It's best to use distilled water so that the ice cubes aren't cloudy.

Most varieties of Lavender tend to be fan favorites around our greenhouses, Rosemary's and Lemongrass are also popular!

For me, thyme, parsley and oregano are must-haves. I regularly use them in cooking. I'm also big on sage and hope to plant several new ones this year. Plus, I find it always good to have a rosemary or two growing.

I usually have pots of oregano, marjoram, and sage on hand. Also parsley. I have trouble getting thyme to grow. I'll plant a windowbox of genovese basil next month, for pesto.

I need to get a picture but my chives definitely survived the winter. They're popping up through the layer of straw and leaves I buried them under. I'm not sure if it's my regular chives or garlic chives (probably regular). We're having a slightly cold snap (next 2 nights might drop below freezing even though it was nearly 80 yesterday). After that the foreseeable forecast is days in the 70s and nights in the upper 40s to 50s. So I'll move the potted herbs to a nicer spot where they get more sun (might even repot them in something bigger) when I'm doing all my other garden stuff Friday. I might even check out a few garden places for other herbs that I didn't start from seed since I've noticed they just started getting in plants. Too chilly for most outside but they can stay inside on my seedling setup under the lights for a while.

I grow a lot of the usual already mentioned herbs; basil, oregano, mint, chives, thyme, cilantro, parsley, etc. But I want to give a shout out to lovage. I love my lovage. It's a fun plant in that it grows from ground level to 6+ feet in about 8 weeks. Its got a tremendous aroma that I just love to smell. And its attracts a lot of insects that I don't see anywhere else in my gardens. All that said, we never eat it. It's just too intense.

I sowed some tarragon seeds today. Let's see how they do. Last batch of lavender has not emerged yet.

I plant lots of basil, you can never get enough fresh basil, We have an outdoor pizza oven and fresh basil on a simple pizza just before you pull in out of oven is amazing. Basil loves heat so i keep most of in in my small greenhouse all summer. This year im trying the new DMR (downey mildew resistant) basil varieties because once it starts in greenhouse i can never seem eliminate it. I also tried propagating rosemary from a purchased rosemary bush last year and it worked great, always seems to take too long to get rosemary going from seed.

My Nufar organic basil has germinated at the sunny kitchen bay window. Just planted it on 4/1.

I separated and potted up my herb seedlings since they've got another 4-6 weeks before they go in ground. Some basil are getting really tall already. I'm thinking I should trim the tops so they get bushy rather than tall. I know I'd like it and I'm guessing the people who buy my extras will as well.

Henderman ,
for lovage
I think your lovage is intense because of your heat , hear it is strong but very much a favorite in soups instead of celery (more flavor) It also drys well and holds flavor better than celery . I only dry the leaves .

gardengus said:Henderman ,
for lovage
I think your lovage is intense because of your heat , hear it is strong but very much a favorite in soups instead of celery (more flavor) It also drys well and holds flavor better than celery . I only dry the leaves .

Thanks @gardengus I'll try drying some and see how we like it!

Basil is my favorite herb to grow by far. I have been hybridizing basil into unique new plants for the last 9 years now.

Nice collection
Do you use them all in cooking?
Have a favorite?

My herbs currently--Spearmint, chocolate mint, basil, rosemary, Bay tree, lemongrass, lemon verbena (my favorite), lemon balm, chives, garlic chives, marjoram, thyme, sage. Ones I've had and miss--lavender, and pineapple sage, and lemon thyme. I also had winter savory. Nothing like running out to the garden and clipping some fresh herbs for tea or culinary uses! I planted mint around the side and back to deter ants from coming into the house. I think it's been helpful! Haven't had any in the house for a long time.

I cook with a lot of herbs, but because I use them almost daily, my must haves to grow myself are: curled parsley, spearmint, basil, Italian oregano, chives, green onion, and thyme. I grow these "must haves" in large pots both in the city and down at our rural cabin property, as I just can't cook for long without them.......and our cabin is 10 miles from the nearest grocery store.

Thats close! My nearest groc store is 30 miles! Like you, green onion, onion chives, lemon thyme, french thyme, Hilltop oregano, leaf celery, Italian flat leaf parsley, fern leaf dill (weeds the way they grow), cilantro'Confetti', Tuscan Blue and Goriza rosemaries, mojito mint, Kentucky Colonel spearmint and peppermint, and as of yet haven't found another herb we would use.

My order of 6 lavender types came, plus I went to Lowe's and got 5 more lavenders. I'm determined to find the most fragrant that I can grow, something I can repeat my experience with my previous house.

SoCal, my Hidcote is only just leafing and already is crazy fragrant. I'm wondering if the extreme freeze has anything to do with it

Have any of you had success with growing lavender just from cuttings in water? I've read that it's one method that works, but haven't had any success that way.