Great herbs for New Mexico

New Mexico is a great environment for planting herbs. And the uses for them are innumerable. My biggest tip is to put the annual herb plants in pots and the herb perennials in the ground.

A few ideas to try:

The annuals such as basil, dill, cilantro and some parsley’s do well in container pots. I recommend seeding basil in its own pot because it can get quite large. In another pot you can put the dill, cilantro and parsley trio. Flat or curly leaf parsley work equally well, it’s your preference.

For herbs that will come back year after year I like to choose an area of the garden as my herb section. I find I go to this area regularly so it’s a good idea to have it close to a patio and preferably near your kitchen or grill area. An herb garden may sometimes need more water than other areas of the garden during hot summer temperatures.

For the in the ground herb garden, I recommend planting, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, onion chives and garlic chives. These will come back year after year and you can harvest them before the first freeze so you have a supply all winter long.

If you are a big mint lover you might want to try a variety of mint. The most common is spearmint you can also try peppermint and chocolate mint. I caution you to plant this at your own risk. The plant does really well in New Mexico but it spreads so be sure to put it in a pot or a place where it won’t spread into your other garden areas. I like to use it as a groundcover under trees because it does well in part shade.

Herb gardening is worth trying and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how rewarding it can be.