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January 12, 2006
Containerized Herbs in the House
My wife thinks I’m crazy. She may be right. Sometimes she is although not as often as she thinks. The reason for her diagnosis (obsessive-compulsive) is that I dug up my four sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) plants, potted them, and took them in the house. Gretchen doesn’t understand that craziness is often a sign of genius. As a matter of fact, she elicits sympathy from her friends while pinching off sweet basil leaves.
One of the sweet basils went in the garage on a wall next to the den under a grow light, another next to a south-facing, sliding glass door in the dining room, and the other two on the south-east-facing window sill of my study. All of them are flourishing.
Next, I potted a dill (Anethum graveolens) about five feet tall. Gretchen thought I had really lost it with the dill. First, I put it in the garage under the grow light. Then I moved it into my study where my wife has no decorating and design authority which has not prevented her from voicing her opinions or making occasional clean-sweep sorties. However, seeing its airy elegance and grace, she wanted me to put it in the dining room next to the sweet basil. She even harvested some of the dill seeds for the tomato juice she was making from our excess tomatoes. The sweet basil and dill are additions of beauty, aroma, and vitality to a winter’s room, especially set against brown fields autumned of green.
Next, I potted my parsley (Petroselinum crispum) and set it on my window sill. However, since it is a biennial in its second year, I don’t hold out much hope for its future. Then I took an already potted mint (Mentha piperita) in the house. However, it had already suffered a couple of nights outside in the cold under 32 degrees. I am now nursing it back to flourishing health. Next, I potted the chives (Allium schoenoprasum) where it sits next to my printer. Finally, I potted the cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) and brought it into my study. It’s doing well. I had to stop my transplanting containerized project because I ran out of permitted window sills.
What did I inadvertently do right? We have a humidifier in the house which sits in the dining room apparently supplying enough humidity for plants, humans, our three-legged dog Roxie, and various spiders. Also, I carelessly left an open bucket of water which humidified the garage. The plants get enough, humidity, and sunlight (real and fake). The ones in the dining room are doing best.
They were doing so well that I suggested to Gretchen bringing the three containerized tomato plants from the garage into the dining room. She replied, "I’m putting my foot down on that one. No!" I didn’t see her foot hit the floor, but I did see a throbbing jugular and flared nostrils, hear a high-pitched voice, and green eyes turning cougarish. I dreamt that night of turning the dining room into a greenhouse and the garage into a dining room. I kept my dreams to myself aware that genius is often unrecognized.
By Dana Prom Smith (2005)
The author is a Master Gardener volunteer for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. For more information about the Master Gardener program, call 774-1868 ext. 17.
Posted by maxmaddy at January 12, 2006 6:00 AM