Late Summer (or early autumn) Herbs - 2017
We are only four days away from the first day of Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere. The fall weather arrived this week, with much cooler temperatures and rain. While Thursday is forecast to be only in the 50s, next week may heat up into the 80s again. Really, who knows with early autumn?
The point is, the herbs love late summer/early autumn. After having been severely cut back (to the ground in many cases) they have come back with lots of new growth, perfect for harvesting for winter use.
Lovely oregano (two types here, Greek Mountain, and an unknown received in trade) have really done well since the July pruning. This oregano patch really needs to be divided, but that's a chore for much later!
The oregano is even healthy where it volunteered in the pathway...
The neighbor to the oregano, woolly apple mint, is taking off again. There is no stopping most mints, unless they are the ones I like best, then they poke along. It's not that I dislike woolly apple mint, it's just that I wish my strawberry mint grew this lush.
Not an herb, but in the herb garden, is "Orange Flame" wallflower, a ground cover, creeping type. It springs back once the weather is cooler than mid-summer, as its name suggests, creeping out of the bed into the barked area surrounding the herb garden. More of it's outside the bed than inside now!
Several of my new herbs are blooming.
Mini Blue lavender:
"Angel's Wing" catnip:
I just changed pots for this one today. I didn't think the shallow plastic pot was draining well enough for this plant, even though I drilled plenty of holes and added sand and sharp gravel to the soil. I bought a terra cotta azalea pot, which are shallower than the traditional ones. I'm a bit worried I'll lose it, since it looks very much like the variegated horehound did before it died, and they are related. In fact, I wouldn't know one from the other if they were side by side!
"Walker's Low" catmint:
It's grown a lot since I planted it.
The French tarragon and germander are doing well after my savage butchering job! I thought I'd done the germander permanent damage.
The point is, the herbs love late summer/early autumn. After having been severely cut back (to the ground in many cases) they have come back with lots of new growth, perfect for harvesting for winter use.
Lovely oregano (two types here, Greek Mountain, and an unknown received in trade) have really done well since the July pruning. This oregano patch really needs to be divided, but that's a chore for much later!
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| September, 2017 |
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| July, 2017 |
The oregano is even healthy where it volunteered in the pathway...
The neighbor to the oregano, woolly apple mint, is taking off again. There is no stopping most mints, unless they are the ones I like best, then they poke along. It's not that I dislike woolly apple mint, it's just that I wish my strawberry mint grew this lush.
Not an herb, but in the herb garden, is "Orange Flame" wallflower, a ground cover, creeping type. It springs back once the weather is cooler than mid-summer, as its name suggests, creeping out of the bed into the barked area surrounding the herb garden. More of it's outside the bed than inside now!
Several of my new herbs are blooming.
Mini Blue lavender:
"Angel's Wing" catnip:
I just changed pots for this one today. I didn't think the shallow plastic pot was draining well enough for this plant, even though I drilled plenty of holes and added sand and sharp gravel to the soil. I bought a terra cotta azalea pot, which are shallower than the traditional ones. I'm a bit worried I'll lose it, since it looks very much like the variegated horehound did before it died, and they are related. In fact, I wouldn't know one from the other if they were side by side!
"Walker's Low" catmint:
It's grown a lot since I planted it.
The French tarragon and germander are doing well after my savage butchering job! I thought I'd done the germander permanent damage.
 |
| French tarragon |
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| germander |
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