Herb Pots

As promised, I was very busy over the long weekend catching up with the gardening jobs that had been playing on my mind for a few weeks. 

I seem to have developed a herb garden in containers on the patio.  I didn't aim for this as is the case with most things in this garden!  But it's looking good if I do say so myself.  I got all my herbs at Dobbies and B&Q.

I'll go through them from left to right.

In the first pot is Lemon Balm and Oregano 

The scent from the Lemon Balm is really strong and summery!  I may have done the wrong thing putting it in a pot with another plant since it's from the mint family and tends to take over.  I'll just have to keep an eye on it and cut it back if it starts to get too boisterous!  Oregano seems like a good herb for beginners too as it doesn't need much looking after.  Once it has established in it's pot it'll cope pretty well with anything.
I got my information for these herbs from the following sites:
http://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-lemon-balm/
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/growingoregano.html



In the second pot is Chives, Parsley and a random Lobellia.
I planted these guys in early April so they are well established and much further on than the other herbs.  The Parsley is a bit naughty as he tries to take over the pot (which I wasn't expecting... the parsley plants from the supermarket never look that bushy!).  I have loads of dried Parsley from this plant alone and always have a fresh garnish when I'm cooking for visitors.  The Chives are holding their own though.  At the beginning they were going yellowy brown at the tips and some stalks were dying off entirely.  I did a wee Google search to see what I was doing wrong but came to the conclusion that they may have been a wee bit stressed with the re-potting and would bounce back slowly by themselves.  This does seem to be the case.   I even gave them a haircut during the weekend and took some chopped Chive stalks to a friends house who was cooking dinner for us.  It's nice to take something different when going to someone's house for dinner - they were pleasantly impressed with a bottle of wine and fresh cut herbs!
I got advice for Chives and Parsley from the following sites:
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/GrowingChives.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/herbs/msg0405010918747.html
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/GrowingParsley.html

The third pot has Thyme Silver and Curry Plant

I love the look of these plants.  The eye is drawn to them amid all the green of the other herbs.  I'm not entirely convinced that either of them will survive as they like full sun and not much water.  In Scotland we have the opposite!  But we'll see.  The Curry Plant has a really strong smell of curry when you rub the leaves but apparently it doesn't taste as strong as it's scent which is a shame.  I just like the idea that I have a curry plant though!  And I love making curries so maybe I'll be able to use the plant for something if it survives.  A Google search doesn't come up with much for the Curry Plant unfortunately, especially for the UK.  It's often confused with Curry Leaves which is different.  The link below should help a wee bit.
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/GrowingThyme.html
http://myfolia.com/plants/56-thyme-thymus-vulgaris/varieties/10414-silver
http://theherbgardener.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/how-to-grow-curry-plant.html


In the fourth pot is Rosemary
This is a lovely big plant and is doing well.  Advice is to look out for Rosemary Beetle but I'm not sure if that would come up this far north.  I look for pests regularly though.
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/GrowingRosemary.html

The big pot is a Blueberry Bush
There's more to this Blueberry Bush (affectionately known in my family as "The Stick") than meets the eye.  I will blog about this another day.

The small blue pot is mint
I'm particularly proud of my mint plant.  I know it doesn't take much for it to grow well but as a beginner gardener, the fact that it survived at all is an achievement!  It looked a bit spindly when I first got it and I was sure it was on it's way out.  However, its now roaring!  
http://www.herbexpert.co.uk/GrowingMint.html

The pot after the watering can is Lavender and Lobellia

I love the smell of lavender.  I got the little lavender plant as part of a special offer at the garden centre and it'll be good to attract bees and butterflies.  I'm saving a corner of the garden for a proper lavender plant though.  I remember the expanse of the Norfolk lavender fields when I was a child.  My mum used to get her lavender from there when we lived in Lincolnshire (nigh on 20 years ago) and I would love to take her back next year for her 60th birthday.  Then it'll be my turn to buy lavender for my own garden!

The next few containers are potatoes
I was a bit late getting the potatoes into their containers.  They were chitting in my mum's conservatory and we all forgot about them!  Hopefully I'll still get a couple of edible tatties...
There are lots of websites with information on how to grow potatoes but my main source of advice is my mum who's been growing potatoes for years!  Once I've been through the whole cycle I'll do a more detailed blog post on my experience and learning.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/potatoes

Coriander

 I've kept the re-potted coriander plant on my doorstep to keep it sheltered.  I doubt this little guy will survive as he came from the supermarket and he'll have been grown under glass so the fact he's outside now means he won't be happy.  But there's method in my madness!  My dad managed to grow supermarket coriander outside so I did a bit of research.  My dad is a very experienced gardener so most things under his care do survive but by all intents and purposes, supermarket herbs are very difficult to grow in the garden.  Instead I'm hoping my coriander plant will run to seed then I can start from scratch so that I have a well weathered coriander plant from the beginning.  It's an experiment that's maybe a bit advanced for me yet but we'll see!


The Bay Trees

You can only see one tree in this picture but there are two.  The trees came from my mum's house (she couldn't find a place to keep them without forgetting about them and I have the perfect spot on my patio).  I really haven't had to do much with them so far.  The trees were bought in the lollipop style and have stayed that way without much effort from me.  The one you can see in the photo is looking healthier than the one you can't see.  I think this is because the one you can't see fell over during the winter and mum didn't notice till the end of February.  I've kept them both in a sheltered position and have pruned off all the unhealthy looking leaves (brown, chewed or discoloured).  Also, little stalks were popping up from the roots so I have cut these off so that the trees' energy goes to the lollipop at the top.  I got most of my information from this website:
http://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/herbs/bay-tree.php




I hope you enjoyed that wee tour of the herb pots.  I've got a lot to keep my eye on but trying not to fall into the new gardener trap of killing things with love!  It's very hard to just let them get on with it without me fussing around!