Grow some for you, some for the beneficial insects
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Rosemary is flowering now. The herb is super for
cooking all kinds of dishes. The sturdy stems also
are great to use for barbecuing meat
or vegetable kebabs. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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While planting that spring and summer garden, don't forget to tuck some herbs in and around the vegetables and annuals.
The best herbs to grow, I believe, are the ones I think of as "double-duty" plants. They can be used in cooking and teas, but they also serve as enticements for beneficial insects.
"Beneficials" include some pollinators, such as bees, but they also include good bugs that fight the nasty ones. These include lady beetles, hoverflies, damsel bugs, green lacewings and parasitic mini wasps. (There's a full UCCE master gardener Garden Note just on beneficial insects .)
My focus here is the herbs to plant now, before the weather warms up and the bad bugs go to town on your young plants. Other than basil, which grows easily from seeds, I've found that transplants work best when starting these herbs.
Two important notes:
-- You have to let some of the herbs flower. The insects want the pollen and nectar from the blooms, though flowering ("bolting") turns some herbs bitter and unusable in cooking. Decide which plants will be for the insects and which ones for your use -- say, two varieties of basil for the bees, one Genovese basil for your pizzas and pesto.
-- Though this is unlikely if you're planning to consume the herbs yourself, pesticide use is not recommended on the plants. All the insects, good and bad, could be killed. Use a blast of water on the plant if the aphids get too thick. Otherwise, let the lady beetle and her buddies handle the job.
Top double-duty herbs:
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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