THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503100105
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G11 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: WEEDER'S DIGEST
SOURCE: BY JEANNE PETTERSEN, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
I HAVE NEVER liked autumn, viewing it as the beginning of the end of the year's gardening season. To compensate, I've identified several fall-blooming herbs.
Many are tender perennials and should be planted in spring to become established before winter.
Three of my favorite fall-blooming herbs are Salvia elegans (Pineapple sage), Salvia leucantha (Mexican bush sage) and Tagetes lucida (sweet mace).
Pineapple sage grows to 4 feet tall and blooms from late September until the first frost. Its pineapple-scented leaves can be used in teas or potpourris.
It prefers a well-drained sweet soil in full sun. It attracts hummingbirds migrating South and may be visited by Sulphur butterflies. It is available at greenhouses and garden centers.
Mexican bush sage grows to 4 feet tall and blooms from September until frost. It has gray-green leaves and fuzzy purple or purple and white flowers on 2-foot spikes. Although this bush is not used for culinary purposes, it is highly decorative and attracts bees.
Sweet mace grows 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall and blooms from late September to frost with clusters of yellow flowers. Both leaves and flowers are anise/licorice scented.
Sweet mace and Mexican bush sage are usually sold at McDonald's Garden Centers and Smithfield Gardens.
Another herb worth taking note of this year is fennel (Foeniculum). Its seeds, leaves and bulb are edible.
For more information about fennel or National Herb Week (May 7 to 14), contact the International Herb Association at 1202 Allanson Road, Mundelein, Ill. 60060. Call (708) 949-4372. MEMO: Jeanne Pettersen is on the board of directors for the Herb Society of
America and the Butterfly Society of Virginia. She also is co-owner of
Plants with a Purpose and author of ``Butterfly Gardening in Hampton
Roads'' and ``Herb Gardening in Hampton Roads,'' each available for
$4.50 by writing to P.O. Box 2884, Chesapeake, Va. 23327-1686. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JEANNE PETTERSEN
Sweet mace can be used as a substitute for French tarragon.
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HERB SALE
Pineapple sage, Mexican bush sage and sweet mace, along with
other herbs, will be sold from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 6 at the
Tidewater Unit of the Herb Society of America's Herb Education Day
at Tidewater Community College, Chesapeake campus.
Also at the sale, Richard Dufresne, a North Carolina gardener
and expert on salvias, will lecture and offer rare salvias for
sale.
For information, call Barbara Brawley 481-2041.
by CNB