Which herbs are hardy?

[mrbadexample]

Hello all.

I'm just looking for advice on hardy herbs. I'd like some things that I can plant up and leave. I'm not sure I'd use them enough to keep sowing them each year.

So far I have:

Mint
Parsley (is that hardy?)
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Chives
Lavender (not sure I'll ever use that for cooking - bought it for the bees)

My mate's got some caraway he's going to split with me.

What else will survive our winters, and enjoy my neglect?

I'd really like some horseradish too - the hotter the better. Is that grown from seed or root cuttings? Has anyone got any I can have please?

[roitelet]

Mint is hardy and a thug. I grow it in a pot. Parsley is a bi annual and can survive the winter before going to seed. Sage should be hardy but I find it short lived. Rosemary is hardy depending on where you live. I keep loosing mine but then we have severe minus temperatures. Thyme is hardy.Oregano should be ok it is perennial. Chives are tough as old boots and will seed themselves everywhere given the chance. Lavender is also hardy but needs trimming to stop it going leggy.

Horseraddish is grown from bits of root but beware the roots go down to Ausralia and it is very invasive.

Hope this helps. Best of luck

[mrbadexample]

Thank you. Sorry, my post wasn't very clear - I meant what else is hardy that I haven't got? However, the info given is useful, thanks.

All my herbs except the lavender are in pots, so could be moved into an unheated greenhouse in the winter if I risk losing them (e.g. rosemary).

When parsley goes to seed, do you get new parsley?

I think I've got somewhere I can put horseradish where it won't invade.

[Comfreyfan]

Parsley is biennial so you'd need new seed (or save your own seeds) every other year.

Lemon balm is perennial and in my experience totally thrives on neglect!

Fennel and Borage both self seed happily, so turn up year after year.

Yarrow's also a useful perennial, it's good for other plants growing near it and is excellent for speeding up composting.

[mrbadexample]

Cheers. I'm not sure how much I'd use those, but yarrow sounds like a very interesting plant. It doesn't sound like it would appreciate being in a pot though, and I don't want anything invasive (with the exception of horseradish, which I could isolate).

What's tarragon like to grow?

[ginger ninger]

There's two types of tarragon, French and Russian. I've grown both, French tarragon can't be grown from seed you need to grow it from cuttings. Russian you grow from seed.
With regards to cooking with lavender, when the flowers have dried take about 10 of the little buds (not the whole flower), grind them down in a Pestle & Mortar and add to the flour when making a Victoria sponge. It gives a lovely hint of lavender to the sponge and has peeps guessing what flavour it is.

[roitelet]

Coriander and Dill are both annual easily grown from seed. Marjoram is a hardy perennial. Then there is Bay can be a bit tender though. Not to mention Fennel, hardy.

[mrbadexample]

There's two types of tarragon, French and Russian. I've grown both, French tarragon can't be grown from seed you need to grow it from cuttings. Russian you grow from seed.

It would have to be l'estragon then, as I can speak a (very) little French, but almost no Russian at all.

With regards to cooking with lavender, when the flowers have dried take about 10 of the little buds (not the whole flower), grind them down in a Pestle & Mortar and add to the flour when making a Victoria sponge. It gives a lovely hint of lavender to the sponge and has peeps guessing what flavour it is.

I might try that. My Lavande de Provence should be flowering soon. La première fois, parce-que c'est encore petite.

[mrbadexample]

Et merci petit oiseau.

Marjolaine et origan, c'est la même chose, n'est pas?

[Tadpole123]

Marjoram Growing and cultivation, How To Grow Marjoram and Oregano

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[mrbadexample]

Merci ma petite grenouille.

[chris]

Come again?

[endymion]

Lovage is hardy, and it's delicious.

We've got loads of lemon balm, but haven't a clue what to do with it apart from crushing the leaves and enjoying the scent.

I use a lot of lavender in cooking. The leaves add a wonderful, rich, flavour to lamb dishes, and if chopped up with garlic do amazing things to roast potatoes and/or mixed roast veg. The flavour isn't as good when the plant is gearing up to start growing again, but that doesn't last long.

We've planted some Winter Savory this year, it's meant to be good with beans but we haven't tried it yet because we haven't yet got any beans. We've also just planted some caraway, but I think it's biennial rather than perennial.

We've found that Rosemary needs to be replaced every few years, it goes woody same as Lavender.

Have you got a Bay tree? If not, it's worth trying one in the ground. Ours survived several inches of Scottish snow.

[its hilly]

endymion, lemon balm can be added to salad leaves, finely chopped in anything you want a lemon flavour in, used as a tea, in pot pourri, or you can make an anti-septic salve (same as you would make a marigold one)
Mr, you can keep most herbs through winter if they are protected from too much wet. Except stuff like French tarragon which tends to be not much in it's second year if it survives. But a lot of herbs get leggy or woody and are best kept for a couple of years at most, then replaced from cuttings or divided.

[valmarg]

I've got french tarragon that I have rooted from cuttings from a bag I bought in a supermarket.

valmarg