Panorama Red Beebalm, photo courtesy of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./rareseeds.com
Last year I wrote an article about new herb introductions. This year, I have decided to make this a tradition. Every year, I will write a short article about new herbs I have seen from reading more than 25 seed/plant catalogs (print or online). For this article, I am focusing on a narrow definition of herbs. Many plants could be considered herbs, including edible flowers. Herbs are plants that are of use to humans, either for culinary, medicinal, aromatherapy, cosmetic, and even coloring (dyes).
Also, “new” can be defined in different ways. The item may be new to the company’s inventory but that does not mean it would be a new plant for an experienced gardener. To me “new” is: “Wow! This herb is really different from all the other ones — I have not seen this before, and I think you might be interested.” Obviously, my list is not all new herbs on the market but a selection of “herbs of interest” – suggestions for you to try as you expand your herb gardening experience.
There are several new herbs in the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog. The catalog is available online or you can order a free copy. This year they have a stunning beebalm (Monarda didyma) called ‘Panorama Red’. This is a hardy perennial with red flowers that can be used to garnish fruit salads and desserts. The foliage can be used for tea or syrups.
Last year, Baker Creek introduced ‘Marvelette Blue’ (Calamintha nepeta), a hardy perennial that blooms blue/lavender flowers. The foliage can be used to make tea. This year they introduced the sister: ‘Marvelette White’ which has white flowers. These are great flowering landscape plants that attract pollinators.
Greek Mountain Tea, photo courtesy of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./rareseeds.com
Baker Creek also is featuring an unusual looking herb called ‘Greek Mountain Tea’ (Sideritis scardica). The foliage looks like a cross between sage and lambs’ ears. The foliage of ‘Greek Mountain Tea’ has been used in the Balkans as tea to improve the mood and strengthen the body. It has a positive effect on the digestive system, weight loss, and prevention of insulin resistance. It seems to be hardy to zone 6 so I should be able to grow this drought-resistant plant in my area. The flowers alone look interesting, they are large candle-shaped inflorescences that bloom in the summer.
Although I have grown summer savory and winter savory, I have not heard of Baker Creek’s lemon version of winter savory (Satureja montana var. citriodora). According to their website, this is a “citrusy herb used for bean dishes, casseroles and stuffing.” It is supposed to be hardy to zone 5 as an evergreen woody shrub that can be used for tea, condiments, meats, and sausage.
Experimental Farm Network is another treasure for gardeners interested in edible plants, vegetables and herbs. I was struck by ‘Odesa Market’ nigella, a black seed nigella (Nigella sativa). The plant is grown for the seed which has medicinal qualities and often is used in breads, pickled products, and cheese. This nigella is cousin to the blue flowering love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena), a popular cottage garden plant. When you order ‘Odesa Market’, make sure you also order the ‘Transformer’ (Nigella orientalis). The flower heads are amazing! This nigella is grown as a cut flower, but the seeds have been known to be used as an adulterant in ground black pepper.
I have the blue/purple flowering anise hyssop in my garden but I may try Adaptive Seeds’ white flowering form called ‘Snow Spike’. This white-flowering Agastache foeniculum is a perennial with anise-flavored/scented foliage that can be used for tea, syrups, sugars, and baking.
I also have grown the green foliage form of epazote but Adaptive Seeds is carrying a red form called ‘Oaxaca Red’ (Dysphania ambrosioides). Epazote is another “bean” herb, used to reduce flatulence. It is common in Mexican cuisine and has medicinal qualities. The green form is weedy looking, but ‘Oaxaca Red’ may not look as weedy because the red foliage adds a lot of color. This may be a possible heat tolerant source of red color to a flower garden as well.
Silver Scent Salvia, photo courtesy of Darwin Perennials
Another great source of herb seeds is High Mowing Seeds and this year they are introducing two new parsley types: ‘Laica’ which is bred for flavor and sweetness and ‘Hilmar’ which is bred for high yield and excellent vigor.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds is introducing two new downy mildew resistant basil seed. Building on the original Prospera line, this new line is called Prospera Active with increased resistance to DM for environments where more is needed. Noga Prospera are tall resistant basil plants and Lihi Prospera are short, compact basil plants, excellent for containers.
And there is a new salvia plant from Darwin Perennials: Salvia Silver Scent. This is the culinary sage, Salvia officinalis, hardy to zone 5. This one has a pleasant fragrance and grows to about 20 inches tall. Deer resistant, salvia makes a great drought-resistant landscape plant.
I hope you try some of these this summer. Let me know how they perform by commenting on this post. Also feel free to add “new” herbs or “herbs of interest” that you have seen or recommend. The sources for seeds and plants are found in my list of more than 100 seed catalogs on my website.
