Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Set out starts of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and lettuce for a fall harvest. Spray weekly with BT to keep the cabbage worms at bay.

• Roses have more flowers all summer long than any other shrub. Plant them in a sunny location and feed monthly for continuous blooms.

• Impatiens will give you instant color in shady areas and continue blooming right through the fall.

• Mottled leaves are often a sign of spider mites. Check for them with a hand lens or bring a leaf into your nursery for identification and treatment options.

• Japanese maples may be pruned now in order to shape them.

Harvesting Herbs

Herbs are plants with many uses. They are used for cooking, medicine, aromatherapy, pest control and fragrant potpourris. Usually the leaves and stems are used, but sometimes the flowers, fruit and even the roots contain the desired substances.

It is important to be sure that you have the right plant before you use it for culinary or medicinal uses. Common names are often misleading, since the same common name may be given to different plants. All herbs are toxic in excess, so be careful about self-medication.

Herbs should be harvested when the oils responsible for flavor and aroma are at their peak. Most herbs can be cut and used fresh throughout the growing season.

Herbs grown for their foliage, such as sage, oregano, rosemary, tarragon and basil, should be gathered when the flowers are about to open. The oils in the leaves, which give each herb its distinctive flavor and aroma, are at their maximum levels at this stage of growth. Remove up to 1/3 of the stem’s length.

Cut basil frequently, 6-8 inches down the stem. This will keep it bushy and prevent it from flowering. You should get many cutting through the summer. In the fall, you can cut the plants at ground level before the first frost.

Harvest herbs grown for seeds just before the seed heads turn brown so that the seeds don’t fall off while cutting them. Cilantro, if left to go to seed, is called coriander. Dill and fennel are also grown for their seeds.

Collect herb flowers, such as borage and chamomile, just before full flower. Harvest herb roots, such as echinacea, chicory, comfrey, and goldenseal, in the fall after the foliage fades.

Herbs should be harvested in the early morning, after the dew has evaporated and before the sun becomes too hot. After harvesting, rinse the herbs in cool water. Shake off excess water and place them on paper toweling to dry for a few minutes.

Air drying is the most popular method used to dry herbs. Gather 8 to 12 stems in a bunch, tie the ends of the stems together and hang each bunch upside down in a warm (70-80°F), dry, shady area. Herbs grown for seed can be dried on screens or inside brown paper bags. The herbs should be dry in 2 to 4 weeks. When thoroughly dry, strip the leaves or seeds from the plants, and store in them in airtight jars in a cool, dry place.

Store dried herbs in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, moisture, and heat. Many herbs can be keep for a year if stored properly.

You can make a potpourri mixture of dried herbs and flower petals to preserve the aromatic fragrances of summer. Most potpourris start with rose petals or lavender flowers as a base, to which other dried herbs are added.

By growing your own herbs, you can spice up your cooking with fresh, flavorful tastes and freshen a room with the delightful perfumes of summer.

• Fragrant star jasmine is in full bloom right now. Plant one in a semi-shaded spot where you can enjoy its lovely perfume.

• Hydrangeas have giant pink or blue flowers. They will brighten the shade garden all summer.

• Remove suckers on rose bushes. These vigorous canes emerge from below the bud union and should be cut off as far down as possible.

• Colorful petunias will brighten up any flower bed. Their purples, pinks and reds make a real splash when planted in groups of the same color.

Herbs in the Landscape

Although many people think that herbs belong on the windowsill or in the vegetable garden, herbs also make fine landscaping plants. Many attractive shrubs and ground covers are herbal plants that can add beauty to the landscape while providing foliage and flowers for herbal uses.

Herbs are generally easy to grow and require less watering and attention than most other plants. Their aromatic oils make them relatively immune to insect attack, and for this same reason, deer usually leave them alone. Their fragrance in the garden is another reason to make use of them.

Some low-growing herbs make good lawn substitutes in small areas and around stepping stones. Chamomile and woolly thyme are very good in sunny areas. They can be mowed occasionally if they get taller than you want. Corsican mint, which forms a moss-like mat, in sun or partial shade emits a very strong, pleasant odor of mint when lightly brushed. It is the mint used to flavor liqueurs.

Creeping thyme, lemon thyme and silver thyme are very drought tolerant and make a mounding mat for full sun. Prostrate rosemary grows about 18 inches tall and is excellent for planting on hillsides and for draping over walls. All types of rosemary can be used for culinary purposes and are very deer resistant.

Lavenders, upright rosemary and sage are all lovely shrubs for dry sunny areas. There are many types of lavenders to choose from that grow between 18 inches and 4 feet tall. Lavender can be used as a foundation plant or to create a hedge and will still provide you with delightfully flavored flowers and leaves.

Upright rosemary can grow to 4 to 6 feet tall and makes a nice clipped hedge. Culinary sage has gray-green leaves. There are also varieties with variegated yellow and green leaves, or silver and purple leaves. They make a small mound, about 2 feet tall.

Santolina, or lavender cotton, is a gray, mounding plant that is useful for borders. Catmint has soft, gray-green foliage and lavender-blue flowers that make a showy display.

Foliage is one of the most interesting aspects of herbs for landscaping. Several members of the artemesia family are particularly striking with their silver or gray leaves. Artemesia ‘Powis Castle’ has finely cut, silver-gray foliage that is fragrant and it makes a fine background plant at 3 feet tall. Germander makes a low mound with small rosy-purple flowers in dense heads.

One of the largest herb plants is the Mediterranean bay laurel, Laurus nobilis. It is an evergreen shrub growing 12 feet tall in a dense, tapering cone. This shrub has the bay leaves used in cooking, and it makes a good screening plant.

Two of the most interesting flowering herbs are bee balm (also called monarda and bergamot) and purple coneflower. Bee balm leaves make a fine tea, and purple coneflower, the familiar echinacea of many herbal remedies, is a long-blooming perennial that can be a great addition to any garden. It is great favorite of monarch butterflies and should be in every butterfly garden.

While most herbs prefer a sunny location, many will do well in part sun or shade. Sweet woodruff — used in potpourris and as a moth deterrent — is an excellent shady area ground cover that cares little about soil conditions.

Whether you want a formal herb garden or a hillside of fragrant herbs, you’ll find herbs to be useful and attractive plants for landscaping.