Herb Garden

Herb garden....just the words make me swoon. For some reason, I am attracted to herbs. Take me to a greenhouse and I'll head straight for the herb selection. I always hope, when I go up the drive to a garage sale...that they have little snips of herbs in paper cups. Plant sales are a good place to buy them....gardeners who grow herbs are usually always eager to talk about them. Friends often will share little herb plants. 

There are so many ways to plant an herb garden....some grow them in a pinwheel shape, some in a knot garden, many in strawberry jars, an old crock is a good container, in amongst the vegetable garden, or just tucked in where you have room.
So many are medicinal plants used for centuries to heal or soothe. They are used for cooking and I especially like them for teas. 

I love the way they grow. Tuck them in between some rocks and the herbs conform and tumble over in soft shapes. They are in all shades of greens and grays. Most of them stay where they are planted, but some are rascals and want to take over. Mints for instance....keep them in their own pot.

The colors are ones that I love. Soft greens and grays, pinks and soft purples, lemon yellows, white etc. Many times the blossoms are nothing spectacular...the leaves are what is important. Textured leaves that you want to touch.....and touching is OK.....that's the beauty of herbs, the leaves are so fragrant.

I was watching Ina Garten yesterday as she was out in her huge herb garden (be still my heart) just grabbing rosemary by the handfuls and cutting them off. Oh, how I wish that I could have rosemary plants like that. 

I do have herbs in my gardens. We start with sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, savory, lavender, lemon thyme, lemon balm etc. These plants blend in well with columbine, violets, forget me nots, and so many other flowers. Little flowers not the big blowzy ones like marigolds or zinnias.

I got a book yesterday about Mary's Gardens. This book tells the legends behind the flowers and plants that honor the Virgin Mary. 

When we made the Mary's Garden at Church, we didn't think of planting those flowers. There are roses there....and a rose is the first flower that you associate with Mary. I'm going to try to plant a few things in  my Mary's Garden...to honor the Blessed Mother.I already have a good start with lilies. 

This post got so long....I could go on and on with writing about my love of herbs. I'll take some pictures today of what is growing in my own yard. Watch for them tomorrow.

Balisha