You can check out the Lemon Verbena Lady at her blog http://lemonverbenalady.blogspot.com.

The Herbal Husband and I set off for Miami Beach (specifically South Beach). My master gardening friends asked "Why?" Even when The Herbal Husband is on the beach, I can find a beautiful garden to enjoy when we are on vacation. So I was able to find herbs on the beach without being on the sand and near the ocean.

I was surprised to find a lovely herb garden at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden right across from the Convention Center and a 25 cent bus ride from our hotel. There were raised beds for vegetables, lettuces and herbs. I spotted chives and sorrel and both tomatoes and tomatillos. You see, when the temperatures are in the 90s tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos lose their flowers and do not produce fruit. As soon as the temperature decreases, vegetable plants can be planted and fruit will be produced.

There always has to be a beautiful rosemary plant. I am always so envious of all of you who can grow rosemary outside year round. The rosemary bush was no exception at this garden not quite as big as Peru, but really fragrant and sculptural.

A beautiful rosemary bush at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden.

I am also always looking for lemon verbena when I am away. This lemon verbena was not the largest I have ever seen, but it was what was on the herb garden tag that was different. There were small lizards everywhere!

Lemon Verbena and a surprise guest at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden.

Finally, I was thrilled to see a large cardamom plant, which is a seed that I have used in baking, but had never seen the plant. It is native to India and its black and green seeds are used in meat and vegetable dishes.

Cardamom plant at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden.

In Scandinavia white cardamom is used in baking. Cardamom is a pod that has an outer flavorless shell and tiny seeds inside that have the intense flavor. If unbroken, the pods keep indefinitely because it protects the seeds from deterioration.  So even at the beach when you are thinking sun, sand and tan, think herbs!

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage ( www.theherbcottage.com ) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

I can hardly believe how beautiful the weather has been this past week or so. Since the rains moved on, the skies have been clear and sunny with low humidity and near perfect temperatures. I'm spending every possible minute outdoors to enjoy these perfect Texas fall days. After so much rain, and now with the sun beaming down, the garden is putting on it's best show since spring. To enhance the picture, there are butterflies everywhere flitting from flower to flower. And, thankfully, they have a lot to choose from.

Orange cosmos with butterflies

There are blossoms of cosmos, podrangea, porterweed, basil, morning glories, Texas olive (Cordia boissieri) and now I've planted a few violets and pansies in the herb garden because, of course, these are edible flowers to add to salad mixes.

Podrangea blossom with dragon fly...or are there fairies in the garden?

I also added a few more herb plants to the herb garden. I had lost all my thyme over the summer, so I added a couple of lemon thyme plants. Lemon thyme is a wonderfully fragrant lemon herb to use with fish, chicken, soup, in tea and herbal vinegars and in a fruit salad dressing. Its tiny, bright green leaves with pale edging bring a sparkle to the herb bed. I planted it in a raised area so it should do better next year when the weather turns hot again.

Coral Porterweed with butterfly

Another plant I lost during the long, hot summer was my garden sage. It lasted until August and then just gave up the ghost and faded away. With Thanksgiving almost here, I know sage is one herb we'll be looking for in the garden. Sage is an herb that really shines during holiday cooking for those of us who roast a turkey or even a goose for a special meal. Sage has a strong taste and goes well with the pungent flavor of fowl. We simply stuff the bird with handfuls of sage along with rosemary, savory or thyme, garlic cloves and quartered onions. We use the same herbs to flavor the broth that moistens the dressing and to make gravy. One year, I thought we used too many herbs inside the bird, but the flavor of the turkey came through with the herbs as underlying flavors. Very nice!

Variegated Lemon Thyme

We'll be using lots of the savory herbs from the garden as fall moves into winter. Soups, stews and other hearty dishes call for rosemary, bay, sage, parsley and winter savory—an herb not used very much, I find, but is so flavorful. It's like a blend of thyme and rosemary, almost, and grows so well in winter and summer. Winter savory (Satureja montana) grows into a little woody shrub. The small, dark green leaves are a welcome addition to meat dishes as well as blending well with vegetables, rice and fruit deserts. It's easy to grow in full sun to partial shade. Seeds are slow to start, but worth it. If you can find a plant to purchase, that's the easiest way to go.

Photo courtesy of HERBALPEDIA^TM 
Sage (Salvia officinalis)

I hope you are all taking advantage of the fine fall weather to work in the garden, plant, prune a little, remulch or whatever you can do to enhance your gardening experience during these sunny days. Even pulling and hoeing weeds is pleasurable on these bright, sun-filled days.

Photo courtesy of HERBALPEDIA^TM 
Winter savory (Satureja montana)

I'm off to the garden to weed and plant more herbs.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
—Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage ( www.theherbcottage.com ) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

As fall continues with more rain and still greatly fluctuating temperatures, some of the best herbs are really coming into their own. Even though we've had quite a few warm days in between some picture-perfect fall days of cool, dry, sunny weather, the cool season annuals are thriving.

Cool season annuals are herb or flower crops that do not succeed in our hot, humid summer weather. These varieties need the lower temperatures of our fall, winter and early spring to be at their best. The most commonly grown herbs of the cool season annuals are cilantro, dill, arugula and chervil along with the edible flowers of calendula, violets and nasturtiums. If you're going to grow edible flowers, as with the herbs, be sure they haven't been treated with chemical pesticides or fungicides.

Photo courtesy of  HERBALPEDIA™

Photo courtesy of www.ehow.com

Cilantro likes a sunny spot to grow in. Water needs are average. The one issue with cilantro in our southern Texas area is that a few warm days during winter will cause the plant to bolt, or to send up a flower stalk. That signals the end of the regular growth of the plant. The leaves turn from the flat, parsley-like leaves to sort of a ferny appearance. 

Photo courtesy of www.fragrantfields.com
The cilantro plant is starting to bolt - notice the ferny leaves forming.

Umbrels of small white flowers appear at the top of the flower stalk. While the plant is in bloom, however, it is still usable. The ferny leaves can be used just as you would the flat leaves, and the flowers can also be eaten. The leaves and flowers also make a nice filler in a cut flower arrangement.

Photo courtesy of  HERBALPEDIA™  

If you let the plant flower and go to seed, the ripe seeds are known as the spice coriander.These are useful in baking and in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Invariably some seeds will fall from your plant and there you'll have more cilantro when the soil and moisture conditions are right for the seed to germinate. Or you can collect the seed to save and share with other gardeners or plant later. 

www.botanicalinterests.com
A packet of cilantro seeds is inexpensive and holds far more seeds than you need to plant at one time.

If you love the frightening allure of zombies and vampires, why not try a Halloween decorating scheme with the next best thing—black flowers. The somber flora in Black Plants, written by Paul Bonine who is the co-owner of Xera Plants, are far from the withered, dried image you’d normally equate with black flowers.

Instead, Bonine lists 75 species of black plants that range from distant and exotic Dracula orchids to the more familiar black hollyhocks. These flowers can add mystery and intrigue to your flower garden all year long. But most importantly, they work great for creating fabulous Halloween bouquets.

Photo Courtesy of Timber Press, Inc.

If you’d like more tips for creating a spooky Halloween garden of your own, check out Geraldine A. Laufer’s article Spooky Halloween Garden and get a head start on next year's Halloween decorations.

Photo by spike55151/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spike55151/

Have you grown black flowers in your garden before? What are some of your favorite Halloween plant decorations? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Q: Why are my herbs dying?

A: Many of our readers e-mailed us asking one main question: Why are my herbs dying?

At The Herb Companion, we thought we would resurrect our “Herb 911” series to cover additional herbs. Our past “Herb 911” entries included basil (Ocimum basilicum), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), mint (Mentha spp.), lavender (Lavandula spp.), and sage (Salvia officinalis). Let us know what herbs you are having a difficult time growing and we will try to cover it.

Thyme is a perennial herb that is hardy to dry and rugged terrain. For this reason, you can sometimes find it in the crevasse of a rock wall. It is often used as ground cover or in a raised bed in an herb garden. There are many reasons why thyme can take a turn for the worse; a few being sun exposure (or lack there of), poor location, amount of water and balanced soil.

Tips for Keeping your Thyme Alive

• If your thyme is lighter in color, it may be due to the location. Keep your thyme in a bright, sunny location that also has morning or afternoon shade. Make sure the location is also sheltered from winds.

• Balancing the soil is a trick and an often over looked step in overall plant care. If your thyme plant is looking bad, it might be the soil’s pH. Keep the pH level of the soil between 5.5 and 7.0 is ideal as the soil should be neutral to slightly basic. You can buy a pH test kit at your local nursery or hardware store.

• If the soil is well balanced and you’ve found the ideal location, the problem may be watering too much or not enough. Like other plant, the watering amount depends on the size, age and the location of the plant. Thyme ranges in sizes from 3 inches with an 18 inch spread to 14 inches with a spread of 3 feet—depending on if it is a shrub or creeping variety of thyme. Start with 2 to 3 cups of water once every three days and adjust from there. If you spot mold or fungus growing at the base of the plant, cut back on the water. If the soil is dry and flaky, this means you should add more water.

• Regardless of the variety, Thyme flourishes in warmer weather. If you are growing thyme either from seeds, divisions or cuttings, it is essential that the temperature does not go below 55 degrees. Usually propagation takes place just before the last frost, however, you can start now as long as they stay indoors or in a green house during the winter months.

Do you have problems growing thyme? What herbs do you have a difficult time growing? Let’s chat about it; drop me a comment or email me at snelson@ogdenpubs.com.

Cynthia Meredith has been gardening with herbs, reading about herbs, and discussing herb gardening in Texas for more than 20 years. She has owned The Herb Cottage ( www.theherbcottage.com ) for over 10 years, selling herb plants to people all over our state.

The early fall continues with ups and downs in temperatures and humidity. Nothing unusual for this part of Texas this time of year. Today it's very warm and humid with a moist southeast wind right off the gulf. If I didn't have a calendar, I might think it was still summer. That is, if I didn't look outdoors at the herb garden.

With the shorter days and the cooler nights we've had, plus all the rain, the herb plants are growing in leaps and bounds. My Greek oregano, which was pruned heavily in August, is now almost as large as it was before pruning, minus the flower stalks. The garlic chives ,which were looking very puny during the drought with very small clumps and no new growth, are now big and healthy. Some are even starting to put on flower stalks. The ones I dug and potted for sales are looking great, too. Garlic chives are such a hardy herb. It's sometimes called Chinese leeks. In Chinese grocery stores, the budded flower stalks are sold as "Gow Choy". I use the flowers in salads and herbal vinegars and I use the leaves in tuna salad, eggs, soups, green salads, potato salads, and baked potatoes.  

Another herb that is growing profusely is soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). It is a low-growing, ground cover type of plant that runs as vigorously as mint, if not more so. It puts on a pretty pink flower in the late summer most years. This year, I guess the heat was just too much for it because it did not flower much. I did cut it back to the ground in August because it was looking very peaked. Now, the growth is thick and lush green. It spreads by underground runners and is intruding into the salad bed I planted nearby.

Original soapwort bed. See it creeping out!!

The leaves and roots of soapwort are not edible, but the leaves and the roots are used to make a mild soap. The roots have the highest concentration of the soap-making component called saponin. The most common method for making soap is to add two handfuls of the plant, with or without the roots, to about 3 cups of water and simmer the mixture for about half an hour; strain out the plant matter. You now have a soapy liquid you can use as shampoo, as soap for the bath or to wash antique linens and lace.

Soapwort flower.

It is said that the Romans used soapwort to soften water in their baths, the Syrians used it for washing wool products, and the Swiss used it to bathe their sheep before shearing. The National Trust in Britain used soapwort for decades to clean delicate tapestries and linens because most modern detergents were too harsh. It has also been used as a treatment for psoriasis and acne.

The soapwort is coming up at the base of this licorice plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra).

The plant can be somewhat invasive if it is happy in the garden. It is hardy to Zone 6 and is evergreen in my garden. I like it even though it likes to come up in neighboring areas. It does quite nicely in a big pot, and that's a good way to grow it to keep it under control.

If I had a greener thumb or more dispensable income I would fill my house with fresh cut flowers everyday. Instead I only buy cut flowers on special occasions and struggle to keep them alive for as long as possible until finally surrendering to their wilted petals and hanging them up to dry. The bouquets I get are usually from the local co-op or farmers market and don’t normally come with commercial preservatives like store-bought flowers. But a couple of days ago I found an interesting solution. 

After dining with my aunt, she gave me an arrangement of some of the beautiful, golden mums that I’d been admiring in her yard and told me to add a little bit of hydrogen peroxide and sugar to their water. I must have looked confused because she quickly explained that the hydrogen peroxide helps to kill bacteria and the sugar gives nutrients. Luckily, I had both hydrogen peroxide and sugar at home, so I quickly added it to the mums’ water and to another bouquet of flowers from a few days earlier.

Photo by gregw/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregw/

For now the wilting of my older flowers seems to have stalled and the mums still look bright and fresh, but I’m going to wait a couple more days before I give this method my full approval. Actually, homemade floral preservatives are relatively respected according to The University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension. In fact, they recommend using the soft drink Sprite diluted with equal parts water or combining 4 teaspoons of cane sugar with 2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar.

Photo by Compton & Wright/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/comptonwright/

Whether you make your own natural preservatives, buy them at the store or go preservative-free, experts at The University of Minnesota and The University of New Hampshire Extensions agree that you have to change the water and trim the stems daily if you want your fresh cut flowers to last a while. Once again proving that there are no true shortcuts to success in life or in gardening – it just takes time and labor. 

Have you made your own floral preservatives before? What method worked best? Leave me a comment and let me know.