I have a window box right outside the kitchen door on the porch rail. I grow basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, nasturtiums-things I use a lot in that box. Then, they are here and there around the garden - lavender in the rose garden, bronze fennel and dill wherever it comes up, mint in some drainage pipe pots, feverfew everywhere, chives all around... lots of herbs. I use most of the culinary ones. Many are there to feed caterpillars; mostly swallowtails. We get lots of different butterflies. They like herbs like we do.

Yes. I have one but herbs in many places too. There is a culinary and tea herb garden right by our front door because our kitchen does not have a door outside. Right now they are rebuilding my back yard and are working on sculpting a rain garden for me with a swale spiral. It is a unique design I came up with based on two seperate ideas of permiculture design. It will house many native herbs used for teas, syrups and medicines.

Oh, I used to have a wonderful herb garden at a previous house. Hope you don't mind if I post a couple of pics? I miss that garden. I enlarged it the next year and put tomatoes in along with the herbs.

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Now, in the rental house we're in, all I have is a window box with French tarragon, Italian parsley, English thyme, rosemary, and Genovese basil.

Herbs! I grow at least 300 herbs. I have some beds dedicated solely to herbs, some beds where they are mixed with veggies and some where they are mixed with flowers and some with all of them together. I use herbs in cooking, in making medicine, just for the fragrance, because of the folk lore - whatever. And of course I have bushes and trees which are considered herbal too. Slippery elm, witch hazel, bayberry...

I have packets of parsley, oregano, and thyme seeds sitting on my butcher block in the kitchen, with full intentions of planting them......does that count? :-)

As for things actually in the dirt, I have basil experimentally growing in a container with New Guinea Impatiens. (What can I tell you? It was an impulse.) And I have a great deal of comfrey, lemon balm, and peppermint, all planted many years ago. The peppermint, as you might imagine, escaped the garden and took off for parts unknown. I discover it here and there when I accidentally step on it.

Sort of. It's down in the orchard, a small strip with mostly mints, lemon balm and oregano now - and weeds. Every so often I add something, but unfortunately I don't tend it well.

Like the song says, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, along with dill, basil, chives and lemon balm.

I have the herb garden laid out in a rectangle with a day lily bed on one end and a bed of mixed salvias, larkspur, and candytuft on the other end and an iris bed along the far side.
kay

herbalbetty,300, that is the champion hands down! Do we have an herb forum? I need to check. I think the whole herbal medicine/folklore thing is very interesting.

I have hyssop, clary sage, basils, chamomile, lavender, garden sage, rosemary, think I finally killed out the mints, still have lemon balm, chives, garlic, just planted coriander, parsley, tarragon, and that's not counting the wild herbs/greens that I do harvest and eat. I have no thyme. How can that be?

Mine are scattered, but I have the perfect place for a dedicated bed. The banked bed next to the garage. It is extremely well drained and lavender does well there.

I forgot one; I have bronze fennel........everywhere.
We have chicory in the fields along with elderberry around a wet spot in one field, lots of wild bergamot and yarrow.

Creating a bed is one of those things on the list.............

I know the standard recommendation for herbs is "full sun" but I have found they grow best for me here in part shade. So most of mine (curly and flat parsley, sage, thyme, and several kinds of basil this year) are grown in planters that surround a double trunked oak tree that grows up through one of my decks. It does make harvesting very handy. In past years I've grown dill, chives, marjoram, oregano, and cilantro there. I also used to grow lemon grass in a very large pot on that deck.

I do have feverfew, lavender, and rosemary growing in flowerbeds in several places in the garden. They get so huge they would never fit in the planters! In fact I'm thinking of cutting back one enormous old woody Spanish lavender to see if it will begin again. Is that a good idea or bad?

I have a nice dedicated herb garden just off the corner of the back of the garage where alot of sand, gravel and rock was shoved for the garage foundation - drainage is excellent as there is a slight slope to it and is in full sun all day. I have sages, thymes, lavendar, oregeno, fennel, germander, nastursiums, rue, chives, basal and parsley there. In other gardens I have the more flowering plants that are also considered herbs - monardas, more nastursiums, rosemary and plants like that. I also have pots on the porch landing of basal, chives and parsley for easy pickings. Most of my herbs are grown as host plants for butterflies and just the pure enjoyment of running my had across them as I walk by and enjoy the fragrance ......

Lynne

Years ago I dedicated one bed in the original square foot garden to herbs. Like Lindakimy, I found that some herbs needed a little less full sun, so I started tucking them into other beds. And that's the way it is today. They're in the kitchen garden and scattered throughout the back yard and courtyard.

Down here some herbs like dill, fennel, and parsley have to be grown in the cooler months. Even thyme is much happier when it's not so hot & humid. There's always something to harvest year round. Right now I have a bumper crop of lettuce leaf basil, couple varieties of thyme, rosemary, chives, garlic chives, coconut-scented geranium, pineapple sage, lemon grass, Spanish tarragon, couple dill volunteers that haven't gone to seed yet, same with parsley.

A bed off the screened porch with pineapple sage, Spanish tarragon, basil, chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary...

The kitchen garden beds flanking the arbor are for herbs ...

I have them all over. I have sage in the perennial bed, basil with tomaotes and by the door to the garage. I've got rosemary in the driveway bed and mint in the backyard next to the steps off the kitchen. I like having them spread around. That way, if they bolt, or don't perform well, I don't have a whole area that's empty.

I have a bunch of herbs and all my veggies in large pots next to the carport. I also do not use full sun. They do much better here in PM sun only. I have several thymes in different beds and also a few kinds of Lavender and also rosemary in other places. I have lots of pots of anise hyssop and agastache on the back patio. No place to do a dedicated bed but I like having them everywhere anyway. c

Since my "cottage garden" is thus far the lone strip of perennials that were here when we moved in last fall, I consider myself exempt from the herb garden "rule" at this time. :) However, I would love to be able to grow sage, cilantro, oregano, dill and rosemary, along with a few others, and hope to establish something close to the kitchen next year.

Also, our property has several patches of (apparently) wild garlic...? They SMELL wonderful, but I don't know enough about them yet to harvest anything. I suspect they aren't getting enough sun, as they are in "mostly shady" spots around the yard.

By the way, Dawiff, your corner herb patch REALLY made me smile! This is my 20th year making a sincere gardening effort, and I vividly remember starting out with a little corner patch of annuals just like your herb garden! I also really like the use of the broken terra cotta pot in the other picture!

And Natal, wow your kitchen/vegetable garden is delightful! How large is that whole bed?

Janet

I have a raised bed herb garden with parsley, rosemary, lemon thyme and oregano growing. I had sage in it, but it got so large I transplanted that into a perennial bed. I've also got some vegetables growing in my raised bed and I've got a pot of mint I started from seed this year. I used to grow mint in the perennial bed, but we all know what happens if you do that with mint!
Robin

My herb garden consists of several large pots and a window box, as well as various in-ground plantings amongst the backyard flowers & veggies. Guess what I have is considered a French "Potager" garden.

I've got lemon balm, chervil, chives, garlic chives, Italian parsley, tarragon, various sages and thymes, basil,and lemon verbena. Also, various rose-scented geraniums and other edible flowers such as nasturtiums, lavender, violets and johnny jump-ups. I enjoy them in the garden, as well as using them in my cooking and baking.

Here,especially in the summertime, herbs do best with some shade or just PM sun.

Becky

Fun thread! I have some herbs planted at the edge of my little veggie garden and a couple around the flower gardens. Also a few in pots (I want to see if rosemary will overwinter). My Salvia officinalis came back from last year! Yay!
Several years ago I planted Oregano and Lemon Balm in the main gardens. BIG mistake. It crops up right on top of other plants and is sooo difficult to remove.
I think there is a forum on GW just for Herbs. I think there is also one on herbal medicine.

I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a bed just for herbs. I would make it formal, with a little hedge of my dwarf Hyssopus officinalis in stead of boxwood.

-herbalbetty, that is awesome! I have been wanting to learn more about herbs and folklore. Do you happen to know of any good books on the subject? And what herbs to you think are sorely underused in the garden?
CMK

There's not enough room on the free side to get much of a picture.

kay

Janet, the beds are basically 3Âx9Â. The side paths are 3'; the center is 4' My former garden had 6 beds too, but they were 4Âx5Â and not as easy to work with. Dh & I re-designed the garden in February. I LOVE the wide paths! Makes working and harvesting so much easier.

February...

mid-May...

I love herbs! Can't imagine my garden or daily salads/meals without them. Rosemary is everywhere. Tuscan Blue is my favorite. I mix it with flowers. This year I planted dill, cilantro and parsley in containers which I elevated from the ground - that's why I am able to savor this wonderful herbs rather then sharing them with bunnies for a change. Mint of all kinds goes into containers only. Love mint, however it has a tendency to escape and do cartwheels around entire neighborhood, so I keep it in check.
Just planted lemon verbena for the first time. It smells devine!
Thymes - there are every type I could find, creeping and spreading fragrance every time (thyme?) I walk and brush by.
Herbs are ornamental and practical here - for foliage, fragrance, kitchen purposes, as physical support of other plants growing close by.
I love to mix-and-match flowers and herbs. Looks lovely, feeds body and soul.
How cool is that!

Mine are scattered throughout the garden, I have Spearmint, 2 kinds of Garlic Chives, Winter Chives, unbelievable but my ordinary Chives seemed to have disappeared Rosemary, Winter Thyme, Feverfew, Chamomile, Bronze Fennel, Sweet Cicely and Lovage. I'm sure there are a few more but they don't come to mind right now. Like Nell I'll have to check out the Herb forum to learn more about these plants and their uses.

Herbalbetty, some years ago I read about making an oil good for skin problems from fermented Comfrey leaves, I wish I had written it down, do you know about this method. Herbs and cottage gardening go together like bread and butter :o).

Annette

Natal, not sure if you will stop in here again but I am just SO impressed with your vegetable garden. Thank you for the additional info and wonderful pictures. There is a large, untended/messy disaster area on our property that *was* a veggie garden a couple of years ago. It's completely unusable right this moment, but I would love to turn it into something like what you have - meaning, lovely and manageable as well as useful!

Christin, a couple of good books on the folklore of herbs are:
Magic and Medicine of Plants by Reader's Digest
Wildflower Folklore by Martin
The Illustrated Plantlore by Addison
Flora Celtica by Milliken & Bridgewater
The Enchanted Garden by O'Rush

Christin, I forgot to address the other part of your question, which herbs are underused in the garden? It depends on what your garden is for! Culinary? Lots of people grow lemon balm, but there is also a lime balm. (and a dwarf lemon balm and varieties that are golden) Bee balm is grown often, but there is a rose-scented variety that is gorgeous and smells heavenly. The bees and hummingbirds especially love it. Lovage is a stately plant that is delicious. Angelica is also quite an architectural plant and is beautiful and makes good candied stems. Korean angelica is stunning as well. I even grow mullein in my garden (it is commonly found on roadsides, where many dismiss it). Yet I have had more than a few people stop their cars and come to the door to ask me what the phenomenal plant is (mullein). I have to laugh as they ignored many in the wild getting to my place!

I'm still learning, but half of one of my veggie boxes is filled with herbs. Right now, I have sage, cilantro, dill, chives, basil and oregano. Some of them are still tiny - I think the basil wants warmer weather before it takes off. Otoh, I have a bumper crop of lettuce. ;)

natal-I LOVE your herb garden. Thank you for showing the early picture and explaining how you laid it out. Where did you find the portable type metal fencing to go around it?
Robin

Janet, you're welcome!

Robin, the fencing came from Lowe's. It's called Garden Zone Empire. It took us less than 2 hours to put it up. So impressed we bought a couple pieces of the taller Grand Empire line to use as a privacy screen to hide the trash cans. I'm going to grow star jasmine on it.

-herbalbetty, thank you SO MUCH for the names of those books! I have been wanting to learn more of herbs in folklore for a long time; I love that sort of thing. I am especially interested in that illustrated one. There is a neat site online (botanical.com) that has old botanical/herb prints. I could spend hours looking at them!

This year I bought Sangusorbia minor, Salad Burnet, and just love it. Now I want to find some more interesting herbs! I have a book on herbs (by Lesley Bremness) and it says Lovage makes good soup. I will have to try some. I am also thinking about trying some fennel.

Thanks again betty!
CMK

Thank you natal. I'll look for it the next time I'm at Lowes.
Robin

My herbs are still on my kitchen windowsill. I planted out the dill (knowing how tall it gets) but the Vicious Killer Rabbit at it down to the roots. I dug up the roots and put it in a pot on our tiny deck, but it hasn't come back. >:-/
Something new I'm trying this year is lemon sorrel (in a pot outside). Anyone else here grow it? I like the idea of a perennial green, and lemon-flavored as well. I'd like to make sorrel soup but it would be something of a waste since my boys refuse to have anything to do with my "herbals," as the 5 year old calls them.

I grow French sorrel and it does make a delicious soup. So what if your boys won't eat it? Make up a big pot of sorrel soup, have a bowl for yourself and freeze the rest.

I use herbs throughout the flower gardens, but I'd love to have a defined herb garden like Natal's -- which is so gorgeous!

My husband and I really believe that nepeta, lavender, rosemary and basil keep our place relatively bug-free (mosquitoes, houseflies and gnats). So, we use those plants all around the gardens.

I have a container of spearmint and chocolate mint, oregano and parsley in the cottage garden. There are also lavenders (Munstead and Spanish) planted in the cottage garden. There are two nepetas and two rosemary plants (one cascading).

In the fragrance garden where we have an evening dining patio, we just removed privet and planted agastache, basil, lavender, salvia. In the pot on the dining table, I have Thai basil and petunias.

On the back of the waterfall hill, we also removed privet and replaced it with lavender, oregano, culinary sage and thyme.

I grow bronze fennel in the butterfly garden as a host for BST caterpillars. Friends were recently here for dinner and during the garden tour, they kept pinching off pieces of fennel to eat! My husband told them if they hit something crunchy.... LOL

I have chives growing in the rain garden along the path and lavender at the top of the deer resistant garden, in the sundial bed and beside the garage door. This year, I am growing basil on both sides of the front path, mixed with agastache, angelonia, purple sage, nepeta, stachys and salvia greggii and guarantica.

I use a lot of thyme as ground cover as it suppresses weeds so well, but allows bulbs and perennials to grow through. It's growing along the walkways and paths everywhere in the garden and I keep digging out a trowel now-and-then to keep spreading it around. I do find that thyme does great with afternoon shade and under plants and shrubs.

We can sit outside on our porch, patios or deck and not be bothered by bugs. But, if we walk out into the meadow or neighborhood, flies, gnats and mosquitoes are a problem. We have no explanation other than the use of herbs.

Cameron

Having suffered from total tomato overload in the past years, I dedicated one of my earthboxes to herbs this year - more for fun than use (I'm not much of a cook).

Have chives, curleyleaf parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, tarragon and dill all in one 1.5'x 3'earthbox and for bloom appeal, I centered a mandevilla in the back and hung a fan trellis for it to climb. I'm of the 'Nature hates a vacuum, plant close' mentality.

So far everything is doing great, tho they may get too cramped as time goes on. Few years ago I put rosemary plants into the garden, just for fun ..... well, they went totally crazy and were hard to remove shrubs by the time I got a grip on them!

Have another round container (maybe 14-16") that overwintered garlic chives, fennel & a sedum w/out help so that's chugging along too. In the past, parsley & fennel have been great caterpiller fodder so I expect to have those and who knows what else chomped down in trade for more butterflies on the planet.

The gardens pictured above are spectacular - thanks for posting them!