Is there any reason not to plant herbs between roses? It would be convenient, since the Rose path is right outside the kitchen door.
I have checked several "complementary" sites and none of them seem to object, but wanted to get this NGs reaction.
Herbs are: Sage, Basil, Parsley, Oregano.
Note that an old Rosemary bush has been in the Rose path for years w/o any perceptible problems.
(I do hope the new "from" address will placate my critics.)
Persephone
Be careful with oregano. It can be as invasive as mint. Grow it in a
12" flower pot instead of in the ground.Basil is an annual, and parsley is a biennial. Both have to be replanted.
Basil and sage attract snails, enough so that the herbs can be destroyed. I plant mine in flower pots with copper wire wound three times around just under the pot's rim. None of my other herbs seem to have this problem.
Perennial herbs in my garden include peppermint (Mentha piperita), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), golden thyme (Thymus vulgaris 'Aureus', currently in bloom), sage (Salvia officinalis), oregano (Origanum vulgare), and bay (Laurus nobilis). When the weather permits, there are also such annual herbs as basil (Ocimum basilicum) and dill (Anethum graveolens). All of these are growing in 12" flower pots in my back yard.
In font, I have a rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis) in the ground. It's about 30 years old. It's taller than I am and is currently in bloom. It has beautiful branches, all twisted and gnarled; I prune it to expose those branches.
I can see a problem planting herbs near roses. I dump a lot of cow manure, compost, rotted leaves, fish emulsion around the roses. The soil is very rich in organic matter, but many herbs do better in poor soil. I have garlic growing as a companion plant to the rose, and garlic likes the same kind of soil. Parsley likes rich soil. Rosemay and sage grow well together.
Come, come, child, adversity builds character.
Thyme is the most obviously absent choice that you have.
Then you could hum "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme". What? What's that moaning I hear? Humph.
Have you seen that BBC mystery series "Rosemary and Thyme"? It's about a couple of lady gardeners who dig up stiffs (if I can say that) on a regular basis than that Fletcher lady. Good show if your not too demanding.
But if companion planting is what you're looking for, garlic and onions are the herbs for you. I mean, herbs are nice but without garlic and onions there isn't a "real" meal.
Hmmmm. You do seem kinda familiar.
Tell you what, I'll give ya 3 steps toward the door ;O)
Then truly a Titan you are!
Charlie
"To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; To forgive wrongs darker than death or night; To defy Power, which seems omnipotent: To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates From its own wreck the thing it contemplates; Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent; This, like thy glory,Titan, is to be Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free; This is alone Life, Joy, Empire and Victory."
--- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Right, thanks. The nurseries have been erratic in what they display.
I used to be a big fan of that show. The leads were like real people, and the Englishly-understated locations were such fun.
You got THAT right! I do have garlic between the roses, and a huge crop of green onions, which I have to eat up before they go to seed. I use a lot in one of my favorite dishes -- the quesadilla. In case they don't have it in your part of the country, it is made of two large flour tortillas filled with GOOD cheddar (I pay too much for 3-year- old Canadian cheddar), chopped green onions and thin-sliced tomatoes. Salt and pepper and cook on stovetop in a flat iron skillet, weighed down with -- something. I have a great old iron press that people always want to swipe from me.
But surely not vulgar...
where Haaretz is coming from?
Oops - forget it - not about to open THAT can of Palestinian propaganda worms.
Thank you! Very helpful. I will pot them up instead of the Rose path idea.
I did a horrible pruning job on my Rosemary, which is over 30 years old. Have to wait until it recovers, and will keep in mind your idea of exposing the branches.
Thanks to you, too Phishie. Reminds me to feed my roses.
Have learned a lot about herbs & their needs in this conversation; much obliged.
Maybe just common.
Israel?
Silly me. Now I recognize you. That explains all the blood stains.
It's just sooo hard to get the mix right.
Unless they are annual herbs, I don't recommend them for planting with roses. Most perennial herbs are Mediterranean in origin and prefer lean soil and dry conditions. This is pretty much the opposite of what roses would like (rich, fertile soil, regular watering, frequent fertilization) and keeping one happy is going to provoke the other. If the planting area is large enough, you might be able to get by with them as a border or edging situation, but as David indicates, several spread rather aggressively.
Basil and parsley would work fine - they are quite happy in conditions roses prefer.
On 4/3/2009 8:05 PM, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote [in part]:
Be careful when pruning rosemary. If you head back a branch, you must leave some green foliage below the cut. Otherwise, the entire branch will die back to its base. This is true with several other plants in the same family, including sage and lavender. Thinning cuts (removing an entire branch) are okay.
On Apr 3, 6:15=A0pm, "David E. Ross" wrote: ...
...
Its a good thing I planted my oregano in the middle of my mint patch. I can only hope that it will be as successful.
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