Fresh Annual Herbs
Are A Culinary Delight

Annual Herbs are easy and fun to grow. Plants can be grown in the garden or in containers.

A container of fresh basil to be used for culinary dishes. Nice green mounding plant that does well in containers and will provide plenty of basil leaves for you to dry and use in the winter months.

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Annual and Biennial Herbs

Annuals germinate, flower, produce seeds and die in one season. Biennials will form greenery during the first season but won't flower until the second season.

Angelica	Coriander	Parsley
Anise	Cumin	Pennyroyal (American)
Basil	Dill	Perilla
Borage	Fennel	Rosemary
Calendula	Garlic	Safflower
Caraway	Lemon grass	Scented geraniums
Chamomile (German)	Lemon verbena	Sesame
Chervil	Marjoram	Summer Savory
Clary	Oregano	Watercress

Parsley is a biennial herb, but its best harvested during the first year. If allowed to grow a second year there will be fewer leaves and a bitter taste to them.

Caraway is a biennial that is grown for it's seeds. The first year the plant will only produce leaves. The second year it will flower and produce seeds.

Herbs For Beginners to Grow

The easiest annual herbs to grow are basil, chives, and dill.

When growing chives you'll want to place them into containers as they have a tendancy to be invasive in a garden setting.
Getting rid of chives planted by a previous homeowner has been one of my biggest struggles over the years. The plant has a waxy coating that doesn't absorb weed killer, making hand digging the only way to get rid of them!

Grow annual herbs with annual flowers amongst your perennials and shrubs if your yard is lacking space for a kitchen garden.

Plant herb plants using the same methods as planting annuals to ensure your plants the best start possible.

Harvesting Annual Herbs

Herb leaves carry enough flavor throughout the season that you can harvest them as soon as the plants are large enough.
Trim healthy green leaves from the plants as you need them. Try not to damage the main stems that the leaves are growing on.

Leaves harvested after flowers have formed on the plant can be bitter tasting. Pinch off flower stalks as soon as you see them forming and you won't have to worry about bitter tasting leaves.
Towards the end of the growing season you can experiment with letting the plants flower, produce their seeds and harvest the seeds to be used in your garden next year.