Southern Herb Growing

Book excerpt: The Art of herb growing is enjoying a renaissance in this country, as more and more people are rediscovering the sensory pleasures and tangible rewards of the ancient plants we call herbs. Growers in the American South, where herb gardening can be a sometimes frustrating experience, want to know more about selecting and tending plants in the hot, humid conditions of their region. The varietal lists and cultural information emanating from England or the northeastern United States do not work for the Southern grower. English lavender and French tarragon, for instance, often languish in warm, wet conditions, and instructions that dictate planting parsley in spring in full sun will result in dead plants by August in most Southern areas. It was more than thirty years ago that Madalene Hill and her late husband, Jim, established the Hilltop Herb Farm near Cleveland-a southeast Texas area with growing conditions much like those of most of the South. Their energy and skill, both in growing and cooking with herbs, attracted a strong following in a day when herbs were thought to be strange little plants revered only by a few.