Herb Plants

Fragrant Fields offers many varieties of quality herb plants shipped directly to your door via our online store. So many people have been rediscovering the joy of herb plants. This new found interest takes many forms because the uses are so varied. Herb plants for cooking, medicines, fragrances, gardening, beauty products, teas and crafting give you an idea of how many directions an interest in herbs can take you.

Herb plants have so many uses and are valuable in the garden in so many ways. They may be grown in the garden along with other plants or set aside in an herb garden of their own. If you didn’t know that most of these were classified as herb plants, they would have a special place in the garden with other perennials and annuals because of their flowers and fragrances. Theme gardens for herb plants are very popular and the possibilities are endless. You can pick herb plants’ shapes of the garden and then incorporate garden art with the same theme.

An herb plants garden could combine herb plants and vegetables using a low growing border of herb plants such as chives or parsley. Be sure to include herb plants such as Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Savory, Cilantro, Fennel, Rosemary, Tarragon, Dill, Sage, Mint, and many others. Then expand to include more exotic ones such as lemon grass, lemon verbena, angelica, lovage, chervil to make it more useful and interesting.

Sweet basil, with it's wonderful aroma and flavor, is one of the most popular and widely grown herbs in the world. We associate basil with Italian cooking. There are so may uses for basil that every herb gardener will want to have several plants. It is an attractive plant that works well in vegetable, herb and flower gardens. Basil also makes a great kitchen windowsill plant.

Grows tall, upright and productive, like Greek Oregano but has a flavor closer to sweet marjoram. Even when not topped with clusters of white-lavender blooms, this plant is attractive enough to take their place in your bed or border with other flowering plants. Pungently aromatic, Italian Oregano is one of the most important herbs of Italian, Greek and Mexican cooking.

Thyme is essential in French cooking, as well as in almost any American dish, including casseroles, most vegetables, soups, stuffings, and sauces. The aromatic, warming flavor holds up well during long cooking times. Grows 12-18 inches tall and 24 inches wide. The narrow stems are lined with tiny gray-green leaves and topped with equally tiny pale pink flowers in summer. Perennial. Attractive to bees and butterflies. One of the hardier Thymes.

Winter savory is a one-foot, dark green, semi-woody, herbaceous perennial. It is easy to grow. It makes an attractive border plant for any culinary herb garden. When using winter savory for cooking add it to meats, poultry or fish.

The spice known as coriander is the seed of Coriandrum sativum and cilantro is the fresh leaf of that same plant, harvested early in its growing phase. It is a hardy annual, meaning that it completes its growing cycle in one year.
This member of the carrot family is also referred to as Chinese Parsley and Coriander. It is actually the leaves (and stems) of the Coriander plant. Cilantro has a very pungent odor and is widely used in Mexican, Caribbean and Asian cooking. The Cilantro leaves look a bit like flat Italian parsley and in fact are related. Cilantro has delicate fern-like foliage, flat clusters of pinkish white flowers and aromatic seeds. Leaves have unique flavor that is pleasing to many people. Grown for foliage and very aromatic. Cilantro is very attractive to butterflies, self-sows freely. Grows to 2 feet tall.

The plant's long, carrot-shaped root produces a round, finely grooved stem with bluish stripes. The dark green leaves are alternately branched from joints on the stem and dissected into numerous filiform segments. The small yellow flowers are on large compound umbels. The oblong fruit has prominent ribs.

Rosemary is an attractive evergreen shrub with pine needle-like leaves. It's trusses of blue flowers last through spring and summer in a warm, humid environment. It will grow to a height of between 3-5 feet.

French Tarragon is the Chef's best friend and a must have for every Herb Garden. It has a spicy anise flavor that turns ordinary main dishes into masterpieces. Tarragon goes well with mean and vegetables. It will need plenty of sun and likes to be on the dry side. Tarragon will also do very well growing in a container.

Fernleaf or dwarf dill grows to 18" high. It has dark green leaves. It is slow to bolt and is grown especially for its leaves rather than its seed. It is a unique dwarf that was developed for container culture. If you are growing dill for its seed, choose the variety called 'Bouquet'. Dill is an annual that looks a lot like fennel, its relative. It has a single, spindly taproot like carrot. One long, hollow stalk comes from the root. Numerous, small, yellow flowers appear on an umbrella-like head. 

Sage is a dense, upright bush about 2-3 feet in height. The plant is grown for its aromatic leaves, which are used as seasoning. Garden Sage, as some call it is both a culinary and ornamental delight. Sharing its color for three to four weeks in early spring, it is one of the prettiest of all Salvias. The flowers can be used as a garnish or as an addition to fresh bouquets. Sage is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds.

A tea garden full of herb plants used for making tea is handy for making available sprigs of plants to create a refreshing beverage - and just a few steps from the house. Included in this garden could be mints, lavender, lemon balm, fennel, chamomile and pineapple sage.