HOW ABOUT HERBS 



The Art of Miniatures 



TANYA JACKSON 



The art of creating a container 

 herb garden is just that — an 

 art! It's of increasing interest for 

 many herb gardeners because of 

 space limitations, because it's an 

 easier way to care for more diffi- 

 cult-to-grow plants, and — most of 

 all, because of all the interesting 

 plants and combinations that are 

 super for this form of gardening. 



Creating a container garden re- 

 quires knowing cultural require- 

 ments as well as having an eye 

 for relationships — the relationship 

 between flower, foliage, and form; 

 the relationship between plants 

 and container; the relationship be- 

 tween the containers themselves. 

 One nice thing about container 

 gardening is the ability to easily 

 move things around until you're 

 satisfied with the results. 



Options for containers are un- 

 limited. We'll not address this 

 here except to suggest that you 

 consider anything as a container: 

 familiar terra-cotta pots and stone 

 urns always work; rustic baskets, 

 containers made of wood or twigs, 

 wine crates, whiskey barrels, and 

 hollowed logs and stumps (for 

 shade-loving woodland herbs) all 

 make great planters. 



The most important cultural 

 considerations are proper soil for 

 each individual plant and proper 

 drainage for each container. The 

 latter generally means a drainage 

 hole in the bottom of the con- 

 tainer (do not cover this with pot 

 shards, as we did in the "old 

 days:" this actually obstructs 

 drainage). Herbs hate wet feet, so 

 good drainage, especially for out- 



door plants enduring summer 

 rains, is critical. There are several 

 new products — the pot-watering 

 polymers — on the market for pro- 

 viding moisture to plants: present 

 these possibilities to your custom- 

 ers who are shopping for their 

 container gardens. 



The herbs for containers are 

 many: here are just a few ideas. 

 Thymes are perfect: try silvery grey 

 creeping wooly thyme (Thymus 

 praecox subsp. articus 'Lanuginosus'), 

 crimson thyme with brilliant ma- 

 genta flowers (T.p. subsp. 'Coccineus'), 

 caraway thyme with tiny tasty 

 leaves (T. herba-barona), and white 

 moss creeping thyme (T.p. subsp. 

 articus 'Albus'). There's also the 

 very tiny creeper. Thymus minimus, 



continued on next page 



Newton Greenhouse 



32 Amesbury Road, Newton, NH 03858 

 603-382-5289 



Quality Plants 

 green & flowering 



from 3" to 10" pots 



Holiday, bedding plants &. dish gardens 



Year-round cut Snaps, Gloxinias & African Violets 



Liscensed propagator 

 of Mikkelsen New Guinea Impatiens 



75 Chestnut Hill, Route 190 

 Stafford Springs, CT 06076 



W.H. MILIKOWSKI, INC. 



Greenhouse Supplies & Equipment 



Plants Bulbs 



All Your Greenhouse Needs 



'Our Goal Is Your Success' 



David E. Goudreault 

 NH & Maine Representative 



CT 800-243-7170 

 Fax: 860-684-3022 



AUGUST. SEPTEMBER. 1998 



