Potpourris can make wonderful gifts, easily enjoyed in a variety of ways. You can simply put it into ornamental jars or pots, where the fragrance will waft out every time the lid is opened. But why not be a little more adventurous? Use your potpourri to make sachets, hot pads, herbal pillows…

To make a sachet, you will need squares or rounds of colorful cotton. Since the fragrance is floral and spicy, you could choose floral prints, solid colors with lacy trim. Place several tablespoons of your fragrant potpourri in the center of each fabric piece, and gather together the edges. Tie it with a colorful ribbon, a pretty cord or a piece of lace. Lavender is probably the most desirable herb to use in sachets, but you can also use other aromatics. These sachets can scent your drawers, closets, luggage or even be tossed into the dryer to scent clothing. As their scent decreases, put them into a glass jar, add a few drops of essential oil and put on the lid. In a week, they’ll be ready to use again.

Herbal hot pads are easy to make, and they are always a welcome hostess gift. Use a pre-quilted fabric, or quilt your own pieces, about ten inches square. With right sides together, stitch 3 sides, and then turn right side out. Hem the open side, but don’t close it. Instead add snaps or velcro to hold it closed. Make a second square bag with muslin or cotton, and stuff it loosely with potpourri or dried herbs. Ones that you use in cooking, such as rosemary, sage, and thyme, or spicy cloves, cinnamon bark or star anise will definitely suit a herbal hot pad. Sew it closed, and slip it into your prepared hot pad. As hot dishes are set onto it,  those fragrances within will be released.

Herbal pillows are made like herbal hot pads, but here you can let your creativity soar. Make them rectangular, circular, or even heart-shaped. Use pretty ribbon or lace, or decorative stitching. Herb-scented pillows filled with lavender or hyssop are useful for helping people sleep. However, you can use any herbal blend you like. Again, these attractive  pillows make special gifts.

Another way to enjoy a potpourri or a spice blend is to simmer it. You can simply add some to a saucepan of water and let it simmer on top of the stove. However, you can often find a handmade pottery potpourri pot. These are often one piece, with a space below to set a tea-light candle, and above a bowl to hold water with potpourri, essential oil, or spice blends added. Just add water, some of your favorite herbs, essential oil or potpourri, light the candle, and you will soon have wonderful aromas permeating the air. One of these pots along with your special home blended potpourri would be a wonderful gift to give.

Potpourris can make wonderful gifts, easily enjoyed in a variety of ways. You can simply put it into ornamental jars or pots, where the fragrance will waft out every time the lid is opened. But why not be a little more adventurous? Use your potpourri to make sachets, hotpads, herbal pillows.

To make a sachet, you will need squares or rounds of colorful cotton. Since the fragrance is floral and spicy, you could choose floral prints, solid colors with lacy trim. Place several tablespoons of your potpourri in the center of each fabric piece, and gather together the edges. Tie it with a colorful ribbon, a pretty cord or a piece of lace. These sachets can scent your drawers, closets, luggage or even be tossed into the dryer to scent clothing. As their scent decreases, put them into a glass jar, add a few drops of essential oil and put on the lid. In a week, they’ll be ready to use again.

Herbal hotpads are easy to make, and they are always a welcome hostess gift. Use a pre-quilted fabric, or quilt your own pieces, about ten inches square. With right sides together, stitch 3 sides, and then turn right side out. Hem the open side, but don’t close it. Instead add snaps or velcro to hold it closed. Make a second square bag with muslin or cotton, and stuff it loosely with potpourri or dried herbs. Sew it closed, and slip it into your prepared hotpad. As hot dishes are set onto it, the hotpad will release those fragrances within.

Herbal pillows are made like herbal hotpads, but here you can let your creativity soar. Make them rectangular, circular, or even heart-shaped. Use pretty ribbon or lace, or decorative stitching. Herb-scented pillows filled with lavender or hyssop are useful for helping people sleep. However, you can use any herbal blend you like. Again, these attractive  pillows make special gifts.

Another way to enjoy a potpourri or a spice blend is to simply simmer it. Just add some to a saucepan of water and let it simmer on top of the stove. However, you can often find a handmade pottery potpourri pot. These are often one piece, with a space below to set a tea-light candle, and above a bowl to hold water with potpourri, essential oil, or spice blends added. Just light the candle, and you will have the aromas soon permeating the air. Make a spicy mix with allspice, star anise, cinnamon stick, citrus peel and whole cloves. One of these pots along with your special home blended potpourri would be a wonderful gift to give.

Summer and winter savory are dissimilar in life cycle and appearance, so are usually grown separately. Summer savory, an annual herb, grows best in rich soil, full of humus and with good drainage, so is often grown along with vegetables in the garden. It can fit in at the ends of your rows of vegetables, where it will grow into a bushy plant about 18 inches tall. With its lanky stems and narrow leaves, it is not one of the most beautiful herbs. However, its texture will complement larger leafed annual herbs like basil. If you have a separate annual herb bed, plant it there, alongside basil, marjoram and parsley. Throughout the summer, harvest this herb as required, taking off the growing tips to encourage growth.

Summer Savory

On the other hand, winter savory is a hardy perennial herb, surviving in areas with temperatures down to -20F. It appreciates a less fertile but well drained soil, and can handle a moderate drought. With needle-like foliage that covers the stems quite thickly, it will grow into a thick mound about 12 inches tall. This neat bushy growth habit it makes a good edging plant. It can be planted with other perennial herbs like thyme and sage, or with your low growing perennials like dianthus and thrift. It even works well in rock gardens.

Start sumer savory from seeds, indoors in early April. Don’t cover the seeds, since they need light to germinate. The seeds germinate quickly and the seedlings can be hardened off and planted outside when the weather is reliably frost-free. Winter savory is slow to germinate from seed, so you may be better to buy a healthy nursery plant or two. They can be placed in the garden in either spring or early fall. Once it is growing in the garden, it is easy to propagate from cuttings or layering, and as it ages and becomes woody, it will need dividing.

Winter Savory

Neither savory needs much maintenance if you have provided the proper growing conditions. They are seldom bothered by insect pests or diseases. Summer savory will love a watering with fish emulsion to kick start regrowth after harvesting, but winter savory will thrive quite nicely all summer with just a little compost top dressing each spring.

Both savories are easy to harvest and preserve. Harvest summer savory throughout the summer and fall, and if you are going to preserve it for winter use, do so just before the plant flowers. Winter savory can be sheared any time, and the trimmings used right away or dried. Both savories are easy to dry, either in a dehydrator or by air drying. You can also remove the leaves from the stems and freeze them in bags. One other preservation method is to make a savory pesto by pureeing the leaves in a food processor with olive or safflower oil. Freeze the paste in ice cube trays, and pop the frozen cubes into freezer bags. You can then drop them into soups, stews or sauces.

Many combinations of textures and colors can be used to make a wreath to complement your front door. First look for plants that make good fillers – santolina, Powis Castle artemisia, oregano, lavender and variegated sage are good starting plants. These are all fairly supple, as well as having lovely scents. Cut your pieces about ten inches long, and lay them carefully in the basket so they don’t get mixed up and tangled.

Look for plants that will add accents and color, like the flower heads of late chrysanthemums, statice flowers, monarda, yarrow or pussy toes (wild antennaria). Find some with different textures, such as rosemary, fallen cones, trimming from shrubs such as escallonia or firethorn, with its red berry bunches.

Now, you will need a base for your wreath. You can find different wreath forms at your local craft store. They will usually be made of straw bound with wire, or of twined grape vines. Either type will work well. You will also need a sturdy wire for hanging the wreath, some shears, floral pins and needle nose pliers. Use the wire and pliers to make a u-shaped hanger, and insert it in the top back of the wreath form. Use the pliers to curl the wire ends into the base form securely.

Now, make full bundles of your filler and accent plants and fasten them together with floral tape or wire, and trim the ends evenly. Keep the accent plants on top so they are visible. Now pin the bundle to the base, starting about half way down. If your bundle of plants doesn’t completely cover the width of the wreath base, place two or three side by side.

Now, work around the wreath, covering the stem ends of the previous bundles each time. With the last bundles, make sure you tuck the stem ends under the foliage of the very first bundles. Now, hang up your wreath, and have a good look at it. See what needs to be tucked in, covered or trimmed to tidy it up. Use some of the smaller pieces left over, or some of the decorative items as accents tucked into spaces. If you want, add some colorful ribbon spiralling around the wreath or as a bow near the bottom, and you’re all done!

You can leave your wreath flat to dry, or hang it up immediately. Some shifting may occur if you hang it, so keep an eye on it. If it is cool enough outside, you can hang it on the front door right away, and it will welcome your visitors with color, fragrance and beauty.

The supplies you’ll need for making herb vinegar are as follows:

Sterilized glass jar, with lid, your home-grown, organic herbs, and the vinegar of your choice. Most vinegars can be used, but try to match the vinegar to the herb. More delicately flavored herbs go well with white or champagne wine vinegars, while a stronger-flavored herb like tarragon or rosemary would work well with a zesty red vinegar. Cider vinegar has a strong “bitey” flavor already, so you’ll have to compensate for that flavor when trying different flavor combinations of the herbs you want to use.

Prepare your herbs by harvesting them in early morning, and washing them gently and drying them thoroughly. Place them inside the jar and pour in your choice of vinegar. Fasten the lid tightly, and let your herb vinegar stand for about six weeks. Strain out the herbs and return the clear flavored vinegar to a clean and sterilized container. It’s now ready to use for cooking or salad dressing.

You can also use your organically grown herbs to make organic herb oil. Herb oil is excellent to use on salads and to add extra flavor for cooking. Organic herb oil also makes a fantastic dip for bread. Some herb oils can also make wonderfully fragrant bath oils, or depending on the oil you use, can also be used to moisturize your skin.

A word of caution, when it comes to herb oil – it must be kept refrigerated. Herb oil is an ideal medium for bacteria to grow in, including certain fatal bacteria. It is imperative you refrigerate your herb oil. Keep the unused herb oil from fresh herbs for no more than two weeks; after that, discard it. Mark a date on the jar so you know how long you have had the oil, and if it is left out of the refrigerator, throw it away!

With dried herbs, your herbal oil is much less likely to be contaminated with bacteria. If you prepare your herb oil with fully dried herbs; you can store the unused herb oil in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. Again, when the four weeks are up, throw it away!

To make herb oil you will need a sterilized jar or bottle with a lid, oil, and your home-grown, organic herbs (either fresh, frozen, or dried). Remember, if you use dried herbs, you’ll be able to store the unused portion in the refrigerator longer, and there is little chance of introducing bacteria or fungus, as there is with fresh herbs. If you’re going to use the herb oil primarily for cooking or salads, it’s recommended you use extra virgin olive oil. It is possible to use other oils such as almond, grape seed, sunflower and sesame oils. Never use mineral oil. Jojoba oil is a good choice if you plan to make a bath or cosmetic oil.

One method is to heat the oil gently in a double boiler, and add your prepared herbs. Do not allow the oil to get too hot, as it will change the flavor and quality of the oil. Let the oil and herb mixture cool, and leave it for about a week in the refrigerator for the flavor to disperse throughout the oil. Remove the herbs by straining the oil. Add a few drops of Vitamin E oil, and pour the flavored oil into the sterilized jar or bottle and screw the lid on tightly. Label the date and refrigerate. Whenever you use the herbal oil, make sure you return it to the refrigerator promptly.

As you can see, there are many uses for organically grown herbs. You will save money by not having to buy your favorite herbal vinegars at the store anymore. You can just make them yourself, as well a delicious herbal oils. You’ll also notice a huge taste difference by using your organically grown herbs in these two preparations, compared to store bought ones.

The culinary herb, basil, is a tender annual used in much Mediterranean cooking

Culinary Thyme is a small perennial shrub. Its tiny leaves add flavor to meats and poultry.

Sage has the strongest flavor of all culinary herbs.

Oregano, a sprawling perennial herb, is a familiar ingredient in Mediterranean cooking.

Herbs are quite easy to grow, can thrive in most soils (excepting soggy ones), and will not take up much space. Why not plant a collection of herbs, just for kitchen use, either in their own special garden, or in containers just outside the kitchen door. You will use them more often if they are close by. Choose a spot with about six hours of sun, and near a source of water. Plant the herbs you use most often in your cooking, and soon you will be picking fresh herbs all summer.

If you are a beginner, you can start with purchased plants, although many herbs are easy to start from seed. Farmers markets and roadside stands, as well as nurseries are all good sources. Buy enough to get you started, and include your favorites for different combinations of herbs for your kitchen creations. Include annuals like dill, coriander and basil, and perennials such as thyme, oregano, sage and chives. Parsley, a biennial, is a must have herb as well.

These can be potted up in containers, or put directly into the garden space close by the kitchen. There are certain advantages to growing herbs in containers. If you don’t have the garden space, you can keep your herbs on a patio, plant them in a windowbox, or keep them on a sunny windowsill in your kitchen. They will be easy to move around for the best light, it will be easy to water and feed them, and they will be right at hand for use. Perennial kitchen herbs will, however, grow better planted directly into a garden. Know the growing conditions best for each herb, and its mature height and spread before you plant.

You can also integrate cooking herbs into your flower or vegetable beds if you can not find space for a herb garden near your kitchen door. Many culinary herbs, such as variegated sage, thyme and parsley make attractive additions to your landscaping. However, if you are going to use them in cooking, never use pesticides or chemical fertilizers on or near them. For this reason alone, culinary herbs are best located in their own area.

Most herbs have the best flavor just before they flower, so keep using and pinching off the growing tips of your kitchen herbs. This will delay flowering and also encourage the plants to branch out and grow more full. If the plants do decide to flower, then just cut the whole plant back by about a third, and this will encourage new foliage growth. And, start using them more!

For best flavor, harvest your kitchen herbs just before flower buds open, when the concentration of essential oils is highest. This is especially important if you are harvesting to dry them for the winter. Whether you are going to dry them, or use them fresh, pick them in early morning, after dew has dried, but before the sun warms them and disperses the essential oils.

Perennial herb gardens will give you an inexpensive and fresh supply of many herbs. Eight of the best culinary ones that come back every year are mint, Greek oregano, thyme, chives, winter savoury, rosemary, sage and French tarragon.

Mint can be an invasive plant, but if you plant it in a bucket or bottomless container sunk in the ground, you can contain it somewhat. It has pretty purple flower on a small spike, and exudes a fresh smell. Its strong flavor complements lamb, peas, fish sauces, chocolate and vegetables. The leaves, harvested fresh, make a refreshing tea, or you can cut the stalks and hang them to dry for winter use.

Oregano may not over winter well in cold climates, but if you cut it back in fall and shelter it with straw, it will often rejuvenate in spring. It’s strong sage-like flavor is used in Mediterranean cooking, especially tomato dishes. Prune it back regularly, as it tends to sprawl, with the stems rooting where they touch soil. Hang your pruned stem in bunches to dry, as dried oregano retains good flavor.

Culinary thyme is a small shrub with tiny aromatic flavorful leaves. Use it with most meats, in soups and sauces, stews, stuffings, and even in breads. It likes a sunny spot, and needs clipping back in spring to encourage new growth.
Thyme has attractive flowers, so can be a good addition to a path border or garden edging. Use it fresh or cut the sprigs before flowering, and hang them to dry. Rub the dry leaves from the stems and store them in a cool, dry, airtight container.

Chives are part of the onion family, and the green hollow spears add a mild onion flavor to salads, eggs, sauces, vegetables and dips. Just snip off the leaves as needed. They are easily started from seed, and will soon expand to a clump of bulbs and tops. Thin the clumps every three years for best growth. Chives will die down in late fall, and in spring, the new green shoots are often the first green in the garden. Chives do not dry well, but it is easy to pot up a small clump to grow indoors in winter.

Winter savoury is a bushy hardy perennial with a peppery flavor. It can be used to flavor teas, herb butters and herb vinegars as well as other dishes. Winter savoury does best in drier medium soil, since that is its natural habitat. As the shrub ages, the leaves become sparser, so take cuttings and start new plants every three years or so. This herb has been used for hundreds of years, and has some medicinal qualities as well.

Rosemary can grow into a lovely shrub, with its needle-like leaves and tiny blue flowers. It is hardy only in zones 8 – 10, but can easily be grown in a container and over wintered in a cool sunny greenhouse or enclosed porch. It has a very pungent scent and flavor, so can easily overpower a dish. Use it with roast chicken and meats, and in stews. Finely chopped leaves make a nice addition to breads and biscuits. Dry it for winter use, or just put fresh sprigs in freezer bags and freeze it.

Sage has a strong bitter flavor, and is generally used in stuffings, stews, sausages and herb breads. A little sage goes a long way in cooking.
It comes in many colorful varieties, and as a small shrub, can be planted around the garden as an attractive filler plant. It will grow in most climates, and if cut back severely in fall, will come back well next spring. It also can be dried, and the dried herb retains its full strong flavor.

French Tarragon has slender green leaves with a licorice aroma and a loose shrubby growth. It cannot be grown from seed, but you can take cuttings from the new growth in fall to start new plants. Its licorice flavor makes it an interesting addition to vinegars, fish dishes, poultry and vegetables. Freshly cut tarragon will last for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Before you plan your perennial garden, research each herb to familiarize yourself with the best growing conditions and soil type. You can grow them in containers, but most perennial herbs prefer a permanent position in the garden. Decide which ones you will actually use in cooking, teas or herbal preparations. Your perennial herb garden will supply you with both fresh and dried herbs to enjoy for many more years.

The first question to answer is where to put the garden. Look out your kitchen window for inspiration. You probably already trek back and forth between the herbs and the kitchen every day of the growing season. You can cut that trekking down by siting your garden near the kitchen door. You will need a sunny spot with good air circulation and easy access to water.

Next, consider how much time you have to devote to maintenance. This will determine how big the garden is, whether to make it formal or informal, and what kind of plants to use. Your gardening budget plays a big part in this, as well. If you’re new to herb gardening, it will be easiest to design, plant, and maintain a small space. A 6 to 8 foot square or round garden will be plenty large to begin.

Designing a Formal Garden
Formal herb gardens are geometric, usually subdivided into symmetrical spaces by gravel or brick paths or low hedges. Herbs are planted in the spaces, with a pattern in mind. You can grow a different culinary, fragrance or medicinal herb in each section, or perhaps plant herbs of a single color in each space. Your garden shape could be circular, diamond, a square within a square, or shaped like a wheel.

Imagination, and planning are essential in designing a formal garden. A formal herb garden should be planned out on graph paper. It should be 6 feet square or larger. For inspiration, find patterns of knot gardens in herb books. A formal herb garden is best planned as a feature or centerpiece of your main garden, or as a stand-alone feature. A piece of garden sculpture such as a fountain, a statue or a sundial can be used to create a focal point with herbs and flowers encircling it.

Informal Gardens

Most herb gardens seem to be very informal, and the herbs sprawl and creep all over the place. They are a little bit untamed, but this makes for a nice mix of textures, foliage and flower color, and plant heights. A little bit of planning goes a long way, so do pay attention to the mature spread and heights of your herbs. You don’t want that rampant mint to choke out your chives, or the tall rosemary bush to shade your sun-loving basil.

Pay some attention to foliage – plant some fuzzy gray-green herbs among the green or some ferny-leafed ones with the broad-leafed ones. This will make your garden more visually interesting. As you gain experience, you’ll see just where to add a sage here or a chive there. Mix it up!

Your can plant your herbs as a theme garden devoted to culinary uses, potpourri mixes, or tea herbs. Other types of theme gardens concentrate on bloom color, an all white garden or one with only shades or purple, yellow, red. You could go with themes around use of herbs: one for Italian cooking herbs, or herbs just for enhancing health, or edible flowers and salad herbs.

If you live in a hot dry area, consider planting Mediterranean herbs such as lavender, thyme, sage, rosemary and artemisia. If your yard has more shade than sun, suitable herbs would be any of the mints, valerian, foxglove, sweet cicely, sweet woodruff, angelica, and lady’s mantle. If you are planning to grow annuals and perennials, group all annuals together to make taking care of them easier.

Low growing herbs are especially suitable for rock gardens. Make your rockery with local rocks you’ve placed and dig them in so they look as natural as possible. Plant low herbs among them. Start with chives, Roman chamomile, bush basil, dwarf oregano, dwarf sage, winter savory and the creeping or upright thymes. Prostrate rosemary, golden marjoram, lady’s mantle, parsley, and saffron crocus are good rock garden plants as well. Throw in a few marigold and calendula seeds for color.

These are some ideas for planning and designing your herb garden. Study photos of herb gardens in herb books, look them up on the internet. See what catches your eye, and what you draw away from. Then think about what types of herbs you ill use, where you can locate them, and how far your budget will stretch, and have some fun. This will be an investment of your time, imagination, space and money that will repay you for years.

You’ll find your blends vary with the seasons. Summer teas may include lemon or cinnamon basil, along with tender pineapple sage and a bit of scented geranium. The pushy mint plants will provide you with zesty leaves spring, summer and fall. In winter, you can use your dried herbs and still enjoy your favorite blends.

Your home grown herbal teas have several benefits. First, they are fresh, and grown free of pesticides and other chemicals routine used in commercial growing and processing. They cost next to nothing, beyond the initial cost of the seeds or starter plants. And you can grow a variety of herbs for tea, giving you an unlimited number of tea blends to enjoy.

Herbal teas are mainly made from leaves, but can include some flowers or seeds. Calendula flowers, rose petals and spikes of lavender can be used. Seeds from dill, along with chive flower heads can make a bouillon-type tea along with parsley and savoury leaves.

Some of the easiest tea herbs to grow are:

Mint – This cooling and refreshing plant, with several varieties will need restraining in your garden, since they’re rapid runners. The active ingredients act on the digestive system, helping with nausea, cramps and abdominal pains. Choose 3 or more varieties, such as spearmint, apple mint, peppermint, pineapple mint and ginger mint, and plant them in a half-barrel. In fall, cut and dry the leafy stalks for winter teas.

Chamomile – Sprinkle some chamomile seeds on any soil, and you’ll have chamomile forever. Harvest the flowers for teas, either as buds or full blooms, and dry them. Be careful not to over-steep the tea, as it will get bitter. Chamomile blends well with spearming or lemon balm.

Bergamot – This decorative herb, often grown for its gorgeous color, requires moist fertile soil. Use the leaves in blends with other herbs, or even with black tea.

Roses – Not usually though of as a tea herb, the hip or rose fruit is often brewed for tea. Rugosa or wild roses make the best teas. Dry rosehips by cutting them in half and scooping out the seeds and fibers. Once dried, you can pulverize the hard hips in the blender. They can also be used fresh, as can rose petals.

Lemon Herbs – Three lemon-scented and flavored herbs add a citrus tang to your herb teas. They are lemon balm, lemon verbena and lemon grass. The first two are perennials, and can be used fresh or dried. Lemon grass is a tropical plant, and can be grown in a container. Just a few spears make a mild and delicious lemony tea.

Most herbal teas will be steeped longer than black tea, but you will have to experiment, since taste varies from herb to herb. Some, like sage and rosemary are stronger and more bitter, while lemon balm and anise-hyssop are milder. Teas from garden grown herbs are as varied as your imagination, and a little experimental brewing and sipping will be necessary to find your perfect blends.