What plants to put in an herb garden?
Question:I'm starting an herb garden and I'm going to buy the seedlings today, but I'm not sure what I should buy. What are some commonly used herbs that are easy to grow? Also, I'd like to put in at least one butterfly-attracting plant, so what are some of those? It doesn't matter if that one is an herb. Thanks.
Answers:
Good answers! Plant what you will be using. Be careful with invasive plants.mint, onion/garlic chives, cilantro. Either plant them in pots and/or cut the flower heads off before they go to seed...or at least before the seeds fall and spread.
Lavender (all varieties), pineapple sage and nasturtiums are always full of butterflies. Oregano and wild marjoram also attract butterflies. Rosemary gets to be a big bush and the bees love it too. So lots depends on your space available. I like salad herbs so I have hyssop and arugula, red amaranth, purple sage, chamomile and salad burnet.
Basil is easy to grow. I love cilantro, and it grows like crazy. Only problem is it will spread all over the place.
Plant what you'll use. If you never use mint, why would you plant it? (mint is also very invasive) I plant basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, sage and different varieties of some of those. I also grow lavender, bee balm. and lemon grass. Some of these are perennials and some are annuals.
I think members of the Umbellifer family look good: both Chervil and Angelica belong to this and look great in a herb garden. Chervil has a mild anise taste and can be used as an alternative to Parsley, Angelica is slightly sweet and aromatic and has many uses.
I also like Mint (although it can be invasive: grow it in a pot plunged into the ground; this restricts the roots and stops it taking over). Chives are also easy and have a pleasant mild onion taste which is nice in salads, mashed potato etc.
For butterflies, Angelica and Chervil will work if you let them flower (although this reduces their life span). Otherwise, Lemon Balm (Melissa) is a good attractor.
Easy answer. Only plant what you cook with. Butterflies will be attracted to any blossom you allow.
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