There are three other areas containing herbs that we haven’t discussed yet this year: Bed 7, Bed 8, and the containers.

Bed 7 houses our grapevine (‘Himrod’) with 6 or 7 varieties of thyme underneath it. These haven’t changed much since planting, except they have continued to grow and expand in the bed. The ‘Rose Scented’ thyme has been a pleasant surprise over the past few years with how vigorous and attractive it is.

Bed 8 has been our perennial herb garden, but it is shifting focus very slightly this year to be a kitchen garden with a few of the more common annuals in the bed as well.

Most of the perennials look great after the mild winter, with the salad burnet, chives, and sage all blooming right now. The tarragon also looks great. Additions will be two basils and a lemon verbena.

The other area that is shifting slightly are the containers. We’ve had herbs in them for the last few years, but this year we wanted to change it up a bit and focus on herbs that can be used in teas. Many of the herbs have lemon or orange flavor. We have also included stevia and chamomile.