Friday, August 12, 2011

Herb Competition

I've never entered a competitive show before, but with the New England Unit of the Herb Society of America having their second annual Competitive Herb Show next door at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, I had to give it a try. I found myself rather nervous bringing my entries in last night, we'll see what the judges say!

The picture above is my Fragrant themed container. It has five plants - Pineapple Sage (salvia elegans), Banana Mint (Mentha arvensis), white flowering Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis 'alba'), Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia 'Munstead') and a chocolate peppermint scented geranium (Pelargonium 'Chocolate Peppermint').

This is the Lemon Delight container with Lemongrass (Cympopogon citratus), Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla), Lemon Savory (Satureia biflora), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) and Lemon Thyme (Thymus citriodorus). It was hard to get this in the car and to the show without bending the lemon grass - it grew awful tall!

And the third container submission was a single specimen of Lavender, Lavendula angustifolia 'Ellagance Sky'. Ellagance Sky has a beautiful shape and also a unique lovely light violet blue flower. I made sure to take one for myself when they came into the store this Spring as I knew they would sell quickly.

I also submitted two items into the Cut Stem, Medicinal, category - Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) and Horehound (Marrubium vulgare). This was tricky, because I don't think I had a stem in the garden that didn't have at least one leaf with a hole or discoloration. But I picked the best I could find.

So if you get a chance to go to the show this weekend at Tower Hill, see if you can spot my entries and hope the judges are kind. I'll add a post how it turned out!


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