While everyone who cooks knows the value of herbs as flavor enhancements for certain foods not many people realize that some herbs are as beautiful as they are useful. Many herbs are also known for their usefulness in preventing or treating some medical conditions. Growing herbs is both practical and enjoyable but can be grown purely for their color and scent. The following are the top 10 herbs that may surprise you with how beautiful their blooms are.
Lavender – Known for their pretty purple, fragrant flowering spears lavender is very well known and makes a colorful addition to a garden. While purple is the most common color of lavender there are also white and yellow varieties which, though not quite as dramatic, are attractive.
Passionflower – With distinctive pastel lavender blooms, passionflower is a great herb to make a soothing tea from but it is the leaves that are used, not the flowers. Passionflower is a vine that likes to grow along fences.
Pineapple sage – This wonderful herb gains its name from the scent it gives off, which actually smells just like pineapple. The trumpet-shaped flowers are typically a deep red color making it not only a nice scented addition to a garden but one that provides a great splash of color.
Meadowsweet – For anyone who likes the scent of almonds meadowsweet is the perfect herb to grow. In addition to the pleasant scent the milky white clusters of small flowers are unusually pretty.
Rosemary – One of the commonly used herbs for cooking, rosemary has pretty lavender blooms and the plant itself can be trained to form a hedge. The scent is similar to that of pine and the leaves are like needles so must be handled with care.
Pot Marigold – Also known as calendula has flowers very similar to the common French marigold flowers with bright yellow-gold blooms. Calendula is used as a balm and is well known for its healing and antiseptic properties.
Feverfew – With daisy-like flowers consisting of white petals and a bright yellow center, feverfew is useful for staving off migraine headaches and reducing the pain associated with toothache. The plant rarely grows over 20 inches tall but spreads quickly if not kept under control.
Bee Balm – With the imminent extinction of bees planting bee balm can go a long way towards ensuring your garden continues to attract bees, and also provides the bees with pollen. Pretty heads of pink flowers offer a welcome splash of color to the garden.
Geranium – Very well known for its brilliant red color and heavy scent, some geranium varieties are available in white, pink, lavender, and purple. Because of its distinctive strong scent geranium is often dried and added to potpourri.
