April Tips
HERBS

Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture

October 1996

  • Now is also the time to divide mint, chive, tarragon, and creeping thyme.

  • Plant chervil, coriander, dill, rosemary, and summer savory outside after the last spring frost date for your area. Your Extension agent should be able to give you the date.

  • All-America Selections Winner for 1992, the Dwarf Dill Fernleaf, is half the height of regular dill and more wind tolerant. It is slower to bolt to seed, and the flavor is excellent.

  • If you harvest mint frequently, growth will be more vigorous. Be sure to grow it in a container to keep it from taking over your garden.

  • Bronze-leaved fennel Foeniculum vulgare 'Atropurpureum', an anise-scented herb that grows to 4 feet tall, looks great in the perennial border with tall, red- or white-flowered phlox or tall, silver-leaved perennials, including artemisia.

  • For a handsome addition to your herb collection, try lovage Levisticum officinale, a hardy perennial with a sharp, but sweet, celery flavor. Leaves can be used sparingly in soups and salads stems can be blanched or eaten raw and seeds can be added to candies, bread and cakes.

  • Start herb seeds indoors in moist medium. Place in bright, indirect light and move to a sunny window when germination begins. When the seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall, transplant into peat pots for the garden or into clay pots for use on your terrace or balcony. Some herbs easily grown for transplanting include chives, sage, sweet marjoram, basil, summer savory and parsley.

    Monthly Tips have been prepared since 1986 by various staff of the Office of Consumer Horticulture including Ellen Bennett, Michelle Buckstrup, Susan Day, Susan DeBolt, Sharon Dendy, Kate Dobbs, Sheri Dorn, David Gravell, Virginia Nathan, Jenny Shuster, Ellen Silva, and Ruth Sorenson. Resource material for the development of this information includes the Virginia Master Gardener Handbook; Extension Publications and newsletters from VCE, numerous other states, and the USDA; and an extensive library of over 900 books, magazines, and journals. Project funded by The Virginia Gardener Newsletter subscription fees. Diane Relf, Project Director and Content Specialist.

    Visit Virginia Cooperative Extension