When we grew our first garden in 2009, we only grew annual vegetables. In our 2012 garden, we decided to add three perennials: strawberries, rosemary, and lavender. We grew the strawberries and lavender in hanging pots outside and the rosemary in a window sill container in our sunroom. The plants produced well, but the lavendar and rosemary did not return the next year and only one of our three hanging strawberry plants returned. In our 2013 garden, we decided to purchase a 3' x 3' raised bed. We removed the surviving strawberry plants from the hanging pot and planted them in the ground with some other strawberry transplants. Last year, for our 2014 garden, one of the goals we decided to start working towards was adding as many perennial herbss, fruits, and begetables to our garden as we could. Who doesn't want to get the most bang for their buck?
Last year, we purchased another 3' x 3' raised bed and planted two dwarf blueberry plants. In a later post, I will share some specifics about growing blueberry plants. We purchased a dwarf lime tree and a dwarf lemon tree. The trees came unlabeled and one died right away, so we are hoping that the surviving tree bares fruit this year, so we will know whether it is a lime tree or a lemon tree. We also planted four perennials herbs: thyme, oregano, sage, and tarragon outside in a containers which we placed partially in the ground. We decided to grow one additional perennial herb, chocolate mint, in a window sill planter in our sunroom.
After our failed attempts at overwintering in the past, we waited in anticipation all winter to see if anything survived. Luckily, the strawberry plants are flowering, both blueberries plants are showing green growth, the dwarf citrus plant is growing new leaves, and the sage and thyme is growing. Unfortunately, the tarragon, oregano, and chocolate mint did not return.
We have yet to grow a perennial vegetable, but next year I would like to add asparagus. The sooner the better since you won't get a crop until a couple of years after planting.
This year, we have already planted some sweet mint and plan to add chives, some other mint varieties, oregano and add more thyme in another location in our garden.
Planting perennials is one of the best investments a gardener can make. You plant one time and can harvest for years to come.
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