Herbs Annual and Perennial List: Full Guide to Year-Round Planting
Embarking on the journey of cultivating your own herbs is a rewarding endeavour that suits both beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. These versatile plants offer the convenience of thriving both indoors and outdoors, ensuring that regardless of your living situation, you can enjoy the freshest of flavours right from your own home. Knowing the different types of herbs, including annual, perennial, and lesser-known biennial varieties, is the key to a bountiful herb garden.
Understanding the life cycle of each herb type is crucial before planting, as it determines not only the planting schedule but also the harvest expectations.
Recognising whether an herb is annual, perennial, or biennial will guide you in creating a garden that provides delicious seasonings year after year.
A handy reference list categorising common herbs by their life cycle can significantly simplify your gardening plans, ensuring you make informed choices for continuous culinary enjoyment.
Key Takeaways
- Herb gardening is accessible for all skill levels and can be done indoors or outdoors.
- Recognising the life cycle of herbs – annual, perennial, biennial – is essential for planning your garden.
- Having a reference for common herbs’ life cycles can enhance your planting strategy for long-term yield.
Yearly-Growing Herbs
Sweet Basil Varieties
Sweet basil, a heat-loving plant, requires renewal each year. This versatile herb thrives in warm climates and comes in various types, such as purple basil, lemon basil, and the classic sweet basil, which is often used to lend a robust flavour to dishes. Its leaves are a favourite among gardeners for creating a fragrant companion to other plants in the garden.
Fresh Leaf Cilantro & Coriander Seeds
Cilantro’s leaves and its seeds, called coriander, are part of an herb that’s planted annually, favouring the cooler early months. With cilantro, there’s a divide: it could either charm you with its flavour or turn you away as its taste is influenced by genetic makeup, with some perceiving a soapy flavour.
Fragrant Dill
With ties to the celery family, dill is an herb that is best when it’s fresh, hence it’s replanted each year. Often incorporated into culinary dishes, the taste of dill declines rapidly with drying, so enjoying it fresh is ideal.
Soothing Chamomile
Chamomile, with its daisy-like flowers, is mainly cultivated for its blossoms which are dried to enjoy as calming tea or used to craft soothing salves.
Warmth-Seeking Marjoram
Marjoram, also known as sweet marjoram, cannot withstand cold temperatures and thrives in a warm environment, being classified as an annual due to its intolerance to frost.
Seeding Fennel
Fennel, while capable of producing seeds for potential regrowth, typically responds poorly to cold, generally necessitating annual planting in most regions where it is not winter-hardy.
Aromatic Summer Savory
Summer Savory, a member of the mint family, requires annual replanting. This herb is cherished for bringing a fragrant touch to culinary recipes.
Cool-Tolerant Chervil
Chervil flourishes in cooler conditions, making it suitable for early spring planting. It favours the cooler months and bolts to seed when heat rises, solidifying its designation as an annual.
Hardy Perennial Mint
Mint, a perennial with impressive vigour, often dominates the spaces it occupies. For controlled growth, cultivating mint in containers is advisable, and a variety of species, such as peppermint, are popular in gardens.
Robust Oregano
Oregano is a resilient herb that tolerates harsh conditions with ease, making it an ideal perennial addition to any garden, despite its tendency to lose flavour swiftly.
Winter-Enduring Sage
Sage, available in multiple varieties, is noted for its ability to survive tough winter conditions, proving itself as a reliable perennial herb.
Prolific Lemon Balm
Lemon balm, belonging to the mint family, can thrive for several seasons and presents strong growth at the roots. This perennial is noted for its calming properties and complements other herbs such as chamomile well.
Sturdy Rosemary
Rosemary, reminiscent of evergreen foliage, has a structure similar to that of a diminutive tree with needle-like leaves. For enhanced longevity, it is recommended to grow rosemary in pots, as it is a perennial that withstands multiple years.
Fast-Growing Thyme
An adaptable perennial, thyme is an easy-grow herb, tolerant of less fertile soils, and appreciated for its rapid growth and flowering propensity, as well as its versatile uses in both cooking and medicine.
Anise-Flavoured Tarragon
Perennial tarragon exudes a liquorice aroma and is favoured in cuisine. Its unique taste reinforces its application in a variety of dishes, such as pairing it freshly with peas.
Aromatic Lavender
Known for its fragrant presence, lavender is a perennial favourite. It blooms in captivating shades of blue and purple but has specific watering needs to avoid over-saturation.
Mildly Onion-Flavoured Garlic Chives
Garlic chives, presenting a subtle onion taste, are an easy-to-grow perennial requiring ample sunlight and regular hydration. Their distinctive long green leaves are adorned with floral tips.
Bloom-Bearing Winter Savory
The perennial winter savoury is characterised by its potential to display purple or blue blossoms, holding a place in the array of perennial herbs.
Biennial Plant Varieties Utilised in Culinary and Medicinal Preparations
Aromatic Leafy Green Commonly Used in Garnishing Dishes
Seeing the lush foliage again after a frost signifies it’s time to gather seeds for its second season. You may choose to cultivate this herb from its seeds, albeit this method might be time-intensive. Alternatively, starting with a smaller, established specimen might prove more straightforward.
- Planting: Initiate growth with seeds or a young plant.
- Harvest Tips: Await a hearty regrowth post-freezing temperatures.
Peppery Aquatic Herb
Characterised by diminutive, verdant foliage and tiny alabaster blooms, this herb is noted for its zesty flavour.
- Taste Profile: Offers a piquant kick.
Relative of the Parsley Family Thriving in Cooler Regions
This herb flourishes in cooler environments and prefers soil that allows for ample drainage. Expect blossoming in the second year.
- Optimal Conditions: Cool temperatures and efficient drainage.
Herb with Feather-Like Foliage and Fragrant Blossoms
Enjoying sunlight, this plant demands environments that are warmer and have soil adept at preventing water-logging. Its foliage takes on a feathery appearance, while small blossoms range from pink to white.
- Sunlight Preferences: Thrives under full sun.
- Soil Requirements: Prefers well-drained territory.
Sage Variant Harvested for Essential Oil Extraction
Esteemed within the holistic health realm, this herb yields an essential oil that’s highly sought after.
- Usage: Predominantly cultivated for its aromatic oil.
Natural Sweetener with Low Glycaemic Impact
This herb has garnered attention for its leaves’ intense sweetness, positioning it as a sugar substitute favoured among those who monitor their sugar intake due to diabetes. It’s hardy under the sun but won’t survive freezing conditions.
- Sweetness Quotient: A potent sweetener.
- Climate Resilience: Unable to withstand freezing temperatures.
Herb Lifespan Categories
Herbs fall into one of three lifespan categories:
- Annuals: Complete their life cycle in one growing season.
- Perennials: Grow back each year.
- Biennials: Require two years to mature.
Your local climate significantly influences whether a herb grows as an annual or a perennial. Observe your local conditions for the best results.
Common Queries Regarding Herb Gardening
Herbs Suitable for All-Year Cultivation in the UK
- Indoor vs Outdoor: While many herbs are seasonal, certain varieties can be cultivated indoors throughout the year, such as basil, chives, mint, and parsley.
- Greenhouses & Conservatories: Utilising these structures allows for the cultivation of more tender herbs like coriander or dill during the winter months.
Identifying Annual and Perennial Herbs
- Lifespan: Annual herbs complete their life cycle within one growing season, whereas perennials live for multiple years.
- Examples: Annuals – coriander, dill; Perennials – rosemary, thyme.
- Growth Pattern: Check the plant label or consult a gardening guide to determine the category of your herb.
Characterising Biennial Herbs
- Growth Cycle: Biennial herbs have a two-year life cycle; the first year is for leaf growth, and the second is for flowering and seed production.
- Typical Examples: Parsley, angelica, and caraway are common biennial herbs.
Perennial Herbs in Cooler Climates like Zone 4
- Hardy Selections: Chives, mint, sage, and tarragon are some herbs that can endure the harsh conditions of Zone 4 (cold climate -30f).
- Mulching: Protect herbs in winter with a layer of mulch to insulate against severe frost.
Recognising True Annual Herbs
- True annual herbs, such as basil and summer savory, complete their lifecycle from seed to seed within a single growing season and must be replanted each year.
Designing a Perennial Herb Garden
- Planning Layout: Consider the size and sunlight needs of mature plants to avoid overcrowding and ensure healthy growth.
- Aesthetic and Practical Considerations: Place taller herbs like fennel at the back and border with low-growing thyme or oregano.
- Soil Preparation: Enrich with compost and ensure good drainage to promote robust perennial herbs.