My wife received a set of 4 herbs for Mom’s day this year. She got this plant, spearmint, cilantro, and basil. I re-potted them all, and I lost the tag for this one. What is this plant? Additionally, with what dishes should I expect to use this?
I don’t think your link worked as expected(or else my browse is hosed)
I’m pretty sure that’s Herb Tarlek, from WKRP in Cincinnati.
Also, that link isn’t working.
Thanks, guys.
This one should: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SB69MJ8qZu2kHBwr7
No worky.
I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and say it’s Sage.
See it now
Yep, looks like Sage.
Oregano.
Or possibly marjoram. But I agree that it looks like an oregano type plant, not a sage. Rub it between your fingers and smell it.(Of course, this would require you to know what these herbs smell like.)
Sage has a softer look, almost furry. These leaves look too shiny. I’d guess another kind of mint.
Of course, the easy answer is to smell and taste it. Have you tried that?
Looks like oregano to me. Great with many Italian recipes!
Looks like basil to me.
Oregan and basil are in the family of mints which mostly look alike. As TroutMan says, use your nose and tongue to figure it out.
Oregano.
99% certain it’s oregano. Certainly not sage (furrier pointier leaves) or basil (larger shinier greener leaves).
I grow all 3 in my garden.
Oregano. For sure.
Only the Italian basil has large, shiny leaves. I grow that, but also cinnamon, Thai, and Greek basil, and all those have smaller leaves and are not shiny. But I agree that this doesn’t look like any of those basils to me, either.
You guys are the best… thanks for all the replies and info. I’ll confirm with a pinch, a sniff and a taste when I get home this evening.
I’m just now learning about growing herbs. I was under the impression that I could simply plant em and (basically) forget em. I mean, that’s how we’ve grown mint (for mojitos) before. However, I now know that it’s going to take some time and attention to keep things tasty; I’m looking forward to it all.
Most of them grow fine just by themselves. I don’t pay a lot of attention to my herbs, and they grow well (so much so that there’s way, way more than I could ever possibly use by the end of the summer.) With basil, you do want to use it somewhat regularly (using up to 1/3 of the plant) and nip off the buds when they form to help it grow out instead of just up, but with the other herbs, I don’t bother with much maintenance. I grew four kinds of basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, mint, oregano, lovage. And then each year there’s usually a new herb or two just for fun. Last year it was hoja santa. This year I added garlic chives to the mix. Oh, and also parsley. I generally don’t grow parsley or cilantro because it’s just dirt cheap at the supermarket, but I thought it might be convenient to have around and I don’t always need an entire bunch to get me through the week.
The thyme, chives, mint, sage, and lovage come back year after year in my zone (5b/6a) without any special precautions taken to overwinter them. The rosemary I just start with a new plant every year, but you should be able to overwinter that with some care–I just never bothered.