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Though Halloween is past as is Thanksgiving and Christmas is looming large on the horizon I got to think about herb gardens I have seen in my travels. Right now it is too cold in my area of Zone 6 to deal with any garden, no less an herb garden.
However, memories of ones I have seen or thoughts about what might be or what might come forth in the spring is really what organic gardeners (or at least this gardener) think about during the winter.
Many herb gardens I have had the pleasure of viewing in many places during my world travels have come in all sizes and shapes and one was a Halloween garden.
It contained pumpkins, of course, and the gardener had planted those wonderful white ones called Casper pumpkins for Casper the Friendly Ghost. The owner of this garden had decided to have an old Halloween wizard by planting Old Man or Artemisia abrotanum which is a silver Artemisia that is also known as southernwood and it is hardy in zones 5 to 8. This is a very good plant for Xeriscaping since it is drought-tolerant and also deer resistant but is attractive to butterflies, bees and birds. These aromatic herbs likes full sun and blooms in late summer/early fall with a bright yellow bloom and it grows 36 to 48 inches high and needs the same amount of spacing.
For the old crone or witch she had planted Old Woman (A. stelleriana) which is hardy in zones 3 to 9 and likes to be planted in full to partial sun, needing little water. It grows to about 2 feet tall and though edible it has no culinary uses.
She had other herbs in her Halloween garden such as Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Candle Berry (Myrica pensylvanica) which is also known as Bayberry, and to have the perennial black cat in her Halloween garden she added cattail (Typha latifolia) at a low damp spot in her design.
This was a fun garden to see and the owner had a good sense of humor.
“Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…Peace, Light and Love,
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Many of her paintings are sold internationally and many of her works of art have been reproduced on note cards, post cards and other functional items and you can get Giclee prints of her artwork starting as low as $11.89 Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books, art, etc. go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my sites.”
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