With an Italian herb garden, the sky is the limit for you in terms of possibilities. Italy is popular of their tastiest and renowned culinary herbs. Most people indulge in Italian cuisines due to the herbs used.

Basil gets the credit on being the most popular and most used Italian herb in many Italian recipes. Aside from increasing the Italian cuisine indulgence, basil is also useful to other plants outdoors. It can improve your peppers’ and tomatoes’ flavor if you plant it next to them. Another good thing, basil can also repel flies and mosquitoes.

Parley is useful in many dishes or type of cuisines although it is a quite hard herb to grow. Before the breath mints were invented, raw parsley was chewed after a tasty meal to reduce the likelihood of bad breath. This gave rise to the tradition of serving parsley on small dishes after the meal. Today, the tradition continues with parsley being used as garnish on a variety of dishes.

Oregano can either be used for culinary or ornamental purposes. Mature oreganos bloom purple flowers. It should be harvested after its flowers bloom as this indicates the most flavorful time for the oregano to be picked.

Fennel gets the credit for its seeds that grace and enhance the flavors of Italian sausage. Unlike the oregano, fennel loses its flavor as it matures. It is a perennial herb that should be replanted every couple of years to maximize its flavor.

Rosemary, similar to basil, is one of those Italian herbs that can help nearby plants grow better. Rosemary grows into a large shrub and blooms blue flowers. It helps the garden through pollination – attracting bees. While rosemary is a tough perennial, it won’t survive in cold climates.

Garlic is probably one of the most used herbs in Italian cuisine. An Italian herb garden wouldn’t be an Italian herb garden if it is without garlic. Cloves of garlic can be planted and will survive even if you don’t give it a lot of attention. After harvesting, they can be stored to be used at a later time.

Sage is another herb used in a lot of Italian dishes. Young shoots of sage are the most flavorful so try to keep this herb trim and not become too hardened. When you trim them, new shoots will grow out of the cuts. When the sage blooms, you can harvest them.

There are countless herbs grown in an Italian herb garden, and you should try picking out which ones you’ll need the most. You also need to learn how to grow specific herbs, when to harvest them, and such. While Italian herbs are best thought of as culinary, it’s best that you know they can serve more purposes than that. They can improve the look of your garden, for instance. You can also take advantage of aromatic herbs. Also, you can place Italian herbs amongst your other plants, and your garden will truly feel Italian. Walking around your garden will be like walking along on an Italian hillside.

 

By: Kathryn D. Burrows

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Kathryn D. Burrows has a Chinese herbalist relative and has taken a deep interest in herbs and herb gardening. She started growing herbs in her own backyard for fun and realized that it was so much more than a hobby. You can read more about Kathryn's methods on growing an herb garden at www.superherbgardensecrets.com.

[photo by: The Marmot]