Thanks Weedwoman for the HTML re post. Thanks everyone who correctly identfy some of the plants. 6 plants are still unknown; not being identified: 2. 3. A special coleus plant with features of Salvia Divinorum. It has square stems, but its leaves are shorter, more stout than S. Divinorum, and its leaves are not velvet dark green. Another variation. 6. Super prehistoric-like giant! 2m tall! Each leaf is maybe 1m + long. Maybe a person standing beside is needed to see its obvious gigantism. 7. A large plant with mimosa-like leaves. 1.5m tall. 8. 9. Poisonous but medicinal plant. Fruits turn from green to red. Anymore tries?

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

Oh yeah! Barley is a grain, no doubt about it. It's also a grass. and both the seed and the leaves can be used for assorted purposes. Tomato can be called a fruit (of the plant), or a berry (which is a kind of fruit), or a vegetable. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Yet it comes under my umbrella of 'herb' as well as being a beautiful plant which some people regard as purely ornamental. Such people forget (or don't know) that 'stopping to smell the roses' is a herbal remedy! Regardless of what part of the plant is used (leaves, stems, roots, seeds/grains, bark, flowers/blossoms/petals/stamens, fruits/berries), or what name you give these parts (tubors, rhizomes, roots - you get the idea) - they're still herbs, IMO. Or rather, the plant as a whole is. OK. Challenge! Read the following and then tell me why Barley is NOT a herb!! Culinary Uses: Barley is widely cultivated grain used as a food and in the brewing process. It is an additive for human and animal cereal foods. The seed can be fermented into sourdough and many other fermented foods such as tempeh and miso. It also makes a flavourful flour for use in baking breads and muffins. The seed can be sprouted and added to salads or the sprouted seed juiced and the juice drunk as a health-food drink. Barley is a common ingredient in soups and stews. It is also an ingredient in muesli and other breakfast cereal mixes. Malt is obtained by sprouting the whole seed and then roasting it. The seed is then ground into a flour and boiled in water. The resulting liquid is very sweet and can be used in making beer or other drinks, and as a nutritious sweetener in various foods. Barley is sold in several forms, the most common being pearl barley, which has been processed by being husked, steamed and polished. The flaked form is often used to make a breakfast cereal, similar to porridge. The roasted (unsprouted) seed is used as a coffee, and as a salt substitute. Medicinal Uses: A mucilaginous substance is obtained when hulled barley (pearl barley) is cooked, which is a good nutritional source for throat or stomach problems. The demulcent properties of cooked barley is useful in external treatment of sores, fevers, diarrhoea, gout, and tumours. Used as a tonic during convalescence. Useful in combating stress and fatigue. treatment of Barley shoots are used to dry mother's milk, to improve poor digestion, loss of appetite, and hepatitis. It is often recommended as a treatment for osteoarthritis, gastric ulcers and other inflammatory diseases, and to treat infections of the urinary tract. It can be given to children to treat fevers. It is also used to treat minor infections, diarrhoea, arthritis, anaemia, hepatitis, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcer, hypoglycaemia, bruises, dry coughs, burns, constipation, emphysema, gangrene, poison oak rash. rheumatism, haemorrhoids, prostate difficulties, premenstrual syndrome, muscle debility, and toxicity from lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. It has been shown to lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels and to regulate blood sugar levels, and is claimed to be protective against the risk of bowel cancer. Barley contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, beta carotene, B1, B2, B6, C, folic acid, and pantothenic acid, making it one of the most nourishing foodstuffs known to man. It also contains high levels of chlorophyll, a substance said to inhibit cancer, and several antioxidants, thought to help prevent many degenerative diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and premature ageing. Made into a poultice and applied externally, barley has demulcent properties which make it helpful in soothing and reducing inflammation in sores and swellings. A hot poultice eases stiff and painful joints and draws the poison from boils, abscesses, stings, bites and infected cuts. A cold poultice relieves swellings and helps with weeping eczema and other itchy skin conditions. Medicinal Actions: Demulcent, abortifacient, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, febrifuge, galactofuge, hypoglycaemic, digestive, carminative, nutritive, anti-inflammatory, stomachic. Other Uses: Barley water is a skin freshener for normal skin, cleanses and softens skin.

Never ever plant basil with/close to/near Rosemary or sage .... It kills them. I always save my seeds from my annuals to replant the next year instead of buying seed packets. Over the last few years I've bought seed packets & I didn't get what I bought lol .... Through the season I always prune/pinch etc all of my herbs to encourage a more vigorous healthy plant & towards the end of the season I let half of it flower and keep tending to the other half to keep it growing so I can harvest all of it to preserve, dry or whatever I wanna do with it - the parts that I let flower on my basil get about a foot tall and after they die, I snip them off and place them upside down in a brown paper bag to save the seeds. You wouldn't believe how many seeds you can get just from ONE flower stalk lol it's like the equivalent to one seed packet you buy at your garden store hahaha .... Some times I'll do like Jan said and either divide whichever plants I wanna keep growing through winter by potting them to move indoors or I'll take cuttings, root them & start fresh plants altogether. I had a pretty rough last couple of years just personally (not meaning my garden, but me as a whole) and I didn't really pay any attention to ANY of my plants or my beds for that matter. So all the leaves from fall were everywhere especially in my beds and in the tops & bottoms of my bushes all around the perimeter of my property. Not sure if it was the fact all the leaves were surrounding everything or me neglecting my gardens in general but my oregano, rosemary bush, sage, roses and medicinal weed garden ALL survived the winter. They were so healthy and undead that when spring came around it looked as if my plants were already in the summer season :) my Rosemary bush is about 3-4 feet wide and the tallest stalks are a little over 3 feet as well. I try to keep it a little shaped up when I'm snipping Rosemary to use for whatever so it usually will have a tapering appearance. This year I decided to incorporate quite a few plants I've never grown before: lavender, lemon verbena, lemon balm, yarrow, holy basil, German chamomile & regular chamomile, lemon grass, hyssop and some hydrangeas We'll see how it goes :))))