The Peppermint Scented Geranium Has Gone Crazy!

I decided early in the season to place some of my scented geraniums into garden pots. This peppermint scented geranium needs shade when it is grown in the garden. Most other scented geraniums need full sun. As you can see, this one has liked its location and has gone crazy! It spends most of the day under our Japanese maple. I will cut it back before it comes in for the winter and dry the leaves for potpourri. Remember to use containers for herbs. They add another dimension to your garden.

Unclassified Pepper Plant

This beautiful ornamental plant is a very, very hot pepper from Peru that my herbal husband couldn't find a classification. He wrote to the Chili Pepper Institute in Las Cruces, New Mexico and they asked him to send a seed pod. They couldn't classify it so they were going to grow it and let him know what it might be. Here is a close up of the pepper. Muy picante!

My Herbal Trough

This was a picture of my herbal trough just after it was planted this year. In the back corner on the left is a Victorian rosemary from down under Australia, next to it is a compact sage and in front on the left is a thyme 'Moonlight'. This is just this past week so all plants have done well. We are going to move it indoors along with the many other herbs and hope they winter over.

Are We Bringing in the Lavenders?

The lavenders I referring to in the title are my tender lavenders that we planted in the ground earlier in the season. The lavender at the right is a green fringed lavender or maybe its the grey fringed (Lavandula dentata) that is tender in our area and has been in this pot all season. It is in a beautiful pot that has lavender on the side with its meaning in the language of flowers. It is the herb of devotion. I have several others that are in the ground and doing well. My herbal husband has already brought in the Peruvian Salvia. Remember I told you it was going to happen. Well today, he asked whether we were going to bring in the other lavenders. I have a sweet lavender (Lavandula heterophylla), grey fringed lavender (Lavandula dentata var. candicans) and a beautiful silver lacy leaved lavender called (Lavandula buchii var. buchii) which is pictured below on the top. The sweet lavender is on the middle. The green or grey fringed on the bottom. They all may be saved! I'll let you know. The garage is going to be full!

 

A Surprise Perennial in My Garden

Rudbeckia herbstsonne is a real surprise in my garden. I love it because it's so tall and that it is still flowering late in the season. The bees and butterflies love the flowers and the birds love the seedheads. It is an all around winner!

Huacatay-Herbal Husband's Favorite Peruvian Herb

There is Huacatay (Tagetes minuta) everywhere in our garden. It is native to southern South America and is used as a condiment to enhance sauces. We gave a lot of it away to a local Peruvian restaurant. It has flowers, but you grow it for the leaves.

It is an acquired taste just as cilantro is. Because it is in the marigold family, it has that marigold taste and smell to it. Here is a website from Purdue University on Huacatay. Hope you learn about this interesting herb from Peru.

It also grows into funny shapes! It is taking a bow in our garden.

Second Bloom of Lavender

If you cut your lavender in June or July, you may be able to cut a second harvest around this time of year. This bouquet consists of 'Hidcote' and 'Munstead', the two lavenders most hardy here in western Pennsylvania along with some others. We are going to have temperatures in the low 40's tonight and the wild process has started to cut all of the herbs that are on my list. It is not a big list, but I will have to start thinking about what to cut next! It is all a process and the more organized you are, the easier it will go. I need to check on the tea herbs that were cut last week. I think they are ready to be mixed and stored.

We Don't Have a Window Big Enough for this Lemon Verbena!

As I have said in numerous postings, this has been a great season for herbs in containers. This one to the right is the lemon verbena that is coming inside. It will lose most of its leaves after coming in. More lemon verbena bread on the horizon! Also a lot of tea. It makes a great cup of tea in the winter. I made 12 jars of lemon verbena jelly yesterday. Changed the recipe up so I will have to let you know how they turned out. Hope you are enjoying the warm weather where you are. Not quite Indian summer yet. Haven't had a frost. It was a fabulous day in western Pennsylvania.

My Herbal Husband and His Potpourri!

We have been cleaning out our garage and basement! This morning I was working on some lemon verbena jelly and my husband was finding some older dried herbs. I told him just to compost them. Without my knowledge, he had been saving all of the older dried herbs during the season in a plastic bag! Hopefully, when we really get things organized, I will be able to add some fixatives to the dried mixture to make a satisfactory potpourri. One that my herbal husband will appreciate.