What herb is this?

morganfam7 3/15/2012, 9:33 pm

I have been an on again and off again gardener over the years... Rolling Eyes

I have a bunch of holes in what should be gardening knowledge...and this is one of them. Embarassed

I planted some herbs last year (or maybe the year before...I was busy with a houseful of teens Very Happy

). Is the darker green one basil or oregano or something else that volunteered? (My vote is basil, but I'm afraid to use it until I know for sure.) The one at the back surely is a volunteer...right? Just checking before I pull it. I'm pretty sure I planted the front one, though. Any help would be appreciated!

What herb is this? 6986124601_b14f1edbe8

What herb is this? 6986124601_b14f1edbe8

Chopper 3/15/2012, 9:34 pm

The one that is darker looks like oregano to me. Give it the smell test.

Basil will be smooth and oregano will be a little fuzzy. They look very similar in leaf growth.

Basil:
What herb is this? Basil10

Oregano:

GWN 3/15/2012, 9:41 pm

Hi Morgan
Just wanted to say what a beautiful plant arrangement you have coming out of holes in the log like that
And the herbs look SOOO healthy

GWN 3/15/2012, 9:43 pm

whoops...... I see that they are in concrete blocks, even better.
Seems like a great way to keep them under control,........

**walshevak** 3/15/2012, 9:56 pm

That front sure looks like oregano which is a perennial. Basil is an annual in your zone, although it can reseed itself.

Kay

Lavender Debs 3/15/2012, 10:15 pm

I'm not very good at this but, is there a possibility that you have oregano and chickweed?

Chopper 3/15/2012, 10:18 pm

walshevak wrote:That front sure looks like oregano which is a perennial. Basil is an annual in your zone, although it can reseed itself.

Kay

Absolutely. If it grew on woody stems it is almost certainly oregano.

GWN 3/15/2012, 10:36 pm

basil
The one in the back has to be Basil, my basil that I grew in the greenhouse eventually became very woody almost tree like.
I wonder in a warmer climate if it might just carry on the next year if it did not get too cold

minervalong 3/15/2012, 11:04 pm

i'm with debs. oregano and chickweed. not that you will get any chicks out of it, lord knows i've been growing huge crops of it for years and not a chickie yet. i think it is a bit like the housefairies that seems to visit everyone else, but not me Wink

GWN 3/15/2012, 11:32 pm

I think that there are 3 plants here and that the back one is perhaps chick weed, but the middle one is basil and the foreword one is Oregano.
I am sure if you dig down you will find the plant labels..... Wink

**camprn** 3/16/2012, 11:35 am

I see oregano and something that could be chickweed or a form of thyme, although it is difficult to tell. I cannot make the photo larger and I need better glasses. What does it smell like?
There is no basil that I can see in the photograph.

curio 3/16/2012, 11:38 am

I believe the one in the back is chickweed also. Oregano is the one in front.

GWN 3/16/2012, 11:41 am

I guess I mistook choppers photos as enlargements of the photo given....

morganfam7 3/16/2012, 3:16 pm

Thanks everyone! I'm so glad it's oregano instead of basil because I use that much more in cooking. I agree GWN, they are very happy in their holes! I don't have a macro lens, so I can't get a good close up. Right now I'm trying to crop the picture for a better look at the back one. Chickweed must be right because I don't remember planting it.

Maybe this is a better picture of the oregano - you can see the hairiness on some of the leaves: What herb is this? 6987897699_159a154435_b

What herb is this? 6987897699_159a154435_b

and now for the volunteer...I wish it would grow chicks, minervalong!
What herb is this? 6987912127_11086f9462_b

I liked this part:
What herb is this? 6987907471_2f4726c3d8_b

but, I'm pulling it to make way for flat leaf parsley.

Thanks for all your help everyone! You guys are a friendly group, and I'm happy to be here! Very Happy

**walshevak** 3/16/2012, 3:52 pm

Chickweed and very invasive. One reason I have tulle on my beds. My back yard is almost exclusively chickweed and the lawnmower throws it up into even my tabletops. My flower beds are a complete hassle.

Kay

morganfam7 3/16/2012, 4:05 pm

Kay, is yours easy to pull? Mine is very easy to pull...don't know about it coming back though...don't know if I have to get all the roots out. I wonder if spraying it with vinegar and letting the sun hit it would kill it in your yard? Vinegar + sun does a good job on the broad leaf weeds in our yard here in Texas.

**walshevak** 3/16/2012, 7:35 pm

Yes, it is easy to pull from the flower gardens, but it keeps coming back. I have put about four 18 gal rubbermaid bins worth in my compost pile so far this year. It is also under my tabletops and getting very tall but when I finally get my lawn service out here, they will chop it down. If I got rid of all of it and all of a purple blossom weed, I'd have nothing but bare ground.

Kay

morganfam7 3/16/2012, 8:03 pm

Uh oh that means it's coming back on me then. If it does, I'm going to try spraying it with vinegar to see what happens. And wow! You've got a lot of it! I did notice that it puts down roots everywhere it touches the soil. I see that Chickweed is edible, but that some other poisonous plants looks similar. http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Chickweed.html You can put it in salads or treat it like spinach.

I've found another plant that I can't identify. I've searched google, but I don't see it. I know this is going to be a common flower, but I'm not searching for it right or something. It's a perennial here, and I remember one of the kids planting it a few years ago:

What herb is this? 6988502105_581f2044d4_b

What herb is this? 6988502105_581f2044d4_b

Any ideas?

morganfam7 3/16/2012, 8:10 pm

Perennial phlox maybe? I can't find a good picture of the leaves of phlox in order to make sure.

morganfam7 3/16/2012, 8:50 pm

or an oakleaf hydrangea?

**walshevak** 3/16/2012, 9:05 pm

The smaller leaves in the foto look like verbena leaves. Does the flower belong to that leaf? My verbena has started blooming.

Kay

Chopper 3/16/2012, 11:15 pm

GWN wrote:I guess I mistook choppers photos as enlargements of the photo given....

Haha. No - I stole some web photos so morganfam7 could compare to whet s/he has.

GWN 3/16/2012, 11:25 pm

be very careful how/where you deposit the chick weed, it is one of the very worst weeds.
Burn it if you can. Now I do not want to seem overly aggressive, but chick weed is bad stuff. Enjoy the oregano, it WILL get better every year
Why not plant some cilantro in the other space...... or mint...(which is another invasive plant, but in your concrete slots it should stay put) and you will always have something for making taboulli

curio 3/17/2012, 12:13 am

That pink flower is one of the verbenas. There are perennial varieties, and others that in most areas are treated as annuals.

morganfam7 3/17/2012, 12:40 pm

Thanks!

Kay, the smaller leaves - they are saw-toothed and look a lot like mint leaves to me. I love the verbena, but I was hoping for the hydrangea or phlox.
Verbena is probably more suited for that location, though. It's
certainly happy there.

GWN, I put the chickweed in the compost barrel, and I hope to real heat it up in there. Dh is not a fan of cilantro, although I love it! I may have to plant an opening with some of it. I've had bad experiences with mint and it's takeovers...lol. I haven't had tabouli in years...mmmm, making me hungry!

Oh, and speaking of invasive, that purple Wandering Jew (or Inch Plant, I guess) is relentless! It's a corm, I guess, and if I don't get every last bit of it out of the ground it comes back with a vengeance. It's a nice plant, but it won't stay where I put it!

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What herb is this?

What herb is this?

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plant ID

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Oregano! Yay!

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Chickweed and vinegar?

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uh oh

Is it phlox?

or...

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flower ID

Verbena it is then!

Re: What herb is this?


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