No home garden can be complete without herbs. These supply a variety of flavors which can be secured from no other plants. They are especially useful for seasoning soups, stews, salads, and dressings. They may be used, therefore, fresh or dried. If dried, they must be kept in glass so that their flavors may not be lost in the air. Preserving in vinegar is also a good way to keep them. The most popular are parsley (which see), sage, sweet basil, sweet marjoram, spearmint, summer savory, thyme, winter savory, and balm. Little need be. said concerning their cultivation, as they do well with almost no attention, but a few remarks may be suggestive.
Balm, a perennial, grows about 18 inches tall. Seeds are sown in the spring where the plants are to stand from year to year.
Sage, a perennial, grows readily, about 16 inches high, from seed sown in early spring. It is hardy and comes up well for several years in the same place.
Sweet Basil, an annual, about i foot high, is sown indoors during March or April and transplanted when the weather has become mild, or it may be sown in open ground in the early spring.
Sweet Marjoram, a perennial, is generally grown as an annual from seed sown in the early spring in any good garden soil.
Spearmint, a perennial, is most readily propagated from its creeping rootstocks. It does best in moist soil. Sometimes it becomes troublesome as a weed.
Summer Savory, an annual, about 10 inches high, is grown from seed sown in early spring where the plants are to remain. It may be transplanted.
Thyme, a perennial, is grown from seed sown indoors or out in early spring.
Winter Savory, a perennial, 12 to x6 inches high, is cultivated like summer savory. It is not hardy in the north unless protected.
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