plant: lavender

An introduction to insectary plants What makes a plant an insectary plant? Insectary plants provide food sources and shelter for beneficial insects, which attracts them and encourages them to stick around your garden. If you’ve already read our article Pest Hunters: Beneficial Predatory and Parasitic Insects, you know that there are many beneficial insects that prey on garden pests. By planting insectary plants we can encourage these predatory and parasitic insects to take up residence in our garden....

Making an herbal-infused oil is easy. The hardest part is growing, harvesting, and drying the herbs. Herbal oils are a fantastic way to experience the benefits of herbs topically. Infused oils can be used alone, in salve, body butter, lip balm, soap, and more. Different Methods There are different ways to make an herbal-infused oil. The easiest way is known as the folk method. Herbs are placed in a jar, covered with your choice of oil, and left to sit for a few weeks....

Every year, it seems like the holiday season arrives earlier and earlier. Maybe the “holidays” are the furthest thing from your mind right now. But If you’re someone who loves handmade gift-giving, you’re probably okay with getting ahead. And if you want to give simple yet thoughtful gifts from the garden, now is the time to start planning. Dried Bouquets Dried flower bouquets let you extend the beauty of cut flowers well past summertime....

If you’ve been following the Planter “Herbs” series, you may have seen the post about harvesting herbs. After you harvest you must start the process of saving your herbs. Drying your herbs is the best way to preserve your harvest for long-term storage. There are several ways to do this at home. Paper Bag Method The paper bag method is nice because it doesn’t require anything fancy. Place your herbs in a clean paper bag, ensuring not to fill it too much because good air circulation is critical for successful drying....

Gardens come in many different sizes, and you don’t need a lot of land to tend to one. As long as you have some space for a pot or two (or twenty!), you can grow a whole range of things. Herbs, both culinary and medicinal, can be grown in pots, in the same way you can grow ornamental flowers. Benefits of Growing Herbs in Containers: You don’t need a ton of gardening space....

A good herb garden has herbs that can be used in cooking and herbs that can be used as traditional medicine. A lot of these same herbs can also be used in the spa (or bathroom of course). Check out these herbs for some inspiration: Aloe Aloe deserves a top spot in our herbal body care garden lineup. Many of us reach for aloe after getting too much sun. It’s great at soothing irritated and sun burned skin....

Have you ever wanted to know more about herbs but weren’t sure where to start? Maybe you’re thinking you have to be enrolled at a school of wizardry to learn. Or maybe you have to be a medieval monk to have an apothecary garden. Not at all! The interest in herbalism is growing quickly. Many countries around the world use plants as a form of complementary medicine. There’s no better time than now to start your herbal garden....

What Exactly are Spices? In broad terms, both herbs and spices come from plants, but herbs are usually the fresh leaves. On the other hand, spices are typically dried, and they make use of many other parts of the plant- root, stalk, seed or fruit. Both herbs and spices add flavor to the dish, however herbs are more subtle while spices have a much stronger flavor. Plan Your Garden with Planter!...

So begins our series of various garden plans to inspire you! Today, we’re focusing on an assortment plants that we can use for tea. Whether it’s the fruit, leaves, root, flower, or even the seeds themselves, there’s incredible range in the kind of plants that can be used for a wonderful cup of tea! We’ll be focusing on some of the more common plants in this Growing Guide. Harvesting Some plants may taste better dried or fresh, so experiment!...

Growing a veggie garden is fun and rewarding, but there are some times when it can feel like work. From prepping beds to planting, watering, weeding and fertilizing- there’s always a chore to tackle. If you’re looking to minimize your gardening effort out but still get some awesome harvests- we’ve got you covered! Read on for our top picks for low-maintenance plants: Kale Kale is truly an incredible plant. Not only is it astoundingly cold-hardy, once established it can grow through almost anything you can throw at it....