Culinary Herbs

Ah! Basil, king of herbs! (Rosemary is the queen...) To grow it well, here's what you need to know

Like thyme, bay leaf is one of the primary flavors in French cuisine. It is also an important seasoning in every day soups, stews, vegetables and sauces.

Borage is a cool season annual in our climate, making it a good candidate for early spring gardens. Both the young leaves and the beautiful sky blue flowers have a wonderful, light, cucumber flavor, making them a wonderful addition to salads, garnishes, and cool drinks.

Highly decorative form of fennel, with bronzish-red, lacy leaves, reaching 4 to 5 feet.

Happiest in full sun, salad burnet can tolerate some shade. It is evergreen here, but at its best in the cooler months.

Grown as a medicinal plant in Europe, Americans enjoy this plant for its beauty and edible flower petals. Sprinkle the petals in salads, omelettes and cheeses to provide a delicate flavor and bold color—it is sometimes used as a saffron substitute.

This beautiful, lacey-leaved plant is a cool season annual in our climate, and will bolt and go to seed (but first producing Queen Anne's Lace-like flowers) at the first hint of summer.

There are many varieties of this member of the onion family, whose slender green leaves impart a delicate onion flavor to foods.

There are several herbs that can be used to provide the flavor of cilantro, a popular ingredient in Mexican and Asian cuisines. The most widely recognized form is Coriander, whose leaves provide the familiar cilantro flavor in salsas, and whose seeds add flavor to soups, chili sauces, curries, and other exotic dishes. However, coriander is a cool season annual here, and other alternatives become necessary for those of us who want to make salsa when our tomatoes are beginning to ripen!

A cool season annual here, best grown in the fall through early spring in full sun and well-drained soil. Finely chop the leaves and add to salsas, guacamole, cold soups (such as gazpacho), salads or wherever you would like to add a fresh, spicy, somewhat exotic flavor.

Costmary, also known as Bible Leaf and Alecost, has a wonderful spearmint-like aroma. It was used by settlers as Bible bookmarks that could be chewed on during lengthy services.

Dill is a true annual, which means it is absolutely determined to fulfill its mission of growing, producing seed, and dying within a single season.

Strong scented foliage highly esteemed in Mexico and Guatemala for seasoning corn, black beans, mushrooms, fish and shellfish. Also known to reduce the effect of beans.

Fennel is a hardy plant, related to dill and Queen Anne's lace. There are many different types of fennel, but all share (in varying degrees) the familiar taste of anise.

This fennel forms a bulbous base, which is harvested and used for its anise flavor and crisp texture.

French tarragon, the "true" tarragon, has a delicate, anise-like flavor that is sought out by skilled cooks of all nationalities, but most particularly the French.

Garlic chives are very similar to regular chives, but grow a little larger, have flat, dark green leaves and beautiful white flowers in the fall.

This is an annual form of chamomile that is best grown in the cooler months, and will die back when it gets too hot.

Similar in growth and flavor to traditional chives, but are less susceptible to turning yellow or leggy.

With a flavor somewhere between savory and mint, hyssop is fantastic on the grill.

Lemon balm is happiest in the South when grown in part shade, particularly in the late afternoon. It is a perennial, reaching about 18" in height, and tending to spread (though not as invasive as mint).

A wonderful lemon-scented grass used regularly in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. To harvest, slice a stalk off near the root, peel back the outer layers and chop the white part as you would a scallion, and add to soups, sauces or stews.

Lemon verbena is one of the most wonderful, strongly scented lemon herbs. Here in the South, it has been referred to as the "Scarlett O'Hara" herb, for the Southern ladies who would use it to soothe the "vapors"... Today, its leaves are most often used in teas, but is also used to enhance jellies, cool drinks, salads, soups, sauces, fish, or any dish calling for lemon flavor.

All parts of lovage, seeds, leaves, and stem, have a distinct celery flavor. Even though lovage is technically a perennial, it sometime dies (or dies back to the ground) in the extreme summer heat. Harvest leaves while they are young and add to soups, stews or salads.

Native to the dry, temperate Mediterranean, marjoram can be finicky when faced with our Southern summers. It does best in cooler weather, and may die back during the summer heat.

A thorny coriander, native to Central America. It is grown where true coriander (Coriandrum sativum) will not grow because of the heat.

Mexican Tarragon thrives in the full sun, and once established, is quite drought tolerant. Give it plenty of room though, because it can reach 4 feet in all directions!

Mint, while often taken in vain for its aggressive growing habit, is a wonderfully versatile herb everyone should have in their garden. It is true that not much will contain mint, though metal or plastic barriers sunk at least 6" into the ground will help. Another alternative is to grow it in its own pot.

Generally grown as a cool season annual, the nasturtium has long been a favorite with kitchen gardeners. Plants grow rapidly, producing lily-pad shaped leaves, and a profusion of flowers ranging from deep crimson to pale yellow, orange and cream.

Compact Bright green leaves in a tight mat, and compact growth. Although this variety has some scent and flavor, it is generally used as a ground cover, and not as a culinary herb.

Parsley is one of the most versatile, indispensable, and widely used herbs in the kitchen. On top of its many culinary uses, parsley is beautiful in the garden as well. Though parsley does grow year round here (flat leaf does better in the heat; curly in the winter), it really thrives in the cooler months.

This sage really does have a fabulous pineapple scent! It grows into a large (4 x 4') semi-woody shrub with light green velvety leaves.

This chamomile is traditionally grown in English gardens and pathways, where it is mown like grass. Here, it does best in the cooler months, remaining evergreen throughout the winter, but often dying back in the heat of summer.

Rosemary is one of the most well known, versatile, easy-to-grow herbs that we offer. Here in the Southeast, it is an evergreen shrubby perennial that will tolerate the hot sun and bouts of drought once it is established.

Garden sage is one of the oldest and most popular culinary herbs in the world. Americans use it in turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving, Russians use it when baking a goose, the English put it in cheese, and where would Italian bean dishes be without it?

Often called the "Bean Herb" for its wide use in bean dishes.

Sesame (or benne), the slightly nutty-flavored seed used in a variety of foods, from baked goods to candies, is an easy-to-grow annual in the Lowcountry.

Stevia is the sweetest naturally grown product. It is sweeter than sugar, has virtually no calories, and doesn't raise blood sugar levels or promote tooth decay.

ummer savory has the preferred flavor of the two varieties that we grow, but is a short-lived annual here in the south.

Tired of not having cilantro during the summer? Try growing this heat-loving perennial instead!

Winter Savory is a low-growing, hardy evergreen with a pungent flavor.