Herbal Blooms All Over and a Bit of Vanilla Too!

Bumble Bee Enjoys the White Rugosa Rose!

Chives That Are Smaller Than Regular Chives!

Lyre Leaved Sage!

Lovage in Bloom!

'Coral Reef' Dianthus!

The Linear Leaf Thyme Has Escaped!

Angelica in Bloom!

'Vanilla' African Marigolds!

Can You Tell I Live With An Architect?

The Apothecary's Rose Is Starting to Bloom!

Well, as you can see from the photos above, we have started to bloom here in the herb garden and surrounding gardens.  The white rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa 'Alba') has been blooming for the last couple of weeks.  I has gotten very tall and the blooms are at the top.  I'm going to have to cut it back and get it to a more manageable size.  As you know though, we don't like to prune here until it's way too late!  Enough said!

I have lost the tag for the chives and I was hoping looking through some of my herb catalogs were jog my herbal memory!  Ha!  Not so fast!  Any way these chives are a very tidy clump and have flowered for a past couple of weeks as well.  I will trimming chive blossoms soon.  Oh, I should be making a bit of chive blossom vinegar!  A great way to get a mild onion flavor into your salad dressings and savory recipes.

This lyred leaved sage (Salvia lyrata) which is a perennial was purchased at the annual plant sale by The Herbal Husband.  Good job, sweetie!  The lovage (Levisticum officinale) is in bloom and the seeds can be used in breads, soups and stews and cookies.  I found a cookie recipe in one of my herbal cookbooks.  Now if I can find it again, I will make them and share the recipe if they are good.

There can't not be enough Dianthus in the garden!  Plus the bonus is that they are an edible flower!  This particular one is called 'Coral Reef'.  Ideal for a rock garden!  Oops!  Well, we will see if it survives, but until then I'll just enjoy the fragrance and the blooms of this dianthus!  It arrived just recently from England, my favorite place!

This Linear Leaf Thyme (Thymus pannonicus 'Linear-Leaf Lilac') started in the concrete container in my herb garden and it has escaped!  It is doing wonderfully well and I won't rock the herbal boat trying to get it back into the container!  Going with the herbal flow this season!

The Angelica (Angelica archangelica) used to be everywhere on the far side of the herb garden.  Now not so much.  We are going to let it seed again once it stops blooming.  Remember be careful if you are photosensitive to plants.  Don't cut this when it is hot and on a bright sunny day.  Remember to wear long sleeves and pants when cutting this back.

Yes, we do have some vanilla.  'Vanilla' marigolds (Tagetes erecta) that is!  We had coupons for the local garden center and we came home with a flat of these!  So you can tell I live with an architect, can't you?  Supposedly they will bloom all summer into fall and add a bright spot in my green landscape in the back gardens!  There were already beneficial insects buzzing around them!

Finally, my favorite rose is blooming.  It took a hit from the winter, but survived!  The Apothecary's Rose (Rosa gallica).  A very ancient rose and one that every herbalist must have in his or her garden.  I make rose petal jelly from this rose.  Maybe not this year.  We will see.

So there you have a rundown of what's blooming in my herb garden and beyond!  What's blooming in your herb garden?  We are getting storms later today.  Hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you may be.  I'll continue sharing my England trip next time.