Add color, flavor, and butterflies to your garden with edible herbs
Integrating herbs into your landscape is an easy way to grow edibles while beautifying your garden space or your patio when grown in containers. Herbs are also an excellent source of vitamins A, B and C and minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. There are several warm-season herbs which can add color to the garden and flavor to your cooking.
One of the most commonly grown annual herbs is basil. The common Sweet Basil has lovely white flowers while Thai Basil and Cardinal Basil have purple blossoms and spicier flavors. For most varieties of basil, it is important to trim off the blossoms if you wish to contin- ue harvesting flavorful leaves. Cardinal basil is the exception. The blossoms are actually edible, adding a slightly minty flavor as well as color to salads. The leaves of each of these varieties are a wonderful addition to soups, stews and sauces.
