I've been wanting to rip out the sage in the middle of my herb circle for the last several weeks. But I couldn't bring myself to do it because of the wonderful blossoms it was putting out. Not only was it pretty, but it was feeding a lot of bees. Finally the show is over. The bees have moved on to the lavender. And I could get rid of the sage.
I took the newest of the sage leaves and am dehydrating them. The rest got composted. Sage is a very much loved herb here, especially in the winter. We eat a lot of chicken soup then. And never fear I have four other sage plants in the yard. I won't be short on sage without this one.
The reason I wanted to get rid of it is because it is way too big for the space. It didn't mind. But the herbs on the north side of it were struggling. I had five marjoram plants there and one up and died. One is very yellow as it saw no sun at all. And the others were desperately reaching for the sun. I'm really shocked the winter savory plants that were covered survived so well. But they are looking pretty good. I might get a decent harvest from them later this year.
I moved an Arp rosemary to the middle of the circle. I know that in some climates rosemary can get huge too, but here it tends not to. If we get a really mild but snowy year I'm sure it will be annoyingly big too. But I won't care. I don't get nearly enough rosemary for my liking. I'd make rosemary bread every week if I could, but I just don't have enough for that. And rosemary chicken. Yum.
The empty slot left by the rosemary used to have garlic chives in there. They are trying to come back. I however planted some more basil under the lights, so I'm going to plant them there. I won't pull the chives but let them battle it out.
The next chore will be to control the oregano. It always tries to take over its neighbors. I usually let it bloom for the bees too. But I think I might not this year. I might cut it back to keep it from blooming. The little oregano seedlings are just everywhere this year.
Hi! Nice little herb circle and you seem to keep it going well. My oregano spreads too. I don't have rosemary as don't care for it and we can't overwinter it here outside. I do need to plant some sage. Thought about it this year but it didn't get done. Nancy
ReplyDeleteI always admire your herb circle, so neat and no grass. Herbs grow differently here in the hot and humid south. Rosemary thrives in high shade. Last year I had marigolds in one quadrant and they took over. I need to plant sage too.
ReplyDeleteYour herbs must love that circle - they are all doing so well! My herb bed has sadly been neglected this year - so I guess it's not surprising that the basil isn't growing as well as I would have liked. But thankfully, with all the perennials and lots of volunteer dill seedlings, at least it will still be a productive bed.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a good year for Oregano last year, because I too have loads of seedlings coming up all over the place.
ReplyDeleteI have a herb bed on the plot in desperate need of some attention but up until now other thinga have taken priority
ReplyDeleteI love your herb circle - very pretty! I ripped my sage out as it got way too large as well. I knew I was going to do that and had started some seedlings to replace it. They are going very slowly though and not sure I'll have much sage to harvest unfortunately.
ReplyDeletePretty herb circle, I have to grow my herbs in a shady spot because of intense summer heat, but the chives love the sun and heat though, no problem.
ReplyDeleteMy oregano and winter savory are taking over the herb garden and trying to squeeze out the English Thyme and Lemon thyme. I had to do a major trim back this morning. The Lemon Balm is getting out of control too... worse this year because I didn't keep it trimmed back last year to prevent blooming... had injured my back so lots of things went wild .
ReplyDeleteYou seem to utilize your garden extremely well.
ReplyDeleteI so love your herb circle. I hope to have one like it someday.
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