I don't see how you can ID that plant from the picture. It looks like many of the Mentha species, but could be something else. Just considering Mentha, though, you would have to know if the flowers are clustered in leaf axils, or whether they are mostly or entirely in racemes at stem tips. You would also have to know if the calyx tubes and lobes are glabrous, the length of leaf-like bracts subtending flower clusters, petiole length, whether stems and leaves are glabrous, aroma when plant is crushed, etc. to distinguish.

There are some neat ideas under theme parties. You could make tea and little sandwiches and desserts for food, but the other ideas under theme parties could be fun :) I found a bunch of theme party ideas, when I was looking on the internet for fairy garden ideas. I want to put in a fairy garden for my nieces, but not a miniature one, a fun area with flowers, where they can dress up and be the fairies. While I was looking, I kept finding fairy garden party ideas. How to make fairy wings and wands, how to pin the wand on the fairy, etc. They have similar ideas for Christmas (pin the nose on the Rudolph) and other themes. It might give you some neat ideas for decorations, crafts, games etc. and then tea or juice/punch served in cute cups with little sandwiches and desserts could be the food. Mom and I used to go to a tea room that had some parties for little girls. They had a trunk full of old hats, gloves, boas, etc. for the girls to dress up in, while they had tea. They even served bubble gum tea LOL! The girls seemed to have a lot of fun and I'm sure there were some cute pictures from those parties. I don't know if you saw it, but there were some themes for tea in an earlier post...Peter Rabbit tea party, Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, etc. It sounds like fun and I hope your daughter has a great birthday party :)

Thanks, and I searched for a Herb forum for this, didn't find one here. I'll look again. I'm not telling anyone to home cure anything, but it's amazing to me the benefits of the plants I'm growing and finding in the yard, plus finding research on the internet. I've had a lot of happy accidents this year. I'm looking to grow turmeric, if it grows where I'm at. I've tried a few things in the wrong climate already, not looking to start a plant this time of the year. I'm also going to try ginger, but near spring. My plants won't last through the winter. I've been nursing what I was hoping to be hyssop or bee balm, but got snakeroot instead. It's poisonous taken in large dosages, but still a good medicinal plant. I have books on the measurements of most of the plants I'm speaking of. Nutrition is half the battle, even if it's not a winning one towards illnesses. Not starting a debate, or get on someone's nerves, but being chatty, like I am, people take that wrong. I'll check the board out and see what they have.

Hmmm, never seen an herb terr. What types were they suggesting? Some herbs I think would suffer from excessive humidity if you went with a more closed system, also heat build up could be a problem as most herb that come to mind need rather intense light. I'll look forward to seeing what you go with and how it turns out. Media-wise, I think you might need something a bit more 'gritty' -- straight potting soil might compact too much for good root aeration.