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Add unique beauty and enticing aromas to your home, a gourmet touch to your meals and healing properties to your health, all from your own garden. Plant some herbs this year and you’ll enjoy the many benefits of these useful plants.
Herbs have been around for a very long time. In fact, in the Middle Ages, compendiums of information were created to describe how to grow and use herbs. These “herbals” shared the results of extensive-and occasionally high risk-experimentation. Herbs do have their mysteries, from legendary intoxicating fragrances to even poisonous qualities (in a very few). So, it’s important to know which herb you are planting and its characteristics.
Generally, herbs grow very well in Colorado. Most like lots of sun and they usually need extra watering to thrive. Many herbs grow happily in containers. Even those planted in the ground can often be transplanted into containers and brought inside for our frosty months. Perennial herbs (those that grow for more than one year, if winter temperatures aren’t extreme) will be back, stronger and more prolific than ever the next growing season.
Below are a few of my favorites. Experiment in your garden to find out
yours.
Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis Small, pine-like bush
of the mint family. Tiny blue flowers. Refreshing, spicy scent (which repels
insects and attracts bees). Warm, lively taste. Antibacterial. Perennial.
Plant as seedling in well-drained soil in sunny, sheltered locale. Bring
inside in winter and mist occasionally (since its origins are around ocean
breezes). Legend: the herb for remembrance.
Lavender. Lavendula angustifolia Bushy, branching silver-green shrub. Spikes of lavender purple flowers. Delicate, invigorating perfume. Known to relax and to relieve headaches. Butterflies and bees love it; mice, moths and mosquitoes don’t. Some are perennial in Colorado, especially English or spike. Plant seedlings or cuttings in full sun, protecting from winds. Tradition: the clean herb, name derived from the Latin “lavare”, to wash.
Fennel. Foeniculum vulgare Upright blue-green plant with lacy foliage. Flat clusters of yellow flowers. Licorice-like scent and flavor. Edible leaves, stems and seeds. Attractive tall border plant. Artistic nestled among shorter plants. Attracts butterflies and beneficial insects. Mild stimulant. Annual, but reseeds easily. Plant in soil with lots of organic material mixed in it. Loves sun. History: called the herb for strength and a thinner physique.
Borage. Borago officinalis Sprawling, round-shaped plant with bristled gray-green leaves. Bright blue, star-shaped flowers. Light, fresh fragrance. Crisp cucumber flavor in leaves and flowers. Relieves bronchitis, a diuretic. Annual, self-seeding. Great companion to neighboring plants, especially tomatoes and strawberries, possibly increasing their resistance to disease. Plant seed or seedling in any soil in a sunny spot. Its image: the herb of courage.
For more information on herbs, refer to Fact Sheet #9.335 - Growing, Preserving and Using Herbs. Other resources include Sunset Western Garden Book and Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs.
Q: I’ve heard that some bugs are really good to have in my vegetable garden. Which ones and how do I get them to come near my crops?
A: Four of the most common beneficial insects are honeybees (they are important for pollination), hover or syrid flies (they look like bees and eat aphids), lacewings (they eat aphids, mites, scale insects, mealybugs and all their eggs) and lady beetles (they eat aphids, mealybugs and scale insects). Try interspersing vegetables with colorful annuals such as cosmos Cosmos bipinnatus, marigold Tagetes, sunflowers Helianthus annus, sweet alyssum lobularia maritima and Mexican sunflower tithonia rotundifolia. Plant herbs, such as chervil Anthriscus cerefolium, dill Anethum graveolens, fennel Foeniculum vulgare, lovage Levisticum officinale and parsley Apiaceae umbdelliferae. Allow these and some salad and cole (cabbage family) crops to flower to attract these beneficial insects.
Q: Our Kentucky bluegrass lawn used to look great but seems to have thinned out as our apple tree has gotten bigger. Should we cut back the tree, or what?
A: Besides producing apples, your tree is doing its job in providing shade. You may want to fill in the now shaded areas of your lawn. Try overseeding the sparse areas with a variety of Kentucky bluegrass that is more shade tolerant. Be sure that you are watering and fertilizing appropriately for your current situation.
Some tried and true remedies can still help control insect pests. Try using sticky traps for white fly. Aphids can be controlled with insecticidal soap and slugs still respond to beer traps.
The best way to water is a good, slow soaking. This encourages roots to grow more deeply in the soil where there is moisture between watering.
If you just can’t keep the slugs, deer or pests away from some of your favorite flowers, try putting the flowers in hanging baskets out of the reach of pests.
Be sure to mark the spot where you have bulbs planted before the foliage dies and disappears. Then you will be able to plant perennials, annuals or more bulbs later without fear of damaging the bulbs that are already in the ground.
Don’t forget to record your garden by taking photographs or suing a video camera. Not only will the pictures give you pleasure later, but you will also have a record of the bloom times. Make your own note cards using some of your beautiful photographs. They will also help in making changes in your garden.
The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.
Fact Sheets are available at the Larimer County Extension Office, 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado, telephone (970) 498-6000, or contact us by e-mail at larimer@coop.ext.colostate.edu
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