Growing Herbs

Growing most herbs is quite easy and my favorite blog on herbs is the Herb Gardener and a general gardening site Gardening Know How.  It provides information on how to grow herbs and lots of interesting recipes.

Basil : it likes full sun and the soil consistently needs to be wet.  One way to know if a plant needs water or not is to put your finger in the soil, if the soil feels dry give it a drink of water.  Also the leaves can give a lot of information: droopy leaves means water me please, too much water leaves can turn brown or yellow and look limp. I grow:

• Lemon

• Lime

• Genovese

• Sweet

• Cinnamon

• Spicy Globe

• Purple Ball

• Purple Ruffle Basil

• Thai

• Red Genovese

• Holy

• Lettuce

• Mammoth

  
  

Bee Balm prefers full sun and is a perennial in Manitoba.  It prefers moist, but well draining soil and dead heading will encourage it to keep on blooming.

Catnip this is what cats love and can be given to cats fresh or dried.  Catnip is quite easy to grow and needs part or full sun.  In Manitoba it is considered a perennial.

Cilantro in my opinion is quite difficult to get going.  If I'm able to get it going cilantro is quite easy to grow.   The Herb Gardener suggests providing afternoon shade and keeping the soil moist.  I have grown it in full sun and it grows quite well.  Cilantro tends to bolt quite quickly.  Plants, mostly vegetable or herbs, are said to bolt when their growth goes rapidly from being mostly leaf based to being mostly flower and seed based.  Source

Lavender can be grown both in pots and in the garden.  Lavender is a perennial, but in Manitoba the winter is too harsh for it to survive outside.  It likes full sun and consistently needs to be wet.

Lemon Balm prefers part sun and likes to be consistently wet.  It is quite easy too grow and is zone 4 so it may survive a Manitoba winter with mulching in fall.

Lemon Verbena prefers full sun to part shade.  It likes well draining soil and prefers to be on the drier side.

Hyssop can be grown in either sun or part shade.  Bees and other insects love this plant.  It needs drier soil and gets up to 2 feet tall.

French Tarragon prefers full sun and well draining soil. It is a perennial in zone 4 so it may survive a Manitoba winter.

Mexican Mint Marigold prefers full sun and well draining soil.  Plants have pretty small yellow flowers.

Oregano is quite easy to grow.  Oregano needs full sun and tolerates drought.

Parsley loves the sun and needs to be consistently wet.

Rosemary is a very slow growing herb.  It likes full fun and consistently wet.

Sage it likes full sun and not too wet.  I grow both regular sage,white, and pineapple sage.

Summer Savory prefers full sun and prefers well draining soil.

Sweet Marjoram  Oregano and Sweet Marjoram are quite similar, but oregano, however, has a more potent taste and aroma; marjoram is sweeter and more delicate. It needs part or full sun and can tolerate drought.

Thyme is an easy herb to grow.  It likes full sun and well drained soil.  I grow 3 varieties of thyme: Lemon, regular, and orange.