Yes. I bought Irene rosemary from a shop because it grows rather slowly and put it under a grow light in the house. It has done well and would do better if I repot and prune it. Tastes like Arp rosemary, which I tried three times to grow outside here in Spokane, where winters are too cold for it to endure.
mullein grows all over my property. i let it grow because i like the look of the plant and its medicinal.
It does a little bit too well in the inland northwest. Can handle very dry conditions and tends to outcompete our native weeds that grow on disturbed sites like fireweed. So in clearcuts now, instead of a field of bright purple flowers that are full of pollinators and excellent food for wildlife you see nothing but mullein stalks. I could probably see it as an attractive plant but I already have that negative association.
its definitely weedy on disturbed sites here. i control how many grow on my land but if i didnt , i could see them being a problem. they just look cool intermingled with the fruit trees and bushes and the bees love them. i leave 1 flower stalk to reseed and cut the others before they produce seed.
So weird, I have the inverse issue. My rosemary is in year 3. Tuscan Blue Rosemary I bought from Fruitwood Nursery years ago. I can’t keep Taragon alive. I’m on my third plant in three years and it doesn’t look good at all right now. The one I have now I bought locally and it had a good flavor when I bought it. Anyone have taragon advice?
My inground zone 7(6b line) perennial herb failures over the years.
Rosemary- 10 plants- all dead in less than four years.
Lovage- 2 plants- none returned the next year.
Thyme- 6 plants- 4 dead 2 struggling over several years.
Sage- 4 plants- 2 dead 2 struggling over several years.
Tarragon- 2 plants- none returned the next year.
Oregano- multiple plants- unstoppable. Also the only one of the group that really gets used often for cooking.
All do great until the winters show up. Not bad winters, just something about it they didn’t like. Perennial vegetables are next on the trial list.
tarragon is grass
i keep it in a shallow pot that drains pretty well, i give it N fertilizer once in a blue moon like once a year or twice. i only water when i go to eat some, maybe weekly. it gets most-sun, not quite full sun. it has pretty shallow looking roots so i don’t plant in any thing deep. i bring it in the house in winter and keep it in the brightest window and don’t cut from it until it’s outside again, it gets horrid looking until it goes back out
thyme survives winter here as long as it doesn’t get too wet. mine is happy a little dry. same with lovage and sages.
the oregano likes a little more shade and water so it only spreads where i water and it stops at the shade line of our tree.
parsley and celeriac kind of act the same and survive winter.
Do you just grow the celeriac for the greens if you’re leaving it through winter?
I had sage as a perennial for a few years before i ripped it out due to lack of use. I find sage is actually quite foul smelling.
Almost all the other herbs smell a lot better.
I usually start them in advance but I got lazy this year. I may throw some seeds around. Other than dill I don’t use them a ton. I had a rosemary I kept inside during winter but it eventually died indoors.
I have mint in a container, some lemon balm that was in a container that escaped but hasn’t been too aggressive so far. Both come back every year with me doing nothing.
Not used as an herb but monarda/bergamot comes back every year. Butterflies and hummingbirds love it. Anise hyssop is similar.
I like cilantro but I feel it does well and then it bolts the first day it hits 90 and is dry.
I’ll usually plant parsley and it’s good but I usually get sick of it.
Basil is another one that I’ll grow and is fairly easy.
Thyme does well but for some reason always dies at some point. I do use it in soups/stews
Celeriac is fine overwintered. I just harvested the last of mine a couple of days ago. The greens have stringy, hollow stems and are pretty bitter.
i use the smallest greens in soup for that bitter celery flavor. the big root is ok early in spring too once the ground melts enough, or i leave it so it’ll go to seed
That’s a narrow leaf sage. You can find many others with varying flavor profiles you might prefer. I like sage in limited amounts on something that will be eaten quickly. First time I used it, I put sage to a rabbit stew that I ate for a week & had to add potatoes and other things to reduce the growing presence of the sage.
Bees sure like the flowers.
It does grow wild here also. However, I just wanted one in a pot.
I mix a few of the herbs that I grow and make teas out of them.
Some for relaxing/sleeping, and some for immune support when sick, and some for digestion…
As you make your teas, can you post what herbs you use for what?
Speaking of teas, I moved a tray of chamomile flowers to the oven last night to make room for making dinner. I announced repeatedly to the family for everyone to remind me to remove it by morning, so I didn’t cook them today. I cooked them preheating the oven. Not doing that again.
I did that with my sourdough starter once. It was in a Tupperware too ![]()
Oh no that’s such a bigger loss!
Fortunately I had a tub of old discards in the back of the fridge for pancakes or whatnot. Nursed some back and it works fine, but still years later will get gray sludgy when too hungry. Never really bothered to figure that out because it tastes fine and as they say, fresh bread is better than perfect bread.
Honestly the worst part was cleaning melted plastic from the oven. Won’t be using the oven as a proofing box any time soon.
In herb news, my dills are all limping along, I think the slugs or earwigs gobbled some up. Everything else on the herb wall is doing just fine to my surprise
If you like chamomile for relaxing, try Lemon Balm; it is one of my favorite for daytime relaxing and it is much easier to grow. A combination of the two is even better (for sleeping). And, for the ultimate sedative add some Skullcap Lateriflora and Valerian Root - (very powerful combination so use wisely).
i think the dill seeds i scattered are coming up. no sign of cilantro!
lovage has taken and is getting tall. thyme is flowering, the old plant. made some little wooden labels so my partner knows what to pick when i send him out for dinner herbs
i always let the clover grow
i started good king Henry this year and it is … lambs quarters!? is that correct? they’re similar? because lq grows all over, i didn’t need to start another patch of that
do these look like gkh?







