The Joy of Herbs

Santolina in June, © Barbara Radisavljevic

I love growing herbs in my garden. They feed the bees in winter when almost nothing else is blooming. In spring and summer they add color to my flower beds. In fall their dry flower stems add interesting shapes and textures. Here are some of my favorites. I took these photos at different times of the year. The santolina above adds a lovely gold to my flower beds.

Sages

I grow these sages mostly for their interesting foliage, though the clary sage does bloom in the summer, producing large flower spikes. 

I took the photo above in mid-October. On the left, is tricolor sage. To its right, clary sage. Below is some clary sage in bloom in June. It's surrounded by fading irises and the chard is reaching behind it as its seeds ripen and prepare to disperse.

Clary Sage in Bloom in June, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Wild Watermelon sage adds a bit more color to the garden than some of the other sages.

Wild Watermelon Sage in April, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Garden View of Wild Watermelon Sage in April

The black sage below has finished blooming. It's dry flower spikes are still striking.

Dry Black Sage, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Oregano

By October, my favorite herb, oregano, is almost through blooming, but you can still see plenty of its white flowers. This is the herb I use the most. I dry some every year. For kitchen use I pick it before before the buds form. but I always leave some to bloom. 

Oregano in Bloom, October, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Hyssop

Below the hyssop has almost stopped blooming, but you can still see a few purple flowers. At this time of year, October, most of the interest comes from the dry flower spikes that hold the seeds. Most of the seeds have dispersed by now. 

Hyssop in October, © Barbara Radisavljevic

The photo below was taken in mid-August and gives you a better look at the blooms and how they contrast with the dry spikes. 

Hyssop in Mid-August, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Rosemary

Rosemary is another of my favorite plants. It provides fragrant branches for winter decorating, and it usually blooms in winter and helps the bees. It's also very easy to root a twig of it in water. I have four large rosemary plants and I rooted all of them from slips from a plant in the backyard. 

Rosemary in December, © Barbara Radisavljevic

Happy Bee Enjoying Rosemary in March, © Barbara Radisavljevic

See some of my other photos of herbs from my garden on these Zazzle products.

 Seven-Spotted Ladybug on Borage Note Card Friendship card: Puzzle: Bee on French Lavender Jigsaw Puzzle Blank Card: Lavender with Santolina Lavender Uses, Otherwise Blank card:

Sages Add Color and Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

I have been growing several varieties of sage for decades now. Sage plants need little care and little water. They are ideal for making a yard attractive after you replace your lawn with drought-resistant plants. Even  when they are not in bloom, their leaves add interest and different shades of color. When they are in bloom you will hear them as you approach, since they will already be covered with bees. Sages add color and attract beneficial insects to your garden. 

Red Cherry Sage in My Neighbor's Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

The first sage I grew was common sage. Unfortunately, I had no idea I was supposed to prune it severely in the spring. It has become an unruly mess now after being left alone for about twenty years. Other than that, it requires little care. It is propagated most easily with root division, which is how I've multiplied my plants. I use root division to propagate all my sage varieties.

The next varieties I added were golden sage and tricolor sage. Unfortunately, the golden sage was planted too close to my tricolor sage and another common sage plant, and when I wasn't paying attention, they swallowed it. So I have no photo of golden sage. Below is a tricolor sage plant I propagated from the mother plant into another herb garden. It is sitting between rosemary on the left and common sage on the right. It was taken toward the end of June.

Tricolor Sage Between Rosemary and Common Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

I then planted a root division in this pot for a place in my Paso Robles garden. I guess I haven't given it enough soil in the pot to supply the nutrients it needs to bloom in this setting, since it has never bloomed here. It is sitting next to a clary sage plant that is blooming. On its left is blooming hyssop. All by itself in back is a mullein which will take a few more months to bloom.

Tricolor and Clary Sage,  © B. Radisavljevic

The next sage I added to my collection was black sage. It was in a small pot when I planted it. Again, I didn't realize at the time that it needed to be cut back every  year. Within a few years it was swallowing everything around it but a butterfly bush and some rosemary. When I wanted to plant a root division in Paso Robles, I knew it would grow fast to fill space in the side yard. I planted it about three years ago and cut it back every year, and this is how it looks now. I want to keep it this size, but I will have to move the irises and daffodils planted around it.

Black Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

Bees and butterflies love black sage and this plant is always buzzing until the sun goes down. The bee is to the left, and the painted lady butterfly is on the right. I also see bumblebees, but I don't like to get too close to them.

Beneficial Insects on Black Sage,  © B. Radisavljevic

After I started improving the flower beds here in 2013, I started trying some new sages. The watermelon sage was one of them. I am pleased with the color it adds to my garden and it doesn't try to take over like the black sage does. It's not in full bloom in these photos.

I should probably either move this Spanish sage away from the jamine that's trying to drown it, or keep the jasmine cut back more. It would probably get more sun in the side yard. I may move it in fall.

Spanish Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

I was not successful with this Victoria Blue Sage. I think it did not get enough sun or something was wrong in the soil. It died within weeks of being planted. I think I also saw a gopher hole about that time nearby.

Victoria Blue Sage, © B. Radisavljevic

I'm  sure I will keep adding more varieties of sage to my garden as I find the room and the time to plant them. Perhaps I will try  some of these I've seen on my walks. The compact Jerusalem sage was found at the Donati Family Tasting Room. The others below were seen in the bed between the sidewalk and the street near a vacant lot on 21st Street as I was leaving Smart and Final.

Which sages have you grown? Which are your favorites?



If you enjoyed this post, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of the post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning.

This is my nineteenth post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog. Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy
E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers
G is for Gazania
Hollyhocks are Edible
Irises Are Garden Survivors
Jupiter's Beard: A Mystery Finally Solved
Kale for Lunch
Lion's Tail - A Perennial Summer Burst of Orange
Miner's Lettuce is Tasty and Free"Naked Ladies" Bloom in August
Oleander through the Year
Plant Pests and their Predators: Aphids and Ladybugs
Quince Fruit from Blossom to Table

Roses Are Not Just Red

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Daffodils Fading, Irises Starting to Bloom

Emerging from Winter

It seems February went by in the garden so fast I didn't get around to posting about it. But most of what was blooming in February is still blooming in March. Since my two garden properties have limited space and I have limited time, when reporting on blooming, I will also report on what I see while out walking. Everything you see here was blooming during some part of February and /or  the first two weeks of March in either Paso Robles or Templeton, California.

Blooming Trees

In February, I always start looking for blooming almond trees. This blossom is on my own tree. It doesn't give me any almonds because it's old and we haven't known how to care for it properly. In the twenty years since we bought the property, it's never borne enough almonds to feed any but the squirrels. We inherited the orchard from the previous owner, but he did not care for the trees that were on the property when we bought it. 

I was surprised and delighted to see today that my apricot tree was blooming in Templeton. It did not bloom last year. Must have been the rain. Three of our newer peach and nectarine trees are also in bloom, but I don't have room to picture all of them, and they are very small. 

Ornamental flowering trees can be seen all over town. The pink ones seem destined to produce small

cherry-like plums, and the white ones are usually Bradford ornamental pears. You will see them all in a wall of blossoms at Barney Schwartz Park in Paso Robles. They are on the streets and in the parking lots. It seems all of Paso Robles is blooming. But the photo I want to show you of the blooming trees is this one I took on Union Road yesterday. I think they look good with horses under them. 

Flowers in Bloom

Many of my own flowers are in bloom, or have been at this time of year in past years. I will show them to you below. 

Daffodils with Black Sage in February, 2015

Carnation in March, 2015

Iris in March, 2014.

Borage in February and March

Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose, March, 2015

California Poppies at Barney Schwartz Park, March, 2015

Shrubs Blooming in March

Left to Right: Rosemary, Watermelon Sage, Holly, March 13

Rosemary blooms almost all year, and the bees love it. It's at its best now after the rain. The watermelon sage also started blooming this month. The holly still has berries from last year, but it is also flowering and budding for next year's berries. There were so many bees on the holly flowers I could hear them buzzing. That holly plant was like a bee airport. 

Holly with Flowers and Berries

                                                                                             




This is a close-up of the holly plant. You can click it or any other photo for an enlarged view to see the details.

I'm not sure what this is. It was blooming at the Caliza Winery on March 8. It is very fragrant, but the leaves didn't look quite like lilacs. If anyone knows what it is, I'd love to know. I'd like to get some.

This is another mystery plant I found at Caliza. It has leaves like a rosemary, but it doesn't smell like rosemary. Please leave a comment if you know what it is.








Also blooming in the weed family are wild mustard, vetch, filaree, and henbit. The first and the last two are edible. We will discuss them next time.

What is blooming where you are in March? Be sure and let us know where that is in your comment so we'll know what blooms where, when.

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The Growth of Clary Sage

Clary is a Unique Sage in my Garden

Clary sage (Slavia Schlerea) is quite different from the other other sages I grow. I had no idea to expect when I planted it. It's lush flower spikes surprised me. Best known historically as a remedy for getting foreign matter out of one's eyes with its seeds, it also can be used in the kitchen, but is not as versatile there as the other sages are. Pregnant woman should avoid it, and no one should mix it with alcohol.   I only grow clary sage to add beauty to my summer garden. 

Clary Sage Bud, May 25

My Experience with Clary Sage in the Garden

I first planted my clary in a pot in my yard in Templeton. A couple of years ago I brought the pot to our Paso Robles home. It bloomed there last year. Then it appeared to die down and I thought it was gone. I've since learned it can be biennial (blooming the second year and then dying) or perennial. 

After this year's rains, it came back and started to grow again. On May 25, I snapped the photo of its first bud of the season, which you see above.


Within a week, the buds had turned into the flower spikes you see to the right. The plant is still in the original pot. I am hoping it will reseed. It reseeded once three years ago, but the weed abatement man thought it was a weed and dug it up. He tried a day later to pot it, but the roots had been exposed too long to make a recovery.

Clary Sage in Bloom, Early June

Other Sages I Grow

I also grow tricolor sage, to the left in the photo above. I can't recall if I ever saw it bloom. Most sages bloom in June, but so far I've never seen so much as a blossom on this potted plant. I have seen the more established plants in Templeton bloom. I made this greeting card on Zazzle with it pictured in bloom next to common sage. 

Blank Card: Mixed Sages and Rosemary Card
Shop for a greeting card on zazzle.com

It could be the tricolor variety is on a different timetable than other sage varieties, in spite of what the books say. The Missouri Botanical Garden website says tricolor sage should bloom in May or June. The flowers are supposed to be lavender or purple and quite showy. They should be hard to miss. Maybe tricolor sage has different blooming dates in Missouri. 

My common sage, pictured below, has been blooming since at least April in my Templeton herb garden as has been my black sage in both gardens. My watermelon and Spanish sages have also been in bloom since at least May. You can see them, in addition to the black sage, pictured in my post on what blooms at the end of May. 

Common Sage in Neglected Herb Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

Have you ever grown clary sage? If not, would you like to? What is your favorite variety of sage?  Please feel free to leave your feedback in the comment box below the share buttons. 

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