Though Halloween is past as is Thanksgiving and Christmas is looming large on the horizon I got to think about herb gardens I have seen in my travels. Right now it is too cold in my area of Zone 6 to deal with any garden, no less an herb garden.
However, memories of ones I have seen or thoughts about what might be or what might come forth in the spring is really what organic gardeners (or at least this gardener) think about during the winter.
Many herb gardens I have had the pleasure of viewing in many places during my world travels have come in all sizes and shapes and one was a Halloween garden.
It contained pumpkins, of course, and the gardener had planted those wonderful white ones called Casper pumpkins for Casper the Friendly Ghost. The owner of this garden had decided to have an old Halloween wizard by planting Old Man or Artemisia abrotanum which is a silver Artemisia that is also known as southernwood and it is hardy in zones 5 to 8. This is a very good plant for Xeriscaping since it is drought-tolerant and also deer resistant but is attractive to butterflies, bees and birds. These aromatic herbs likes full sun and blooms in late summer/early fall with a bright yellow bloom and it grows 36 to 48 inches high and needs the same amount of spacing.
For the old crone or witch she had planted Old Woman (A. stelleriana) which is hardy in zones 3 to 9 and likes to be planted in full to partial sun, needing little water. It grows to about 2 feet tall and though edible it has no culinary uses.
She had other herbs in her Halloween garden such as Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Candle Berry (Myrica pensylvanica) which is also known as Bayberry, and to have the perennial black cat in her Halloween garden she added cattail (Typha latifolia) at a low damp spot in her design.
This was a fun garden to see and the owner had a good sense of humor.
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with Peace, Light and Love,
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