I'll probably start a seed swap thread on the RMG forum in the fall, like I have done the past couple of years, so that we can share with one another. You listed a few things there that I'm not familiar with, and will need to look them up.

Northerner, thanks for the tip on the oregano reseeding. My herb bed is right next to my neighbor's weed infested yard, so maybe some oregano in their lawn would be an improvement, LOL!

Bonnie!
The sage, the Penstemon, the Pansy....wow! That sage is gorgeous!!!!
Ditto what Northerner said on the Oregano. I was going to ask you how do you keep yours under control...It takes up a whole bed in my yard and dukes it out with the Spearmint. In order to keep it under control, I either have to whack it all back, dig up alot, or (this year) I started making mint jelly and Oregano pesto. But it seems the Oregano doesn't have as deep a flavor as I'd like...wondering if I need another plant to let the bees kind of mix and match it.

That's good to know about the Chamomile. I was wondering the same thing. I WSed Roman Chamomile this year, which is supposed to be perennial and have higher concentration of whatever it is that makes Chamomile good.

Linda

PS
Did I see St. Johns Wort in that first picture?

Bonnie,

Can I ask a favor? Can you help me label this please? Thanks.

My guess for A is the Salvia Officionalis.

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Sure, here they are:

A - Sage (Salvia officinalis) - I will save seeds of this one for you

B - Oregano (Origanum vulgare) - I can save seeds from this one also if you'd like

C - Tricolor Sage - I believe this is cutting propagated

D - French Tarragon - this one is definitely cutting propagated. It's also much taller than the other herbs in this bed, probably 3' - 3 1/2'.

Hope that helps some,
Bonnie

Awesome! And yes, please save seeds for me of those mentioned above! :D

Thank you so much!

V1rtu0s1ty,
How did you draw on that picture?
Linda

I have one tri-color sage which has survived two winters in my garden. All the other tri-color sages have not survived winter. Guess that one is a toughy. Think I will take some cuttings and see if I can get them to survive as well.

My spearmint did not come back this spring and peppermint did not come back last year. Seems like the easy plants for others are often ones that disappear for me.

Bonnie, love your herb garden.

Thanks mnwsgal! I feel the same way. The things I have the most trouble with are the invasives, like mints, lemon balm, and easy things like sunflowers. But on the other hand, some things listed as short lived perennials, are on their third year for me. I've even had annual dianthus come back for a second or third year. Go figure!