Pryia posted somewheres about her herb garden getting a new home and it remined me I wanted a deeper container for mine this year. And right up against the kitchen sliding doors! Maybe something tall but I don't want to waste a large container on herbs. Does anyone have a certain size or container type that they've found (geez, the tree swallows are fornication outside my window) they like? I usually grow a few types Basil, Cilantro & parsley. Not a huge cook here but I do appreciate the fresh herbs on things.

Hey while we're at it, what's another herb you grow and what do you use it for?

Pam NJ 6B

Pam I did a small herb garden in one of the smaller window boxes for a gift. I like rosemary myself not just to cook with but for its scent. I have one that I bought as a starter plant last year that I wintereed over in the kitchen.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

Yes I did mine in a window box size last year but it laid on the deck and I had to bend over to get the herbs. By the end of the season the herbs had all outgrown the box. Maybe I didn't use them enough? SHould I keep them to a certain height to keep them from flowering? I know I grew all those plants but I am still a newbie learning. I guess I could read about them online, but this is so much more helpful....

Pam NJ 6B

Pam I am not a big herb grower myself. Like you just a few things that I use the most. but you do have to keept the tops pinched out to keep them from flowering. do you have a railing on your deck where you could use rail brackets to hold the window box? I have also done a couple of herbs for me in hanging baskets. I think Priya is the big herb grower and she may have better suggestions for you. She like Ward is a wealth of information.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny, I'm flattered!
I first started growing herbs in small pots. This is fine for basil, dill, cilantro etc which need to be harvested quickly and re-sown throughout the season.Herbs like thyme, oregano and mint do well in wide, shallow pots. Mint seems to like some shade when it gets hot. Rosemary gets a big pot as does the bay plant.
Chives look pretty when in flower.The annual herbs will look nice with flowers like nasturtium, which also has edible leaves and flowers.My favorites are Thai basil and lemongrass. I buy fresh lemongrass from the Asian market and plant it in a large container. In a month, the plants will form a fountain of leaves, and look great.I also have cayenne peppers close by so I can grab some quickly. Yes, the food at home is spicy!

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

I love herbs. Love to grow them, smell them, and to cook with them.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Wahts your favorited Dianne and what dishes/marinades do you use them in? I'm a marinade kinda girl. For chicken or pork and than unto the Barbie! Or making salsa! MMMMMMM can't wait for those fresh tomatoes!

Pam NJ 6B

My favoirtes are the usual basil, oregano, rosemany, thyme, garlic, dill, sages,and chives. I love to use fresh herbs in my meat sauce for spahetti. Rosemany and thyme for lamb and pork. Brochetta made with fresh bread, basil and Roma tomatoes is out of this world. Home grown herbs makes everything better. I have just started making salsa. I don't grow cilantro. I have tried but for some reason it keeps dying on me.

It is so nice to be working in my flowers and brush up againist the herbs. They smell so good.



Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

I love growing herbs as well, and built a formal herb garden last year that is doing well so far. I grow two types of basil, dill, cilantro, culantro, thyme, and I'm giving cumin a try this year. I also grow mint in pots, and lavender, rosemary, catmint, and feverfew as perennials. And of course no hummer garden would be complete without pineapple sage!

Dianne, cilantro never worked for me either, and then I found out it hates humid heat (which we certainly get a lot of here, and I imagine you do too). I winter sow it now so I get some before it wilts away, and this year I'm trying the culantro, which is supposed to have a similar taste and withstand humid heat much better. You might give it a try...I got seeds from Baker Creek.

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Matt you must show us some pictures of your foraml herb garden. I will think about your suggestion about cilantro. The first year I planted mint I made a huge mistake of planting it in the ground.

I have been thinking that herbs probably got me started toward hummingbirds. I know it was planting parsley and dill that got me hooked on butterflies. I planted parsley and it was so beautiful. Growing huge and one day I found these big green worms eating every leaf. I admit to killing them. I learned soon afterwards they would have been beautiful swallowtail butterflies. I have not stopped planting host plants since trying to atone for my sin. It was during this time I hung my first hummingbird feeder. Total addiction.

I do have some nice bronze fennel growing too.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Dianne, Matt is right about the cilantro. I can't grow it in the summer here, so I just get it at the grocery. My herb growing is pretty limited because of lack of space. I do have 2 large French Laurels for the 'bay leaves' and a large rosemary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Cilantro is my favorite actually, I use it alot. Could you grow it indoors?

Pam NJ 6B

Cilantro will grow in a sunny spot indoors. It has a taproot, so it doesn't like to be transplanted. Johnny's Seeds has a variety they claim is slow to bolt, but I have not tried it.I usually just sow the seeds from the grocery store.The home-grown leaves taste much better than the ones we buy. I let a few plants go to seed as the flowers are pretty.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland