Welcome to May! We started off the month celebrating Earth Day and National Herb Day and to finish the busy spring season there were a multitude of Master Gardener, Native Plan Societies and various Garden Clubs holding their plant sales.
Speaking of National Herb Day, the herb of the year for 2024 is Yarrow (Achillea millifolium). This low growing, clumpish perennial with clusters of small white flowers can be found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. The leaves are2-4” long, fern-like and form a thick clump. It grows in full to partial sun and likes low to moderate water. Yarrow is a good pollinator plant and attracts numerous insects and butterflies.
There are several horticultural varieties of interest like Gold or Fernleaf Yarrow(Achillea filipendulina) with a softer leaf texture and Wooly Yarrow (Achillea tomentosa) with grayish foliage and yellow blooms. Cerise Queen has lovely deep, dark pink flowers and Summer Pastels has a colorful assortment of ivory, lilac, pink, red, salmon and yellow. All yarrows make nice displays when planted as border plants or in mass and are good for cut flowers.
Although not native to the US, lavender has become an extremely popular herb and grown in every state including Alaska & Hawaii. Most varieties prefer very well drained, dry, gritty soil and low water but there is a lavender for all no matter what part of Texas you live in.
Starting with Central Texas/Hill Country you will find many of the lavender farms predominantly grow Provence, an intermedia type that is good for fresh cut flowers and dried for culinary use. Other popular choices include Spanish and Sweet.
As you head further west, northwest many of the “English” lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia) will work nicely and offer a variety of bloom colors. Examples include Ellegance Purple, Hidcote, Mustead.
Heading north from Waco to the Texas/Oklahoma border Grosso, Sensational & Phenomenal, more intermedia types, are good choices and excellent for distilling for their essential oil. These seem to need more “chilling hours” to bloom well.
East Texas can be difficult to grow lavender because of the higher annual rainfall and humidity but lavender growers have found niches that have excellent soil drainage and allows them to grow Royal Velvet or Spanish. In the Houston area, non hardy types such as Big Boy James, French and Fernleaf are fast growing and have a longer blooming season than other traditional lavenders.
For South Texas, Goodwin Creek and SuperBlue have proven to do well. This doesn’t mean that these varieties can only be grown in these regions mentioned but your chances of being successful are better if you choose one best suited for your area. Just remember to plant in full sun, in a wide, raised bed or row and keep the watering at a minimum. Lavender likes good air circulation so give it some breathing room in your landscape.
One last plant to highlight this month is Althea or Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), a deciduous shrub that grows up to 8-10 feet and will bloom continuously all summer long. The flowers range in colors from white, pink, red or purple. Flowers could be single or double and most have a red center. This hardy shrub requires little care and will grow in full to partial sun. Plant as a specimen in your landscape or a tall hedge. Why buy the tropical, non hardy hibiscus when Althea will hold up all year long and will produce plenty of color all summer long?