Spring has arrived, March 20th, according to the calendar.
Yet, the grey overcast skies don't look like spring.
In pouring rain, I went to a small local garden center
searching for small starter herb plants for my kitchen sunspace,
searching for a little Spring.
A few favorite herbs are just the thing
to bring in a little Spring and
to plant in the Purple Heritage Ball Jars that
I won from Mary @ Home is Where the Boat Is.
Once the weather warms and the danger of frost is past,
I will plant the herbs in pots on the deck.
Herbs soothe.
Are there any other plants with so many benefits?
Is there any better sight than green on a cold day?
Feel the feathery leaves as they release their scents.
Smell the aroma of mint that awakens your entire being.
Taste the vivid flavor that any herb adds to a recipe.
Even with overcast skies, the herbs will get lots of light
sitting on the top shelf of the little bookcase used as a potting shelf.
And the herbs are close enough to be enjoyed.
Gardening tools are close by on the second shelf.
The kitchen breakfast/sunspace is close to the cooking area
which makes it easy to snip a few herb leaves.
Oh, so français to cook with fresh herbs.
One of the Ball jars keeps scissors, snippers, and clippers handy.
The herb labels are also in this jar.
Birds and bees fly on the apron kept close by
for both cooking and puttering with plants.
The small locally-owned nursery has quality plants and carries varieties
not usually found at the large national hardware garden centers.
Shopping there is always an adventure because I never know
what new plant or variety I will find.
This Spring's herb garden includes my favorite herbs,
but some of the herbs with * are new varieties to me.
Blue Label Herbs is the wholesale nursery for all of these.
Blue Label Herbs... named perfectly, bleu, for herbs I would love.
- Lavender - Fernleaf*, annual, best used as a stovetop potpourri
- Thyme - Variegated Lemon, annual, use for cooking, fragrant ground cover, in sachets
- Mint - Lime*, perennial, use to flavor iced tea and fruit compotes/salads
- Sage - Purple, perennial, use fresh or dried to flavor stuffing (or dressing as we call stuffing in the South), salads, soups
- Rosemary - Trailing*, annual, use fresh or dried in a variety of dishes
These herbs came in 4" pots, not in small starter peat pods
so often found at large hardware stores.
The roots have plenty of room to grow and to become established.
A handful of pea gravel in the bottom of each
of the Ball jars insures good drainage.
See the lovely shades of purple in the sage, mint, and lavender that go with the
Purple Heritage Ball Jars?
The lavender blossoms are delicate violet-bleu atop feathery fern leaves.
When the herbs are transplanted to pots on the deck, these
weathered verdigris stakes will identify them.
What herbs are your favorites?
Which herbs will you plant this Spring?
Are you trying any new varieties?
Any tips for growing or using herbs?
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The breakfast sunspace is my favorite place in my house.
See how I love and enjoy this space.
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