HERBS FOR ANNUAL FLOWER BEDS
Plectranthus, a fragrant herb, is sometimes used as a bedding plant. Depending on the cultivar the foliage may be green or variegated. Normally they're considered foliage plants. However the spur flower, one particular kind of plectranthus, is treated as a bedding plant. The abundant blooms appear late in the season.
For 2003 Euroamerican Propagators has introduced 'Zulu Wonder.' About a foot tall, this plant is noted for its wonderfully crinkled leaves, which are red underneath, and fantastic purple blossoms, appearing late in the summer. Euroamerican's plants should be available at local garden centers and other sources.
Scented geraniums belong in every annual flowerbed. Please don't confuse these unique herbs with the ubiquitous red-flowering geraniums. These fragrant herbs are grown for culinary and ornamental purposes. My favorite is the peppermint scented geranium with oversized, soft, gray soft felty leaves.
I wouldn't be without my 'Prince Rupert' lemon-scented geranium with extremely tiny, curled lime-green leaves.
A number of these may be variegated with descriptive names like 'Snowflake.' Some even have splotches of red or reddish-brown on the leaves, or color on the leaf veins.
Whatever your favorite fragrance may be, you can probably find a scented geranium to suit you. Scented ones include ones smelling like rose, chocolate, apple mint, orange, nutmeg, etc.
Choosing a scented geranium is the hard part. Ellen Spector Platt describes fourteen kinds of lemon-scented ones in "Lemon Herbs-How To Grow and Use 18 Great Plants," published by Stackpole Books.
Scented geraniums will bloom when they're grown in sunny flowerbeds. The flower colors range from white and pink to several shades of red.
If you want to know more about scented geraniums see "Scented Geraniums" by Jim Becker et al., published by Interweave Press. Becker is co-owner of Goodwin Creek Gardens.
Neither Plectrantus nor scented geraniums are hardy outdoors in colder climates. So I bring them indoors for the winter months so they'll be around for another year in the garden.
Finally there's one other herb that deserves the place of honor in flowerbeds. That happens to be the apothecary rose. Known in Persia (modern day Iran) as early as the 7th-8th century A.D., this treasure made its way to Europe with the return of the Crusaders in the 12th-13th century.
The apothecary rose is a long-time favorite for herb gardens. Historically roses have been used medicinally for many
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