Herb Seeds
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Lavender – Blue Spear – West Coast Seeds
$4.69Lavandula angustifolia. This brand new cultivar of English lavender is hardy to Zone 6, but blooms in the first year, so can be grown as an annual in cooler climes. It is the tallest and showiest of the first-year-blooming types, with decidedly blue tinted flower spikes over subdued grey-green foliage. With a height of 28-33cm (11-13″), Blue Spear lavender works well in containers, and potted seedlings have definite potential on the market table. From late spring to the end of summer, its spires of fragrant flowers attract all manner of pollinators. The plants have a mounded form, but are very upright, so they can be planted closer together in the row. Each plant has a width of about 28cm (11″).
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Dill – Bouquet – West Coast Seeds
$3.29Bouquet dill seeds grow into compact plants around 75-90cm (30-36″) tall. Bouquet Dill is a particularly good variety to grow for nice looking bunching at the market table, and works well in containers or smaller herb gardens. This dill has fragrant, lacy foliage, large yellow flower heads, and large seeds, but the plants only grow about waist high.
The structure of dill’s flowers is known as an umbel. Thus dill is considered an umbelliferous plant. Other umbellifers include carrots, cilantro, fennel, parsnips, and Ammi. All of these plants are attractive to predatory insects such as lady beetles, Syrphid flies (hover-flies), lacewings, and tiny parasitoid wasps. Organic gardeners like to grow dill precisely to attract these beneficial insects, for they will control pest insects like aphids, thrips, whitefly, and the caterpillar of the Small White Butterfly (cabbage moth).
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Wild Bergamot – West Coast Seeds
$3.49Monarda fistulosa. Commonly known as Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot is a wildflower that produces blooms that vary in shades from pink to lavender. These flowers appear in July and August above stout, strong stems bearing scented leaves. Wild Bergamont is unrelated to the bergamot citrus fruit that lend Earl Grey tea its distinct flavour, but the leaves are excellent in tea, with peppery/lemony/minty notes. Plants grow to a height of 60-90cm (24-36″), and those that don’t survive as perennials in Coastal gardens will likely self-sow. All bergamots are highly attractive to beneficial pollinators like butterflies and wild bees. Hummingbirds will stage territorial fights to stake their claims over a wild bergamot plant in full bloom.
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Basil – Kitchen Blend – West Coast Seeds
$3.99Kitchen Basil Blend seeds combines three unique basil varieties with green and purple leaves for use in the kitchen. The Blend includes basil with large, smooth leaves that are suitable for pestos, pastas and salads, and also more pungent varieties to make vinegars and herbal teas. Basil flowers are also edible so add them to your dishes too! Basil also makes sensational microgreens – they take a little while to germinate but are worth the wait for the gourmet flavour. This Kitchen Blend can be grown on the windowsill, in the garden or in containers on the patio. All types of basil enjoy warm, freely draining soil and lots of moisture in summer heat.
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