I really thought my rosemary had died. I even placed an order for more rosemary to replace it. Not just one plant but four to have more backups. But it seems it has pulled through after all. I live in zone 6b which really is too cold for rosemary. Even the hardiest types are only sort of hardy here.
I'm scattering the new rosemaries around the garden. This one is in a spot in the circle garden. In the middle with the other herbs. The spot used to house some garlic chives, but they too didn't like last winter. I had one tiny sprout try to push up but it fell over and died. I'm not going to replace it as I don't use it much anymore. The rosemary on the other hand is one of my most used herbs.
Another herb that I replaced yesterday was my Mojito mint. I suppose I should have picked a different one as I've killed one off already, but I like the taste. If it dies again, I'll probably try a different variety.
I need more of another herb I have. Not that I use it as an herb, I just like the look. You can see the blue green mats of my dianthus along the path just under the white fencing on the left. I want to try to get the plant to cover the area and have the pavers open in between. The dianthus does slowly grow, but it doesn't spread quickly. I could rip out the plants and divide them. But I didn't want to spoil the nice mounds they have now. So I'm trying to root them in the spots I want them with cuttings. I'll have to keep them well watered for quite some time. I just hope it works. If it doesn't, I'll wait until the dianthus has finish flowering then rip them all up and divide them.
And last but not least of the herbs that I was dealing with yesterday, is my oregano. It looks so pretty at this time of the year. You would think that bloom time would be the best, but I've never really liked oregano in bloom. It gets kind of scruffy. But I always let it bloom because the bees love it. I am contemplating not doing it though as it seeds all over the place. I'm constantly pulling baby oregano out of the rest of the herb circle.
I cut half the oregano off and dehydrated it. Today I did the other half. That is all the oregano I'll need this year. I love the herb but don't use a ton in cooking. That is enough to fill up a spice jar.
I love seeing your herbs. My most used herb is oregano. It grows great for me, but even so I have a hard time getting enough for my needs. I like it better dried, so I have dried a quart and a half of loose leaves. That should last about 3 months for me.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as you about Oregano. I also let it flower primarily for the bees. Unfortunately the type I have (described as "The original Greek Oregano") is not very tasty, so we don't use much of it in our cooking.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least you will have lots of rosemary now! I killed my oregano last year. Fortunately I had a lot dried from the year before.
ReplyDeleteI guess all that snow insulated your rosemary. Unfortunately I lost my outside ones but had inside cuttings that I overwintered as backups.
ReplyDeleteCan you root some pieces in pots? - Dianthus cuttings are usually fairly easy to root if you pull (or tear) off rather than cut off side shoots
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your alive rosemary! I can't get it to stay alive over the winter here either - - I don't even bother anymore and just grow it as an annual. Your post reminds me that I really need to give my herbs some TLC. I have some oregano, chamomile, and thyme that are so crowded that I almost cannot tell one from the other.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is just flourishing - beautiful mounds everywhere. My oregano did survive the winter, but it still looks so small. I had a surprise a couple of days ago too - a sprig of mint popped up in my mint pot. Nothing from the chocolate mint, though.
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