7 aromatic herbs that also look great in a vase!
I grow lots of herbs. Most are easy to grow and have many multi-purpose benefits for the home gardener and flower farmer.
In this blog, I want to introduce you to 7 herbs I grow every year that not only do culinary wonders but also look great in a vase.
In addition to being a fun addition to the vase, here are some additional benefits of growing herbs:
If you have a tiny garden, growing herbs maximizes your space since you’ll be growing a plant for both culinary and cut flower purposes. I’m all about the multi-purpose plant!
If you don’t have much space to grow, most herbs do great in planters on your porch. In fact, since I like to keep mine close at hand I often grow them in pots just so I can quickly pop out to the porch to pick them.
Once gone to flower, herbs attract and nourish beneficial insects which help keep away the insects you don’t want around.
Fresh herbs are often hard to find and can be expensive at the grocery store. Lucky for you, they are best from the garden anyway!
Picking herbs and keeping a small jar of herbs on your kitchen counter is the best way to keep them once harvested (don’t let them rot in the crisper). My husband and I joke that the crisper is where veggies go to die. This will give you super easy access to them the next time you cook and will bring a nice pop of greenery into your kitchen.
So here are 7 herbs you must add to your home garden.
Chive: Chives, while not easy to start from seed are easy to grow once established. They spread steadily, so every few years you’ll have to dig and replant or give away a clump. The flowers on chives are SO delicious and do great in a vase.
Cilantro: Calypso is a slow to bolt variety great for growing in any northern climate. Use this culinary herb in your favorite dishes. I love a good homemade salsa with lots of cilantro.
Once it has gone to flower, harvest for an aromatic bouquet. The seed heads are also a lovely and fun addition in a bouquet.
Dill: Bouquet variety is specifically for the cutting garden but is also edible so it’s a win-win! This is a super fast grower. You can use the flower or seed head once fully open. The seed heads are also great for drying.
Fennel: Bronze leaf is a beautiful variety. It produces gorgeous flowers and seed heads. Harvest flowers once they are beginning to bloom or use foliage to add texture and a unique color.
Mint: both Common and Mountain varieties are fantastic. Common mint is a rapid spreader so make sure to plant in pots or be prepared to cut it back every year.
Mountain mint is not a spreading variety but in my experience, is very slow to grow and doesn’t always come back year after year. If I plant 10 plants I may get 2-3 to come back again the following year.
Oregano: Greek variety is a best bet. My oregano comes back year after year but even so, I usually start a few plants every spring just in case.
I love letting these go to flower before I cut for the vase. They are long lasting in the vase and fill in an arrangement nicely. Oregano leaves dry well for later use.
Sage: Common sage is a perennial that will flower the second year. Use foliage in culinary dishes, dry for use all winter or use foliage or flowers as greenery in a bouquet.
In my garden, sage will come back for 2 to 3 years and then die out. Because of this, I start a few new plants each spring to keep my garden well stocked.
Left to right: Lavender thriving in a planter, Chive flowers - my mouth is watering just looking at these, Sage flowering big time in my home garden.
Plus a bonus herb I encourage you to try!
In addition to these fabulous and relatively easy-to-grow culinary herbs I also want to mention another favorite flower/herb: Lavender. I grow the Elegance variety.
Lavender is more challenging to grow in my northern climate. It is a slow grower and thrives in warmer temps.
This is one of the earliest plants I start by seed. I then make sure to plant it in a warm, sheltered environment which usually means in a pot on my super sunny front porch.
Harvest mature flowers for the vase or harvest each stem when flowers are budding if you want to hang for drying. Lavender keeps its aroma and color well after drying.
If you’re up for a challenge, try this amazing herb. The beauty, aroma, and happiness you will enjoy from this plant are priceless and well worth the difficulty!
10 reasons to grow a garden
Whether you’re a newbie to gardening, a wanna-be gardener, or an intermediate gardener who just needs a reminder, I’m here to…
1) offer a little inspiration for why we all need to tend a garden
and
2) show you how to be successful in any garden endeavor (CLICK HERE to check out my online gardening class, which goes on sale again in March of 2023)
Now for the inspiration part…
Here’s why to garden:
You’ll get regular low-intensity exercise: Here’s what your body does when your gardening: standing, squatting, bending over, walking all over, reaching, stretching, hauling, lifting, pulling, carrying, etc. Science tells us that longer periods of low-intensity exercise may offer more benefits than shorter periods of intense exercise. I’m not advocating you stop running or going to the gym but I am advocating that you create more enjoyable activities in your life that keep you moving and standing (just pretty much anything besides sitting on your duff).
You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment: In a fast-paced world loaded with tech, creating something with your hands that YOU can harvest for your family is truly sacred.
You’ll get more outside time: Most people spend their whole days working inside. Being outside is a true balm for the soul. Having a garden to tend to, kind of like having a dog to walk commits to you spending more time outside.
You’ll meet your neighbors: If you garden in your front yard I guarantee you will get to know your neighbors well! This is such a fabulous byproduct of gardening.
You’ll teach your kids solid life skills: Here’s what your kids can learn from a backyard garden: responsibility, love of nature, care of living things, curiosity, cooperation, self-sufficiency, that veggies taste good, just to name a few. Plus, once someone knows how to garden, they’ll know it forever (just like riding a bike). Imagine giving your kids the gift of being able to grow their own food!!
You’ll eat the healthiest food on the planet: If you grow using my methods… organically and with solid soil-building techniques, your vegetables will be loaded with nutrition. The health of the soil directly affects the nutrient density of your food.
You’ll eat the most delicious food on the planet: I’m not surprised why some people don’t like vegetables, especially if their only method of consumption is through frozen or “fresh” veggies from the grocery store. You guys, if you haven’t experienced fresh garden strawberries or fresh garden peas, or fresh garden anything YOU are missing out on a culinary wonder. Veggies were meant to grow, pick and eat immediately. Yes, it is great to learn to store them for later too but let’s face it, if you are growing your own veggies, you will eat way more veggies because they are so damn good. Make eating healthy easy! Start with superb taste by growing your own.
You’ll enjoy beauty every day: Now, technically this is possible to do every day without a garden BUT gardening has the opportunity to enhance our yard so beauty is EVERYWHERE. Plus, if you follow my steps to start growing your own cut flowers, you can fill your home with beauty too. Fresh flowers smiling at you from your kitchen counter is truly a beautiful thing.
You’ll feed pollinators: Bees and butterflies and other beneficial insects love gardens. They love flowering gardens. So let your herbs go to seed, let your mustards and broccoli go to seed (after you’ve harvested some of course), plant flowers, and your yard will be a playground for all the good bugs. Good bugs help pollinate our food crops and they eat other not-so-good bugs.
You’ll have gifts to give: My neighbors grow tons of basil and garlic and every year all of us neighbors on the street get the most amazing jar of pesto. Sharing your garden’s bounty is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
So there you have it.
I hope I’ve convinced you how amazing growing a garden can be.
And now, I want to personally invite you to join my March 2023 launch of The IncrEdible Garden Course - a three-week online course designed to teach you the fundamentals to create a backyard oasis full of food and flowers your family will love.
GO HERE to learn more!