“Happy are herb gardeners through all the seasons and the years. Their’s is a life enriched with rare fragrances to be enjoyed at dusk and dawn and in the heat of noon. “ ADELMA GRENIER SIMMONS
The sun has returned and we are already marching toward the zenith of the year, the summer solstice. The ground may be bare and frozen but roots are stirring. Children used to be told that Old Mother Earth was waking her children and getting them ready to begin their yearly parade across the landscape. It’s true. The beautiful, fragrant, flavorful show is about to begin.
This is itchy-finger season for me. I pace around the garden looking for signs of life. The snowdrops have gone from outside the back door where my favorite caraway thyme is green and growing. Who is next ? Usually it’s celandine, an escaped medicinal and dye herb that springs up around foundations and other sunny, sheltered spots as soon as the sun warms. In the language of flowers celandine means “joys-to-come”.
The weedy, wild herbs come next: garlic mustard, mustard and dandelion greens. Their vitamin-rich new leaves add sharp, tangy flavor to our spring salads. Finally, the chives yawn and stretch, poking their pointy leaves thru the warming soil.
We are off and running. Early daffs are blooming, the tulips showing and the forsythia is blazing like the sun. The gardening season has begun and there is lots to do!
THIS SEASON IN THE GARDEN.
* As the days turn milder, begin to pull away any mulch you tucked around plant crowns in late fall. If you mulched your lavenders, sages and other Mediterranean herbs with flat stones in the fall, leave them in place. Stone mulches work year round. Their weight prevents frost-heaves in the winter. In the spring, stone absorbs the sun’s warmth during the day, creating a slightly warmer environment for heat loving herbs. They also help keep the soil cool and evenly moist during the growing season. On top of all of that , most of us have a lot of them and they rarely break down or rot away.
* Side dress herbal perennials with an inch or two of compost, your own or purchased. Give each plant a serving of your favorite fertilizer. Sprinkle a bit more lime at the same time.
* Beware of scritching! Many herbs self-sow. Self-sown herbs often become larger, healthier plants then deliberately sown ones. When a garden bed is vigorously cultivated or raked in early spring, emerging seedlings are destroyed. Careful hand weeding is tedious but the rewards can be great.
If you find a group of mysterious seedlings sprouting in the area of last years’ herbs, don’t scritch them away. Stop and study them. You can often identify herb seedlings by rubbing a leaf between your fingers and sniffing. The babies of fragrant herbs–think basil, cilantro, dill—all smell like mama! If it’s an herb you like, let the little patch grow until you know if it is going to thrive. Then decide which young plants go and which stay.
Herbs that self-sow are: arugula, holy basil, borage, German chamomile, chervil, cilantro, dill, perilla, fennel, sweet Annie, viola tricolor, angelica, caraway, alpine strawberries, anise hyssop, calendula, nigella, catnip, catmint, chives, garlic chives, feverfew, foxglove, lemon balm, pot marjoram, mugwort, saponaria, St. John’s wort, sweet cicely, teasel, mustard, poppy and tansy.
* A number of herbs have a delicious, refreshing lemon scent and flavor. It’s fun to buy a few to grow in a big pot or small bed near a sunny doorway. Look for lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemon basil, lemon grass and lemon-scented geranium. Use them in the kitchen, in summer flower arrangements or to just bury your nose in on hot, summer days.
* It is almost basil time, but not quite! It’s time to THINK about everybody’s favorite herb but NOT time to buy it. Basil hates the cold. It simply won’t grow in cold, damp weather. The leaves develop black spots and the entire plant often dies. Wait until mid-May or even June before you buy basils and then indulge yourself and buy lots!!
We all know and love sweet basil, but she is only one of many. Try growing some other family members. Use them in window boxes, planters, herb beds, flower borders and vegetable patches. Wherever you grow them, use them liberally in the kitchen. Look for and sniff: cinnamon basil, dark opal, genovese, holy, lemon, lettuce leaf, lime, spicy globe, sweet dani, Thai, Greek and minuette.
* Be patient with established herbal perennials. Don’t pull out dead-looking plants to quickly. If the winter has been cold with little snow cover hardy sages, lavenders, woody artemisias and thymes can take a while to show signs of life. Give them until at least May before you replace them.
ON THE HERBAL CALENDER
March 21 Purim Purim celebrates an ancient Queen of Persia, Esther, who saved her people from being massacred by an evil public servant. Esther means “star” in Persian, but her Hebrew name, Hadassah, means myrtle. Myrtle is one of the most beautiful and beloved of herbal trees. It’s delicate green leaves are as fragrant as it’s tiny creamy flowers. It is an ancient symbol of love, peace, home and justice. It was the herb of Venus and has been an important wedding herb throughout the Mediterranean for at least 2000 years.
March 23 Easter If roast lamb is part of your Easter tradition, be sure to tuck bits of rosemary and sliced garlic all over it . Put any pieces of woody rosemary stem into the pan under the lamb, squeeze lemon over the roast and pop it into the oven. Delicious!
April 20 Passover begins. Bitter herbs play an important role in the celebration of Passover. Horseradish is often one of those herbs, but horseradish is a native of Europe. Biblical scholars suggest the Israelites may have learned to eat bitter herbs from the Egyptians who served chopped, bitter greens mixed with mustard as a bread-dunking sauce with meals. The herbs the Israelites ate would have been collected
from the banks of streams and rivers. Ancestors of chicory, lettuce, endive, watercress and sorrel all grew wild in the Holy Land and all, including wild lettuce, have a bitter flavor.
copyright Betsy Williams 2008. This article first appeared in the March/April issue of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts magazine, Mayflower.