Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Friday, May 18, 2007
Herbiage
I find myself on this gray, cold, rainy afternoon not tending the potager, as I intended, but instead, trying to think up nice things to write about the place where I bought nice herbs to put in the potager.
Near where I live in northern Virginia, there is a herb grower with a national reputation. I know I'm supposed to like this place. Before yesterday, the last time I was there was 5 or 6 years ago, maybe more. I hadn't gone back because my impression was that the place was only grudgingly a retail establishment. Short hours, hard to find, not logically organized and high prices on tiny plants.
But yesterday I realized I needed some herbs for the potager before mid-summer which is about when I'd get around to rooting cuttings from existing plants. And besides this would be an opportunity to add some new varieties. So off I went.
My first surprise was that they're no longer in the middle of nowhere. Their road is now surrounded by McMansions. And to their credit, they've made a few improvements. I found a good selection of the kinds of plants I was looking for - rosemaries and thymes - well-labeled, and most of them available in two sizes. I was happy to find the ones I wanted in 2 1/2" pots. They've added a few annuals and perennials to their offerings, including the Purple Smoke Baptisia that I admired on Carol's Bloom Day. I might have to go back for that one. And they're selling Route 11 Potato Chips! So, I'll probably go back because they have things I want, but I still get a chilly vibe from the place.
My purchases:
- Rosemary 'Herb Cottage' (x4)
- Thyme, Provencal
- Thyme, Golden Lemon
- Thyme, English
- Thyme, Lemon Mist
- French Tarragon (x2)
- Spearmint 'Kentucky Colonel'
- Corsican Mint
Have I mentioned that I can't live without Corsican Mint? I have to run my fingers over it every time I pass it by.
12 Comments:
I've never been there, but in the back of my mind seem to remember reading or something that it was like THE place to go for herbs. Maybe not? I've had pretty good luck at some plant sales this year...although I haven't found some nice looking mint(s) like yours.
This weather is something. Not enough rain to matter (here, at least) but enough to keep me out of the garden...
A potager! I'm so impressed! Is yours like Yolanda Elizabet's? Do show some pictures, please!
Thyme lemon mist, how wonderful. Sounds like a good place to buy your herbs. I love to run my fingers through them too. In my potager I have a special bed for herbs alone. There are pics of it on my blog today. :-)
Gotta Garden: I don't want to drive business away from them, which is why I only revealed the name if you click through the link. They do have a very good selection of herbs, nicely grown and labeled, but I just get the impression that they'd rather grow herbs than sell herbs.
I wish my garden was like Yolanda Elizabet's. Give me, oh, hmmm, say 10 years?
Yolanda Elizabet: After reading more about lemon mist thyme, I think it's more ornamental than culinary. I plan to put the thymes in the center of the garden, around my sundial. That is, if I get bold enough to leave the sundial out there. I'm afraid someone will make off with it, because it's close to the road and far from the house. Your garden is such an inspiration!
I love corsican mint. Here it doesn't last very long (the heat always gets the best of it) - but in the early spring I always plant it in a pot next to my front door (so I can run my fingers through it). The fragrance is amazing.
There is a wonderful local herb grower in Charleston, Petes Herbs (www.petesherbs.com), and their place is one of my favorites anywhere. Pete told me recently that they might start a mail order business, so it's a place you might enjoy visiting online (or in person!). The grow quite a diversity of herbs.
Now those are beautiful-looking herbs. I'd like some of that Corsican Mint ... this must be a great herb place.
I have never the expression "McMansions" before ... how perfect to describe the houses that go up so quickly with their suddenly-arrived large trees and manicured lawns.
Pam: I think I'm going to plant the Corsican mint next to the back door in central Virginia. It's usually been perennial for me in northern Virginia, but sometimes I find it growing far from where I originally planted it. Which is OK with me. ;) It seems to be happiest when it has some gravel or bricks to scramble over. I'll check out Pete's herbs - in person would be great, but more likely online. The spouse and I visited Charleston a couple of years ago. I talked him into going to Middleton Place, but the weather was still quite hot in September - next time we'll choose a cooler season.
Kate: The "McMansions" in northern Virginia are all built by big publicly-traded corporations. They all look the same and they're pretty much the only kind of house being built there these days. Land has gotten very expensive, so they're putting enormous houses on tiny lots with a tiny fringe of lawn around them. Doesn't suit my taste at all, but people are buying them.
Hello Entangled,
If the Corsican Mint thinks SC is too hot, there's not much point in buying it for Texas, I guess... although it sounds so tempting! The Purple Smoke Baptisia is a great-looking plant.
The term McMansion is used around here, too, and I've also heard the term "starter castle".
Linda Ball, Austin philanthropist and photographer, has a great name for the row after row of similar-looking, enormous, expensive, Mediterranean-style houses in housing developments SW of Austin. She refers to these subdivisions as "McTuscany".
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie, Corsican Mint might be worth a try if you have a somewhat shady spot. From what I read about it, it requires constant moisture, but I don't know if I believe what I read. I'm pretty sure mine have dried out more than once.
McTuscany - that's great! Maybe we could call it McWilliamsburg here, with all the sorta Colonial-style houses. The irony is that in some cases they're tearing down authentic
Colonials or Federals or even log cabins to put up these gigantic imposters.
One particularly galling demolition happened very near where we live. There was a 200+ year old log cabin (inhabited as recently as 20 years ago) that was allowed to fall into ruins by a developer who really wanted to tear it down anyway. After long haggling with the county and historic preservationists, it was finally agreed that it would be renovated and a "coffee shop" opened there. Well, surprise, surprise, there wasn't enough structural integrity left to renovate (or so they said), so they tore it down and built something that looks a bit like the original. It now houses a Quizno's. They did put up a historical marker however.
Growing and using my own fresh herbs also gives me much pleasure. But, nary a a herb plant to be found for sale on my island-except the same 5 herbs found in garden club sales twice a year-Cuban oregano, spearmint, lemon grass, lemon balm, basil. I grow these and also some I got from seeds-and a few from cuttings ( pineapple sage, rosemary, oregano) I lugged all the way from Sonoma valley. My thyme cutting from Sonoma didn't make it,though.
Nicole, I've just been looking at all the wonderful tropical flowers on your blog, and I'm soooo envious. I went through a "tropical" phase several years ago, but I got tired of trying to keep the plants over the winter. Now my only tropicals are annuals (annual here, that is).
Does the curry leaf plant (Murraya koenigii) grow where you live? I had one of those that I managed to keep alive indoors through several winters, but it finally succumbed to a scale infestation. It's almost a necessity for south Indian cooking, but fortunately a nearby Korean market now sells good fresh leaves.
Corsican mint.. I haven't seen that plant anywhere for years! Nice of you to remind me that it still exists, I used to grow it long ago in another land. I must try to get a plant for my garden in this land, I'm sure it will do well in Ireland, the land of perpetual clouds.
Love all those thymes. I too have several types. I have a lemon one too, I use that quite often in my cooking.
Salix Tree: I won't rest until the world is carpeted with Corsican mint [grin].
Lemon thyme is one of my cooking favorites too - I think the flavor is unique. I substitute it for regular thyme in a recipe for quick-pickled red onions, and also like it in chicken for roasting or rotisserie.
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