Hi! I posted a question in the Plant Identification area, but had no response. I'm looking to find out what the names of the two herbs in my attached picture are. If someone could have a quick look and help me out, that'd be super great! Thanks! Nicki
Um, I think that the one on the left is some kind of lemon or other basil, and the one on the right is verbena. : )
Does the one on the left have a square stem? It looks like some kind of mint. I assume you have smelled it? The one on the right I'm not sure what it is. Almost looks like a tomato to me...
Actually, it was already determined in another thread that the one on the right is in fact basil, and the one on the left is Verbena - definitely not tomato. : )
Nickim... It would be terrific if you could also post that picture you showed me recently of the plant on the right, which is a trailing verbena beginning to bloom with purple/blue flowers. Can ya post that pic here too, so people in this thread can see it as well? Trailing Verbena grows excellent in a hanging basket, and will bloom like crazy for you, all summer long! : )
I think the left is some kind of mint, I don't know the right one. You can take the leaf to greenhouse to see what type of mint, there are so many different type of mint, maybe you can know it by smelling it.
Nope the left is not mint, because Nickim already said in another post that it smells like lemon, not minty, suggesting it is lemon basil. Also the right photo is now in bloom with blue/purple Verbena flowers - Nickim even showed me another photo. Nickim, where are you?!!! : )
There are zillions of different kinds of basil and many of them look exactly like the pic on the left. Many people think that basil only looks like the standard popular green sweet basil, but it doesn't. I even have some that is burgundy and others that are red - still some that are green and burgundy bi-colored. All I was saying to save people time and effort possibly, is that 'Nickim' themselves, in another thread on this forum, confirmed that it was basil. Must be too busy with summer activities to come and clarify things here. Yes, I love lemon mint - Mmmmmm. : )
Goodmorning Hollyberry Lady, Yes, I growed Thai basil, cinnamon basil... and Vietnamese basil before, right now I'm growing the Vietnamese one. I know there are zillions orther that I haven't seeen before and I'm not an expert, all I'm saying is it looked like mint to me, can't prove it, just like the way I see the difference in Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Japanese.... lol
Yes, I believe it looks similar to lemon mint too. All this mint talk, has me running for my seeds! I love to dry it and make tea - delicious! : )
Um...can I come to your house for lunch?!!! : O I actually sowed some mint seeds today - with all this mint chatter, I couldn't resist! I like to grow it in pots though, because it is so invasive in the garden. I am growing spearmint also. One year I grew tons of both of them and dried and stored them to use all winter. Talk about delicious. Oh boy, I can just taste it now... : )
I feel like bragging a bit. =) In one of my small gardens I'm currently growing pineapple mint, morrocan mint, spearmint and peppermint, as well as orangemint. Oddly enough I couldnt find any 'just mint' mints! Who knew there was such a flavor variety out there.
Wow - I would brag too! Those sound just wonderful! Feel free to post a picture of your varieties anytime! They sound fabulous. Thanks for your boast - I mean post! LoL. : O
Hollyberry Lady, You are wellcome any time :) I never dried mint before, summer time I tried to grow it because it take 30 minutes to go to the store... i like the curly mint best, now that i set extra light maybe i will try to grow mint & basil in the winter, didn't survive before... I kind of cheating by rooting the mint, only basil that I grow from seeds because of the difference flavor...
Yes, I like to dry the extra leaves, because you can't use up all the fresh leaves anyway - too many. Plus too, the mint flavor or whatever flavor any herb is, becomes more intense when dried. I have these airtight glass jars I bought just for the purpose of storing my freshly dried herbs. To dry herbs, you just hang them upside down in small bundles in a cool, shady place - for about a week or sometimes less. I have even been known to use my dehydrator to dry the herbs but it isn't necessary. Lemon balm should take on a purple tinge to the undersides of the leaves, when dried properly. If the leaves are black after drying - throw them out! I already have a jar building up of freshly dried lemon balm leaves and my plant is putting on another crop. Oh my goodness, I have to put on the kettle for some tea now! LoL. : )
