Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is an annual herb that has been grown and eaten all around the world for a very long time. It has a wonderful tangy flavour and is the perfect herb for adding some zing to your cooking.
Dill’s soft ferny foliage practically beg you to touch them. Snip fresh dill foliage for cooking, harvest dill seed for pickling, or cut the yellow umbels and feathery leaves for pretty homegrown flower bouquets. It’s small yellow flowers are excellent for attracting a variety of pollinators.
Elecampane (Inula helenium) is a perennial herb in the aster family with a long history of medicinal uses, though such use is less common today. In appearance, it is reminiscent of a sunflower plant, with tall stalks, pale green foliage, and bright yellow flowers with large seed heads in the centre.
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), with its aromatic leaves and sweetly fragrant flower spikes, is often considered a herb. But it is actually an herbaceous perennial with a semi-woody growth habit.
Fennel is an interesting plant in the Apiaceae family that is also sometimes known as finocchio. It’s related to parsley, carrots, and dill and can be used as a vegetable, herb, and spice.
The feverfew plant (Tanacetum parthenium) is actually a species of chrysanthemum that has been grown in herb and medicinal gardens for centuries. Feverfew herb was used in the past to treat a variety of conditions such as headaches, arthritis, and as the name implies, fever.
Gentiana lutea of the Alps is prized for its yellow flowers; its root is locally considered medicinal and is used to flavour herbal bitters and aperitifs.
Panax quinquefolius is popularly known as “American ginseng.” It is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Araliaceae, commonly used as ingredients for Indian and Chinese systems of medicine. It is native to eastern North America and reportedly cultivated in China.
Solidago virgaurea is a herbaceous perennial plant that can grow up to 60cm tall. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine, tea and source of a dyestuff.
Greater Celandine is a tall, herbaceous perennial, reaching up to 80cm in height, with a clumping growth habit. It has dark, almost blue-green, deeply lobed leaves and bright yellow flowers that appear in clusters.
Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris), also called “heal all”, is a common weed found growing on lawns, field edges, and creek banks all throughout North America and other parts of the world.
Tulsi (Holy Basil) is a fabulous culinary herb and is said to settle the stomach and clear the mind. It is often used in Thai cuisine, where it is prized for its spicy, pungent flavour. It’s also used in Ayurveda as a treatment for many different ailments.