Another view of the rose and the new flower bed

All those herbs must smell so good - can the lemon thyme be used in cooking?

just out of the picture, on the left hand side are four basil plants...and I grow spearmint, peppermint and catmint,wild strawberry, thyme, oregano, feverfew, chamomile,chives, sage, monarda, and parsley (italian flatleaf, of course). I keep my rosemary in a pot and have some basil potted up to bring in for over the winter... fingers crossed. I love to cook with herbs...and make potpourri, and dried flower arrangements too.. Have you ever read Marcella Hazan's cookbooks? I just love her Italian food. In fact I love ALL Italian food!! OOppps.. forgot to answer your question...yes lemon thyme is lovely in salad dressings and can be steeped with other herbs like chamomile for a refreshing relaxing tea.

MMMM, wonderful. Do you get most of the herbs back each year? I've had pretty good success with a alittle early winter prepping. I know rosemary and such must come in but any others.

yes...most~~ in fact all, are perennial...except the basil and rosemary,of course. Feverfew is a medicinal herb that I started growing because I liked the clumps they make...but I find it very invasive...feverfew and chamomile(german) might do well for you, GT... the parsley is a biennial...so you get lots of leaves the first year...not so many the next but towering umbels for seeds...very very green, peppermint, catmint and spearmint are also what some might call weedy...but they smell a treat! I love thyme on just about any meat I grill... haven't tried garlic in a serious way...but I'm giving thought to that too! The lemon thyme is two years old now and I lost winter savory last winter...! don't know why...it had been doing well for the last five years...then gone! I had lots of rodents overwintering in the garden last winter because of the deep snow..perhaps it was eaten to extinction..lol.

thats the downfall I get from wrapping everybody up in straw. Something always moves in for the winter and feeds on roots. But I do it anyway, I'm always surprized what I can get back. I just wrapped up azaleas, we'll see how that goes....lol.

Oh I do wish you luck there!... My rhodo bloomed this year after two years of looking like it was finished! What if you tucked one or two mothballs in near the soil level...in a plastic bag with holes in it...maybe? my neighbour used it to keep cats away from her foundation... I know they're kinda toxic but if they don't touch the soil or the tree...the smell could keep the critters from getting close enough to sample?

The pond was such a worthwhile project, it's looking great in that area now.

Thanks Gillian... it was such a headache at the beginning but it's been a joy all summer.....heard that they were expecting the first snow in Algonquin Park yesterday...so I guess it's time to haul the nymphaea out and set up the aq for them and the fish..not taking any chances with my remaining three musketeers. I know you're waiting for the perfect place to make your pond...I would advise you to try it...I know you'll enjoy it!