Spring is NOT here! It was 18 degrees this morning...UGH!

It's snowing today, but I did buy 2 little pots of basil and have them on my windowsill.

Right now have oregano, sage & chives doing very nicely. They grow in the ground close to my back door. That was a mistake with the oregano, I may dig some of it up & pot it, it is going everywhere. I see the chives are shooting out blooms, I may collect the seed & plant more of those. I want to get some parsley, rosemary & thyme plants, & will plant some basil & cilantro seeds soon.

No herbs here either, although the chives, oregano and sage are still green under the snow. We had freezing rain here this morning, but it's supposed to be 70 by next Saturday. That's Michigan, where you can wear a winter coat and shorts, both on the same day!

Annie

You'd think my thyme were ground cover. All purple and white flowers right now. The tarragon was cut back but is already over a foot tall. I can't figure out which oregano is which. They've all turned into a carpet. The sage is all over the place. OTOH, the basil looks sad. Just sad. No matter how many flowers I pinch off, the leaves never get hardy. At least it grows in the pot on the porch. Didn't survive in the herb garden. Most of the peppers died. The last one might. I think the chives might have bitten it, but they might bounce back. The rosemary seems happy enough mingling with the roses. Always was.

OTOH, every single rose decided to bloom all at once, and there's just a massive riot of rosiness out there. Perhaps the herbs are feeling intimidated...

Here are some more of my herbs:

The soil in my back yard is so poor that only mint and rosemary will do well there, and so I have to keep everything else in pots with potting soil. I did plant pineapple in the ground, however, as I have too many pineapple plants to keep in pots.

I have additional pots of parsley that I keep for the swallowtail caterpillars.

I took the potted herbs, which have been growing indoors over the winter, outdoors a few weeks ago and have moved them back into the garage a few times due to freeze warnings. I have parked them in my garden wagon for just this reason. But all-in-all, they are up and running. I'll be adding new stock both in-ground and potted and those are the ones I'll bring indoors in the fall.

It's also good to remember, as soon as herbs start to grow and produce in the spring is the time to start harvesting for your dried herbs since spring is the peak flavor season. I use end-of-the-season herbs for making herbed vinegars I put in Christmas food baskets.

-Grainlady

Lars, your herbs look so healthy. Would you share precisely which potting soil you use? I've been using Miracle Gro potting soil, but feel there must be something better out there. Do you use any additives to your potting soil? Thanks for any help.

I've just been using the regular potting soil from HD - nothing special about it, and Miracle Gro potting soil should work fine. I useKellogg Tomato & Herb fertilizer or else Miracle Gro every other week, and I only apply fertilizer very lightly, but often.

We get lots of sun (even in winter), and I think this helps a lot.

Some herbs do well without help, such as mint and rosemary, which will grow in the very poor soil I have in the back yard.

Here is some info from the Herb forum. Since I grow a lot of chilies and basil, I need to use fertilizer more, especially since I am growing in pots. The chilies really respond well to fertilizer, and the basil does also. However, as the Herb forum suggests, sunlight is what is essential for Mediterranean herbs.

Since I just bought my house last October, I am at the very very beginning. I can post pictures later, but nothing is above 6 inches tall. I'm sure it'll take me years to get to where you are! But I do have a tomato, bronze fennel, sage, borage, dill, rosemary, English lavender, oregano, thyme, chamomile and many many basils (large leaf, Thai, opal, cinnamon...). They'll be all grown up some day. Right now, they're just happy its not cold any more (one more day of real cold and then we're outta the woods).

It sounds like you have a pretty large yard, Rob! I can't really take care of that many herbs, unless I move them to where the sprinklers would water them. I also grow many basils (I plant them throughout the season), and then I let them go to seed to attract goldfinches.

I do not watch weather reports, except on Deutsche Welle and NHK TV, and they do not give reports for the U.S. & Canada except for L.A., NY, Miami, Vancouver, Montreal, and Chicago, and then only high temperatures, and NHK reports only in Celsius. I did see a bit of a weather report on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, and I only saw mild temps.

Nice variety!

And much nicer weather. I took off the wool blanket this morning covering my deck herbs from the weekend snow. The herbs that shot up last month in the early Spring 70-80 weather. Put upside down buckets over the big stuff. All looks good. Even the early peas in a front bed.

Everything else is still in the seed start room downstairs.

Two trays of misc herbs and three trays of tomatoes i started potting up over the weekend...running out of room.

You SoCal folks can grow herbs year round!

I just took my backyard out of winter hibernation. This means scooping up several months of soggy rotting leaf litter, pressure washing black scum off everything, starting up the drip irrigation timer, and planting new annuals.

So now I have newly planted tomatoes, dill, parsley and basil, joining the survivors from last year which are sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, and mint. Actually the mint is taking over and is heading over into weed territory.

In the front, we have strawberries which have no problem with the winter. I planted lettuce, argula, and spinach in the planter box.

Next weekend I'll mow, weed the front planters, plant some flowers, and put down some bark mulch. The last thing will be to extend the drip system to some areas that I currently have to hand water. Then I'll call it good.

wow, beautiful pot garden, Lars! No spring here yet -- we're running around 20 degrees colder than normal -- but all of my parsley, eggplant, impatiens, peppers, and tomatoes are up. I need to sow some sage and basil next.

pink_warm_mama, I agree with Lars that the key to success with growing in pots is to water with a weak fertilizer. Re potting mixes, I think the best is Pro-Mix -- and I usually lighten it up by adding a little more perlite. :)

party_music50: Gardened outdoors for many years; had to give it up and move into an apartment (ugh), but after several years missed gardening so much decided to do the pot thing on the deck and herbs under lights in the kitchen. Some things I've obviously forgotten, but as soon as I read Pro-Mix a formerly dimmed light came on and now I'm getting back on track. Thank you so much.

Lars, do you get tomatoes year round?

I have thyme and rosemary year round. My parsley is starting to flower and it won't be long before the dill does the same. Also have Spanish tarragon, chives, garlic chives, and basil. Most of my herbs are in the kitchen garden beds, but I do have some rosemary and thyme in an ornamental bed and this year I started so much basil I had to put some of it in pots. I'm mainly growing Thai basil, because the flavor doesn't change the way the sweet & lettuce leaf sometimes does.

Cindy, I get tomatoes mostly in the winter, probably because I plant them at the wrong time, but when I do have them, it seems like January is the month I have the most tomatoes. I never get them in the spring, however.

Spring was here, briefly, but we've had more cold days than warm ones. Local farmers have lost about 40% of their strawberry and peach crop, so far because of the cold.

Mother's Day is usually when we can safely plant, not sure what it will be this year.

I found this old thread showing what herbs I was growing three years ago. Yesterday, I planted some seeds that I hope will make spring herbs: parsley, sorrel, cilantro, dill, lemongrass, and chilies. I am starting the chilies and lemongrass indoors and have set up an old aquarium (with heater) for this. I'm starting some of the sorrel indoors also. When I ordered the seeds, I got a free package of cabbage seeds, and so we planted those also, to see what will happen. I already have dill and parsley in my yard that are volunteers (they do best in winter), but I will want more. I have parsley growing in a crack in the concrete on my patio, and I have basil and oregano still growing from last year, as well as rosemary and mint, which are perennials. I have the rosemary mostly as a mosquito repellent (not sure if it really works), but I occasionally cook with it.

I'm trying some different chilies this year, but most Chocolate Habanero. I have some that I am started from new seed packets and some that I had saved from the chilies I grew last year. I also have some miscellaneous chili seeds and am not sure what they will grow into, but I can probably still use them, if they grow. I only had one chocolate Habanero plant grow well last year, and it is still growing but has stopped making flowers. I think I may need to cut it back some more. It is in a huge pot, but it is still rootbound. I wish I had a good spot in the yard to plant it, but the sunniest place is on the patio. Maybe if I feed it some more it will make more chilies for me. Last year I did not get chili seeds planted until March, and I think that is too late, especially since they can take one to two months to get started. I did not get any chilies last year until December, and I would like to have them earlier.

Lars, i’m In Fresno and my Hatch, Jalapeño, and others usually last from year to year, and the herbs do too... with the notable exception of Basil. I’m surprised yours don’t.

It's 3 below.......going to minus 10....tomorrow it's to be minus 20 with a stiff wind.....anything green sounds wonderful!

I wondered why I got a notification and it was pleasing to see your photos Lars! A breath of fresh air. Lovely to see again.

I've lived there long enough my herbs have grown and some ended up getting yanked last year and the year before... spider mite. UGH!!!! So I have a new rosemary, couple of teeny little lavender and four thyme starts. I have oregano everywhere. It's a trooper. I just yank it where I don't want it, plop it where I do, and it's so gorgeous. There are now several clumps of chives. The basil is just now sprouting, since we can't put them out until April. I've come to use the purple leafed like Osmin or Opal as edging. The parsley got moved out to the street where I made a new butterfly garden. The bronze fennel did too, but right now, it's adding such an architectural interest I'm in love with it. The other one was decimated by swallowtails, so I have a few germinating. I'm glad they enjoyed it since I grow it for them. A neighbor likes to come by and nip a seed or two here and there to chew on. Good for her!

We have a billion chili seeds and dried chilies, but my son wants more. I want to branch out a bit and maybe try some different peppers. We've learned to make spicy quesadillas (both cheese and cheese/chicken) with them, but haven't really branched out. I think I'll try to get him to push his culinary skills; he's actually a pretty good cook and fairly imaginative.

Well, happy spring!

Kate, my chilies generally live two to three years, but the chilies get smaller as the plants get older - probably because I am them in pots and they get rootbound very quickly. People in my neighborhood plant them in the ground, and they grow into tall bushes, almost like small trees. I really want to get one of my chili plants into the ground so that its roots will have room to expand.

The Swallowtails like dill and parsley, and I grow parsley for them, but I don't get as many of them as I would like. I certainly can't eat all the parsley I grow, but I do a good job with the dill. My chives have all gone to seed, but they tend to grow back from the base and some of the seeds have sprouted in other pots.

Spring here actually never ends, and it's in the 70s this week. I was shocked to hear about the freeze in the Midwest.

The Swallowtails like dill and parsley,

And around here there's nothing they like better than bronze fennel.

it is snowing here but just probably 3 inches. I somewhat love it. (Maybe,ish)...though we have storm prep unlike most of my neighbor)

My winter garden got away from me a bit. The first time I have actual bags in the fridge crisper drawer.

harvested last night with succession starts behind...and new seed planted every 5-7 days...

pea, kale, cabbage, chard, buckwheat, broccoli, radish, celery, cilantro, basil, mixed salad greens, etc...salad in 10-14 days all winter.

I need to harvest my Yuzu fruit, as almost all of it is ripe, and so it will go into the freezer. I mostly use the zest, but I've noticed that I'm getting more juice from the fruit now than I used to. I have a lot of limes now too, and so I'll probably freeze a few of those as well. I've been harvesting lemons, but I can go through a lot of those and don't have enough left over to freeze yet. Next month my cherimoya should be getting ripe, and this year I expect to get fruit from my white sapote tree for the first time. I've had the tree eight years and had almost given up on it. It made tiny fruit last year, but this year the fruit is getting bigger and staying on the tree longer. I hope I like it - I don't remember what it tastes like.

I wish I had room to grow more vegetables, but I don't want my back yard to look like Dogpatch. I tried growing snow peas once and was unsuccessful.

Lars: I plant my peas in Oct/Nov. I have blossoms right now. The plants will quit as soon as it’d gets hot. I also grow all veggies and herbs in pots, which I affectionately call my Pot Farm.

My first year gardening I went crazy and bought a bunch of herbs and planted them in a 3x3' bed! Little did I know that all but the basil were perennials in my area! Boy, did I have fun trying to first, figure out what was what, then, try to dig them out!

When I moved, 18 years later, there were still some invasive lemon verbena that was impossible to get rid of! All in pots now!

Annie, I sent you an email with my address - I would definitely like to try growing the Sugar Rush Peach chilies! I have plenty of room in my aquarium, where I have my other seeds.

Lars I got that email and I have some in an envelope for you, which I will mail as soon as our mail service is restored.

I've been thinking of you and Kevin, I hope you are both recovering well.

Annie

No need to send the seeds quickly - you can wait until March, if necessary!

Kevin is doing okay, I think, but it is always hard for me to tell. He found out about a teenager who committed suicide after having the same operation that he had, and I think this upset him quite a bit. I'm still struggling with my new diet, and I have not lost any additional weight since December - I think the holidays were not so good for me. Anyway, I'm in a much better place than I was six month ago.

Kevin is planning to go to an ostomy conference the first week in August, and I was thinking we could go to Michigan first, on the way to Philadelphia for the conference. He invited me to go to the conference with him, but I wasn't sure whether he needed me to go with him or not, and he will never say that. I'm planning to go anyway, and I was hoping to be able to meet Dedtired at that time, but she said she will be out of town that week. I have another friend (from college) that I wanted to see in Philadelphia, but he will also be out of town that week.