Common Names
Sweet Fennel, Wild Fennel, Copper Fennel
About This Plant
Bronze Fennel and Green Leaf Fennel, commonly known as Sweet Fennel, are the wild cousins of the more commonly known garden variety bulb Fennel known as Florence Fennel or Finocchio. They differ from Florence Fennel in several ways. While the bulb variety is typically grown as an annual and a “vegetable”, Bronze Fennel and Green Leaf Fennel are grown as perennials and are commonly referred to as “herbs” since they lack the enlarged, flattened stem bases that form the bulbous vegetable of Florence Fennel.
Wild Fennel is a hardy herbaceous perennial in USDA Zones 5-11. In the lower zones, it can be Read More
Common Names
Herb Primrose, King’s Cure-All, Wildflower of Europe, Cureall, Fever Plant, Field Primrose, Four-o’clock, Suncups, Sundrops, Night Candle, Night Willow Herb
About This Plant
Evening Primrose is a tall, wildflower-type biennial plant that is hardy in USDA zones 4-10. In its first year, many obtuse leaves are formed which spread into a flat rosette on the ground, and in its second year hairy, flowering stems rise to a height of three to four feet, sometimes more. It flowers for a long time, making it very showy in the garden when planted in mass.
Evening Primrose’s lemon-scented leaves are alternate, rough and hairy, and lanceolate with nearly entire margins. The second-year leaves are Read More
Common Names
Common Cornflower, Basketflower, Bachelor’s Button, Boutonniere Flower, Hurtsickle, Cyani Flower, Bluebottle, Garden Knapweed, Ragged Sailor, Witches’ Bells, Happy Skies, Haw Dods, Cornbottle, Blue Tops, Break-Your-Spectacles, Blue Sailor
About This Plant
Cornflower, with its vivid blue blooms, is a self-seeding, cool-weather annual from the Asteraceae family. It is native to Europe but has now naturalized in North America and Canada. It’s a hardy, frost-tolerant plant that can be sown very early in the Spring from USDA Zones 2 through 11. It reaches from one to three feet in height and spreads about one to two feet wide. It’s star-like blossoms are a brilliant blue that attracts birds and butterflies. Birds love Read More
Common Names
Culverwort (Saxon), European Columbine, True Columbine, European Crowfoot, Culverwort, Granny’s Bonnet, Granny’s Nightcap
About This Plant
There are many different types of Columbines with a tremendous amount of variation. The species cross-pollinate, giving rise to new colors and qualities and your notion of what a Columbine looks like has a lot to do with where you live. Columbines are herbaceous perennials related to Anemones and Buttercups in the Ranunculaceae family. Aquilegia vulgaris is also referred to as European Columbine and has blue to purple sepals with white petals, stigma, and stamens. “Vulgaris” simply means “common”. Aquilegia canadensis has red sepals and spurs on the outside of yellow petals, stigmas, and Read More
Cilantro/Coriander
(Coriandrum sativum)
Common Names
Chinese Parsley, Mexican Parsley, Dhania
About This Plant
This herbaceous plant, grown as an annual or as a biannual depending on climate, has at least two different names–Cilantro when referring to the leaves or vegetative stage of growth, and Coriander when referring to the seeds, or mature form of the plant. The leaves taste very different from the seeds. The leaves taste similar to parsley, but juicier, with a hint of citrus while the seeds have a pungent, warm, nutty, lemony taste. The plant grows about one to two feet high and 12-18” wide.
Cilantro is a cool-weather herb but is still frost-sensitive. It is considered hardy in USDA Zones Read More
Common names
Common Chives, Garden Chives, Gao choy (Cantonese)
About This Plant
Chives are a hardy, drought-tolerant perennial belonging to the Allium family, and have a milder taste than its cousins onion, garlic, and leek. It prefers full sun and grows in clumps from small underground bulbs. It produces round, hollow leaves, about 10-12 inches high, that are much finer than an onion and come to a point. Mid-summer, they produce round, globular pink flowers similar in appearance to clover. They are tolerant of a wide variety of soils but will grow best in soils with high organic matter. They can be grown from seed and are commonly propagated by dividing clumps Read More
Common Names
Blue Chamomile, Ground Apple, Scented Mayweed, Whig Plant, Maythen, Manzanilla, Sweet False Chamomile, Hungarian Chamomile, Matricaria, Pinhead, Babuna
About This Plant
German Chamomile is a delicate-looking but surprisingly tough fast-growing, herbaceous annual from the Asteraceae family with feathery leaves and small Daisy-like flowers. It is an airy, bushy shrub that has a bit of a wildflower look to it and grows one to two feet high and up to a foot wide. The plants can be tall and spindly and sometimes fall over in the garden if not supported by surrounding plants. It can be short-lived in hot summers and is cold hardy to -20 degrees fahrenheit. It grows best Read More
Common Names
Smallage (the original wild plant), Celeriac
About This Plant
Celery is technically an herb, not a vegetable, belonging to the Apiaceae family with cousins of Coriander, Parsley, Fennel, and Carrots. It is a biennial, though normally grown as an annual. Its Latin name, “Apium” comes from the Celtic “apon”, meaning water, and “graviolens” meaning “strong smelling”. Celery has a reputation as a fickle plant to grow, but once you understand what exactly it needs to thrive, you’ll find the task much easier. Most would agree that garden-grown celery is better tasting than store-bought, and less chemically-laden.
Today, there are basically three varieties of Celery available: Green Celery or Smallage, whose aromatic Read More
Common Names
Chili, Chile, or Chilli, Hot Pepper, Capsicum, Cow Horn Peppers, Guinea Spice, Aleva or Bird Peppers, Spanish Pepper, Red Pepper, Pod Pepper, African Pepper, Zanzibar Pepper, Goat’s Pepper, Cockspur Pepper
About This Plant
Cayenne is one of the best known of the chili peppers. It is a member of the Solenaceae family and the Capsicum genus which also includes Bell Peppers, Chilies, Paprikas, and Habaneros. The Capsicum genus comes from the Americas and has been cultivated for use for at least 7,000 years. Cayenne in particular comes from the tropical and subtropical portions of Central and South America. Some of the earliest European explorers brought Cayenne back to Europe and Read More
Common Names
Pot Marigold, English Marigold, Herb Marigold, Riddles, Scotch Marigold, Poet’s Marigold, Marybud, Merrybud, Summer’s Bride, Husbandman’s Dial
About This Plant
O’ joyous Calendula, with its sunny disposition–it’s bright golden orange- yellow blossoms are always a welcomed sight in the garden. Calendula is a short-lived aromatic, herbaceous perennial of the Asteraceae family. It is often grown as an annual in cold climates where it’s unlikely to survive winter temps below 25 degrees Farenheight, and also in hot summer locations where it does not survive the heat. If you place it in its ideal environment, it will grow as a perennial.
Calendula is a sun-loving plant that is usually low and compact with Read More