By Jodee Weiland

Every year since we built our home, I have planted my herb garden.  Some herbs, like basil, go in with my vegetable garden because I plant them in larger quantities for my purposes.  But others I use in cooking, just not in such large amounts.  Those are the herbs I plant in a large container on my back patio just outside the sliding doors off my kitchen.  I usually put some potted flowers to the sides of the larger pot to add some color.  That makes not only for a lovely view, but it allows for easy access to my herbs throughout the summer when I am cooking.

Now I have to say up front that I am not “Ms. Green Thumb,” but I do know a lot about the herbs I like and have had a good deal of success growing and using them through the years.  So every year now I plant some of my herbs in a very large container that has rocks layered on the bottom for drainage and plenty of good organic soil to fill up the rest of the pot.  In this pot I have my perennial chives planted years ago, which miraculously start growing again every spring despite my lack of a green thumb, and then I add a few of my other favorites, such as thyme, oregano, parsley, and cilantro.  When I finish the planter, it looks great, and each year my fresh herbs flourish in spite of me.  I follow what the books and articles advise as to cutting and using my herbs, and somehow it always works out in the end.

One of the nicest things about my herb garden in a pot is that it looks as beautiful throughout the summer as other plants in the various gardens around my house.  The biggest difference is that some of those other gardens are merely ornamental, while the plants in my herb garden pot become part of my kitchen cooking because I always have fresh herbs readily available to me. So once again this year, I begin my herb garden in a pot.