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Happy New Year!
Sheri

I’ll never forget the first time I went herb shopping. I read a book about housecleaning with herbs. How cool I thought. The lady who wrote the book talked about putting mint in her wash water, so away I went in search of mint. I knew I liked the smell of mint and the way my mouth felt cool when I chewed mint gum, so I reasoned why wouldn’t I like cleaning with mint?

When I got to the nursery I was shown a candy mint. The lady encouraged me to smell it. It did have a candy smell to it, sweet, but refreshing. That plant was going home with me. What other plants were there that smelled good I asked. She showed me numerous other herbs, but I don’t remember any of them as clearly as I do the candy mint.

When I got home, I planted it in the ground and promptly cut off all the leaves – every last one. I assumed it would grow back. What a mistake! Not only did I lose the plant but when I went back to get more they were all gone! I did however, enjoy mopping the floor and doing dishes that day! What a delight it was to work with candy mint!

That was my introduction to herb gardening. Within the next two months I had a proper herb garden complete with different varieties of mint, dill, horseradish, lemon balm, thyme, oregano and a slew of other fragrant leaved herbs including scented geraniums.

Since I had no idea what to do with these plants other than use them in my wash water, I went to the library to find out. Wow! Potpourri! How cool that idea was! I could make my own. Then I discovered I could make incense. Awesome! The real eye opener however was that they were edible! Imagine that, scented and edible! What more could one ask for!

From that day on, herbs went into everything. Friends started talking about coming to my house to eat weeds in their foods. Even my kids were saying I fed them weeds! I patiently explained they were herbs, but not a lot of people caught my drift. I kept on using them, experimenting, sometimes using a bit too much, sometimes not enough. My love of herbs grew. No garden was complete without them. I brought them into the house in winter, then as I graduated to a greenhouse, added them there.

My first few herb gardens were hodge podge gardens with this herb and that herb mixed together. No one but me could tell what the herbs were. I tried labeling but the labels broke or were blown away. Today my herb garden is being revamped. It is being moved into raised beds with one type of herb per bed. I am still working on labeling ideas, but at least they are organized.

From that tiny candy mint plant years ago, I have evolved. Herbs I now grow include culinary sage, yarrow, thyme, lemon balm, lime balm, hops, horseradish, comfrey, spearmint, peppermint, pineapple mint, banana mint, chocolate mint, fennel, chamomile, rue, hyssop, motherwort, parsley, dill, oregano, lady’s bedstraw, sweet grass, vanilla grass, echinacea, St.John’s Wort as well as a slew of others. On my most wanted list is candy mint, ginseng and goldenseal.

If you haven’t started an herb garden, there is no better time than now. Growing your own herbs will not only delight you if you toss a few into your wash water, but will liven up your cooking, your bath time and many can be used medicinally to boot!

I chose these two to start with for two reasons. The first reason is I love the flowers they will produce. The second reason is because the Colvillea is fragrant. I love fragrant plants as well as those with unusual flowers or foliage.

Colvillea racemosa

This plant has bright orange flowers that remind me, in pictures, of wisteria blooms. While I have not seen this plant in person, I have looked at photos online. I am in Indiana, so this zone 10 and 11 plant will remain in the greenhouse in a pot. This will help me control its natural growth which can be in excess of thrity feet tall. It prefers full sun to partial shade so the location I have planned for it in the greenhouse will be perfect.

Since all parts of this plant are poisonous, it will be grown close to my Brugmansia, which is also poisonous. By growing poisonous plants together in one area of the greenhouse, I can avoid any run off going into pots of edible plants, meaning there will not be a chance for the soil of the edible plants to be poisoned.

I am germinating the seed in a petri dishe with a bit of paper towel in the bottom. There is plenty of hot water in the bottom of the dish for the seed to absorb. It is my understanding that the seed can take up to fifteen days to germinate. A good soak in hot water seems to help speed up germination.

Bees, butterflies and birds love this plant, which to me is another plus in growing it. Although the bees here this year are just terrible, there is a need for them and it is necessary to provide enough nectar to keep them around and keep them happy.

Eremophila maculata var. brevifolia

Ah, the flora of Australia, I love it. There are so many cool plants from that area and this is another one. Hardy in zones 9 to 11, this plant will be greenhouse grown here in Indiana. Given that it is a rather small plant only reaching about four foot tall, keeping it happy in a pot should not be a problem.

Considering it is evergreen, has year-round blooms and is drought tolerant, it seems like a perfect plant for people in many locations.

I am germinating these in petri dishes as well, but do not have them in as much water as the Colvillea seeds.

Soaking in small containers with lids filled half way with hot water, I have Piper nigrum, Nicolaia elatior, double blue Clitoria, Schinus molle var. areira, golden chain tree and Desmos chinensis.

While these photos do not cover all of the plants I have grown that I consider to be favorites, they do give you an idea of the types of plants I prefer to grow. These photos are just *some* of the ones I consider to be favorites.

The cool, crisp days of September are upon us. Most of the garden harvest is in and you may be thinking of putting your garden to bed for the winter. But wait! There is still time to plant more cool season crops in the Mid-West.

While it is true what you can plant this month is limited, there are still quite a few options for your fall and winter garden. Prepare your cold frames and frost covers just in case you need them. Remember you can make a cold frame from four bales of straw and an old window. This will protect young seedlings as well as older plants from frost or chilly nights.

This month you can direct sow argula, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive, lettuce, mache, mustard, parsley, peas, radish, sorrel, spinach and turnips. You can also transplant Chinese cabbage starts into the garden if you have any. Remember to keep your seeds and seedlings well watered. Getting your plants to grow well right now is the key to keeping them alive longer. Cool weather plants that are fully grown can be stored and harvested directly in the garden if they are given adequate protection from frost and fridgid weather.

If you are looking to plant cover crops over part of your garden, September is the time to plant alfalfa, buckwheat, hairy vetch, mustard, oats, radish, winter rye and winter wheat.

Want to learn more about gardening year round? Pre-order a copy of The Complete  Idiot’s Guide To Year-Round Gardening  written by Delilah Smittle and Sheri Ann Richerson.

Hello fellow garden peeps. Do you have a garden related blog? Would you like to be part of my virtual blog tour for “101 English Garden Tips”? If so, read on for the details, then drop me a line.

I am looking for forty blogs, all garden related to visit during my virtual book tour. I will visit one blog per week. The dates will be set once I have forty blogs committed.

During the blog tour I will be having a treasure hunt. In order for participants to win a free, autographed copy of my book “101 English Garden Tips” they will need to follow along. There will be forty clues. The answers to the clues will be posted, one at a time, in each blog post. So, if they miss a week, they will need to go back and look for the clues.

During the “official day” that my article is posted on your blog I will visit periodically to make posts and answer questions. As long as the questions keep coming in, I will keep returning to your blog to answer them.

This will bring new readers to your blog which will increase your traffic flow. Sound like fun? Then do drop me a line, give me a link to your blog and join in the ring of 40 blogs that will be part of the virtual book tour to promote “101 English Garden Tips.”

I hope to hear from you soon!

Sheri