Cocktail Garden

 
 
My garden is a disaster, i.e. virtually empty. There was a brief, shining moment when we experienced bounty. The decline started when we lost our favorite banana trees to Hurricane Gustav. That was followed by extreme temperatures and little rain, which taxed even the hardiest of our plants, despite our watering efforts. This winter, a late, surprise frost turned everything tropical into brown sticks. Overall, I'm not sure I'm cut out for gardening. 

But the one thing I do every year is plant an herb garden. It's easy to plant and maintain, and the rewards are great. This year, my focus is on creating a cocktail garden. I do cook with herbs, of course, and there will always be a supply of the basics on hand. But summer so often brings impromptu guests and alfresco dining, and utilizing herbs in cocktails just makes sense.  It's a nice way to embrace the season. 

If you'd like to plant a cocktail garden along with me, I'll be sharing recipes over the summer. There will be cocktails, of course, but also ice cream recipes, sodas, lemonades, infused syrups, and the like. 

Here's a list of some of the herbs I'll be planting in my cocktail garden - 

Basics found in most garden stores or nurseries:

• Rosemary
• Sage
• Sweet Basil
• Thyme
• Cilantro
• Spearmint (I find you can never have enough mint. Whatever you think you'll need, double it. Plant it in its own pots or it will overtake everything else.)

Worth Searching Out

• Culinary Lavender (Dried lavender is excellent for infusing spirits and syrups, and a little goes a long way. Fresh flower buds also make a nice garnish.)
• Lemon Verbena (Sometimes you can find lemon verbena at farmer's markets. You can also order it online, which is what I did last year. It grows from cuttings, rather than seed. Plant several pots.)
• French Tarragon
• Cinnamon Basil
• Anise Hyssop (look for Agastache foeniculum)
• Lemon Balm
• Shiso (aka perilla or Japanese basil)
• Thai Basil
• Lemon Grass
• Flavored Mints (I'm intrigued by some of these - orange and pineapple, in particular.)

Mail Order Source - The Growers Exchange

Use this Tower of Herbs design from Martha Stewart Living - perfect for compact spaces.

 

 

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Comments

[Canada Flowers]

It's a nice nostalgic piece of plant. It's very vintage and yet very airy to look at.

[Terri]

That's a great idea! I'm definitely going to add mint to my list of herbs that I plan on growing this year (I'm already planning on growing the rest in your list of basics), and see if I can track down some lemon verbana.

[Whitney @ Whisker Graphics]

What a great idea! I'm no gardener, so I'll have to live the gardening life through your blog post. :)