Winter or Summer Savory?

Summer SavoryJune 9, 2010

The plant tag on this herb that I planted last year said Summer Savory which is an annual herb.  However, it came back up this year so obviously it is a perennial so I suspect that it is actually Winter Savory.  It does look like Summer Savory but I will be able to tell better when it blooms.  I don't like letting my herbs go to flower because the plant's energy is then

Mother's Day Herbal Gifts

There is no such thing as too many herbs!  The beauty of herbs is they can be grown indoors and outdoors without much effort.  If growing indoors the main requirement is light followed by proper watering.  Herbs tend to like to be on the dry side.  Many will grow nicely on a window sill or on the balcony.  A couple of our kids gifted me with two potted herbs for Mother's Day. 

The first potted

Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum)

This is the fifth home we have owned and while each house/property presented unique challenges this property has presented the problem of over growth. The landscaping is mature as far as trees, bushes and shrubs. There really is too much! Compounding the problem are several perimeter, pocket garden beds planted willy nilly with everything imaginable. Despite moving here the end of June 2007

White Nancy Lamiums

White Nancy Lamiums(Lamium maculatum)June 26, 2008Moving into a home with mature landscaping has meant discovering a lot of new to me plants. We moved in late June so that meant we had no idea what spring plants there were. Part of the fun has been identifying the various plants as they emerged to decide if they were friend or foe. This means that I have had a wonderful opportunity to expand my

Bearded Iris

Bearded IrisIris germanicaJune 2, 2008Iris is the genus (recall the nomenclature post earlier) of 200 to 300 flowering plants. They are herbaceous perennials that grow from rhizomes or in drier climates bulbs. The have long, erect flowering stems that in our zone bloom from late May to early June. Despite being an herb they are mainly grown as an ornamental plant in the garden. The flowers

Peonies (Paeonia)

When the peonies bloom it pours. That has been so true this year with a cold and very wet spring. We had two lovely peony bushes at my childhood home. I loved the beautiful showy flowers so when we bought out first house I really wanted to plant peonies. What stopped me was remembering the ants that liked to gather on the peony buds. An old wives tale says that peonies need ants for the