A Year in Review 2014, Herbally Speaking!

January 2014!  What a Winter!

Got a Lot of Tea Blends Made!

Sweet Basil Doing Well on a Cold Windowsill

Chives Popping Up Late February!

My Favorite, Lemon Verbena Needs a Trim-Late March!

Found My Theme for 2014-Lemon and Some Lime!

Mature Lavenders Didn't Fare So Well!

Scented Geranium and Lemon Verbenas Are Doing Well!

Always Excited Buying Herbs for the Garden!

Got Some Interesting Lemon Herbs from Well-Sweep and Carolee

The Herb Garden in Late May

The Only Low Was Downy Mildew on the Sweet Basil!

Healthy Seedlings One Minute And

Diseased and Dying the Next!

A Bright Spot Despite the Stink Bugs Was the Raspberry Crop!  A Record!

Still Picking Raspberries-November 4

Lots of Beneficials Including Some Preying Mantids-July

Preying Mantis in October

My Favorite Edible Rose-Rosa Rugosa 'Alba'

'Brother Cadfael' Rose

Swallowtail Tail Butterfly on Sunflower

Finches on Sunflower

Not Much Lavender in Bloom This Year!

One of My Favorites in July-Bee Balm

Borage for the Bees

Calendula--An Herbal Workhorse in the Herb Garden

Pineapple Sage in Full Bloom in November!

Always Have to Have Nasturtiums-a Peruvian Connection!

First of Two Hundred Plus Figs in Two Containers!

My Favorite Attracting Beneficials

Here Are Cocoons of Parasitic Wasps on Lemon Verbena!

Sweet Annie Wreath Celebrating the Herb of the Year 2014-Artemisia!

Making Cinnamon Basil Jelly

Tomato Sauce Ready to be Canned!

Indoor Herbs Getting a Sunbathe Before Going Inside for Winter!

Already Thinking About Next Year's Garden!

Except for the Cold Temperature, It Doesn't Seem Like Winter!

Decided to do one more post before the year comes to an end.  For the most part 2014 was a great year.  The winter was very cold and snowy, but herbs survived that I never thought would and others that had made it for years, were gone.  

Figs and raspberries were the champions this year.  We had over 200 figs in two container plants and I made 144 jars of raspberry jam.  Both records.  You can see my favorite herbal flowers in bloom.  

The one tragedy is that the sweet basil in the garden got downy mildew.  As you can see inside, sweet basil survives and does well.  Soo we may have to grow sweet basil indoors until they can find a true sweet basil that is resistant to downy mildew outside in the garden.

Beneficial insects continue to be a joy.  Now if we can breed enough preying mantids to control the stink bug population, we will have succeeded.  Stink bugs were significantly worse on the fruit then herbs.  I continue to have four-lined plant bug issues.  I will talk about the lemon and lime themed herb garden in 2015.  I think it was a success.  We have several of the plants indoors.  I will try to talk about each of them in depth in the coming weeks.

As you can see in the last photo, we are snowless.  I think less than .2 of an inch of snow for the month.  Very unusual!  It has been cold off and on, but we are very cold today.  Hope you are enjoying new year's celebrations wherever you may be.  I'm blessed to still be blogging and writing for you my readers!  The happiest and healthiest of New Year's 2015 to you all.  I will continue to be here whenever you have an herbal issue.  The joy and magic of herbs will continue to fuel me for my lifetime and I hope to be sharing my joy with you!  Talk to you next year!