What to Plant

For your first herb garden, try to select hardy herbs that will withstand occasional neglect and can do nicely without lots of pampering. Some good choices include basil, marjoram, sage, mints of all kinds, thyme, catnip, oregano, vervain, and rosemary.

You might want to ask someone knowledgeable about what specific herbs will grow well in your immediate area. A nursery employee or County Extension agent might know. Weather conditions in the past year can greatly affect the ability of certain herbs to thrive. For example, one year I tried to grow chamomile without any luck at all. The weather that year had been too hot and dry, and the plants couldn't live in the conditions created by the arid weather. The next year, however, my chamomile thrived because we'd had an unusually wet year.

When to Plant

Most herbs should be planted well after the threat of frost has passed, usually in mid- to late Spring. Depending on your climate, some of the plants may live throughout the year. Where I live, we have some freezes but usually the only plants that completely die over the Winter are the basil, calendula, and vervain. This may be due to the fact that I allow the autumn leaves to be used as mulch in my garden. When the leaves fall, I leave them there, knowing they'll make a good insulator against coming cold temperatures. In late Winter, I can sometimes still see tiny signs of life such as hesitant shoots on the thyme and hints of green on the sage. Almost everything blooms into abundance once Spring arrives!

It is hard to say what will live and what won't. Your particular climate makes all the difference. As a general rule, if you live in a place where the winters are harsh, you can either just mulch the plants over and take your chances with their coming back in the warmer weather, or take cuttings to root indoors until all threat of frost is gone. In more temperate zones, such as far southern and Gulf Coast areas, chances are much better that your garden will live and even thrive through the Winter months.

Part 5 - Care and Feeding of Your Garden