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While many herbs can be used to make delicious herbal tea and tea blends, there are some that I consider essential in any tea garden.  Those six are: Anise Hyssop, Bee Balm, Chamomile, Lemon Verbena, Black peppermint and Pineapple Mint.

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum). Known to some as licorice mint, anise hyssop is related to mints and hyssop. It delivers a hint of delicious licorice flavor to tea-a tea once enjoyed as a traditional beverage by the Native Americans of the northern plains. Its tall spikes of purple-blue flowers reach 3 to 4 feet high, and the plant is much loved by bees. Anise hyssop is a perennial hardy in Zones 4 to 9 and grows best in full sun with a rich soil. Easily started from seed, it happily reseeds itself but is by no means invasive. Both leaves and flowers can be harvested for tea.  It attracts bees in great numbers, especially bumble and honey bees.

Bee balm (Monarda didyma). This hummingbird attracting flower with amazing trumpet -shaped petals comes in shades of pink, red, lavender, scarlet, and mahogany has become one of my favorites in both the garden and in tea. Bee balm-also...

Tags: bee balm, chamomile, gardening, herb tea, hyssop, lemon verbena, peppermint, pineapple mint

An auto accident and a bicycle accident and suddenly my August is over!  Getting to work has been a challenge since the squishing accident that wrecked my Lumina.  Then I got hit riding my bicyle as well.  In both cases no damage to me, but the vehicles did not fare as well.  The car was totaled and the bicycle had to be repaired, but all is fixed now and I can get back on track. 

It is that time of year where I spend all the time I can harvesting herbs.  I have had great success with my Lemon Verbena this year.  It got wind/frost damage in late sping from freak storm.  All the leaves darkened and fell off and in their place grew new STEMS.  The plants are incredibly bushy.  Then I started taking off branches, not too many becasue Lemon Verbena wilts when you cut it.  At each cut, three stems emerged from the leaves.  I have decided to cut at least one stem everyday so I get a short but even more bushy plant to bring in next month.  It will be a great addition to my indoor winter garden.  I am also bringing in the Lemon...

Tags: crafts, geraniums, harvesting herbs, lemon verbena

Not all perennial herbs are good in containers.  Some grow too large or too vigorously for the confining space.  Others do well in a pot or window box.

When choosing perennials for the container, try dwarf varieties or hybrids which generally have all the flavor and scent of the original cultivar, but often have a more decorative leaf and generally a smaller growing habit.

Here are a few of my most favorite:

Tricolor Sage -- a smaller version of sage with a variegated leaf of gold and green with a red stem that has smaller leaves and a less woody stem.  Nice in a large window box or as a focal point in a round pot.  If you are planting it in a container 12 to 18 inches in diameter, you must plant it alone as it will have a large root system that will choke out other plants if the pot is too small.  They are shorter, growing only 8 to 10 inches the first year.

Prostrate Rosemary – Usually the genus name is Rosmariius Irene, long arms with flexible stems and a habit that causes it to fall over...

Tags: chives, container gardening, herbs, lemon verbena, oregano, perennials, rosemary, sage

As I mentioned previously I cannot garden without lemon herbs.  In the last 12 years I have gone from a few of the most common lemon herbs to several usual and exotic herbs with a lemon twist.  The first of these out of the ordinary lemon plants is Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla).  This is a plant native to the sub-tropical regions of South America including Argentina and Chile.  My favorite experience with it was in an arboretum in Guatemala where the plants grew 6 to 7 feet tall covered with those fragrant pinnate leaves.  It is a woody plant so falls into the shrub category, but is more like a deciduous tree as it loses its leaves in the fall when the days shorten.  Although it can grow up to 5 feet that requires a frost free environment, in colder areas you have to grow it in a pot or assume it is a tender perennial and treat it like an annual.  I grow them in containers and bring in in winter because they are slow growers.  It prefers a loose, sandy soil and must not be kept in standing water....

Tags: gardening, herb, lemon, lemon verbena