Popular Italian Herbs For Your Herb Garden

We all know how fantastic and flavorful Italian cuisine is! Well, whether you know it or not, some of the most well known herbs come from Italy.  An Italian herb garden may contain these popular herbs:

  • Basil
  • Sage
  • Parsley
  • Fennel
  • Oregano
  • Rosemary
  • Garlic

Basil is one of the most well known Italian herbs and can be added to many Italian recipes.  The subtle fragrance of basil makes it one of my top choices of Italian herbs. Besides adding flavor to your dishes, basil also has a number of benefits in your garden. It can enhance the flavor of certain other vegetables and it can also repel pesky flies and mosquitoes.

Sage can be used in many Italian dishes from meats through to salads. You will want to wait for sage to bloom before harvesting, though. It is recommended that you prune your sage plant to encourage new growth and prevent the herb from becoming too woody. These tender growth shoots are the best to use in your dishes.

Parsley is a truly wonderful herb and used extensively as a garnish, served on many dishes around the world today. Parsley was traditionally used to cleanse the palate after eating and provides an excellent breath freshener when dipped into freshly squeezed lemon!

Fennel is famous for its aromatic seeds that have the ability to enhance flavors of Italian sausage.  Because fennel is a perennial, it must be divided and replanted every few years, but also because fennel looses much of its flavor potency as it matures.

Oregano is flavorful and decorative and will produce elegant purple flowers when fully mature.  You must wait until flowering is over before harvesting oregano, because this is when the plant is most flavorsome.

Another beneficial garden herb is rosemary. This herb attracts bees, which are necessary for all plants to flower and pollinate. The bees are attracted to the tiny blue flowers it sprouts. Watch out for frosts though, as rosemary is sensitive to this.

Many people do not know that garlic is actually an Italian herb! Garlic is a must-have herb for most cooking dishes. Your Italian herb garden would definitely not be complete without it. They need very little care and attention to grow, and will flourish in most soils. An added bonus of garlic is that it can be used in many different ways after harvesting such as drying, freezing and pickling.

There are many more herbs that come under the Italian herb heading, but the most popular ones have been presented here. You must consider for what purposes you will grow these herbs before deciding which ones to go with.  As Italian herbs are fantastic in the kitchen, they provide many more uses than just culinary. These include delicious aromas, eye catching flowers, and complementing other existing plants in your garden. Italian herbs will really add value and interesting conversation pieces for your garden.