Whether you’re a beginning gardener or a seasoned veteran,
growing herbs can be
well worth the effort, says a University of Georgia
horticulture professor.

“Once you begin to flavor meats and soups with your own
plants, all other cooking
becomes bland,” said Wayne
McLaurin, an Extension
Service horticulturist with the UGA College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.

“Vegetables, breads, drinks — even desserts,” he
said, “demand the
heightened character brought about by herbs.”

McLaurin’s an
expert

McLaurin should know. He wrote the book on herbs. He
and his wife Sylvia, at least,
wrote the book Georgia and other Southern gardeners may
least want to be without.

“Herbs
in the Southern Garden” is a newly published practical
guide to growing herbs in the
deep South. To get a copy, send $5 to: Ag Business Office,
203 Conner Hall, The University
of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

McLaurin said he and Sylvia, a Master Gardener who is
also on the UGA faculty in
instructional development, took a practical approach to
the book.

“We wanted it to be scientifically based, but user-
friendly, too,” he said.
“It’s easy reading, with practical tips people can use to
add the richness of herbs
to their gardens, kitchens and landscapes.”

Southern experts and beginners
in mind for book

The book has 45 color plates and handy details on 52
herbs
Southern gardeners can grow. It tells not just how to grow
them, but when and how to
harvest them to get the best flavors. It even has recipes,
a helpful glossary and a list
of references.

It’s clear the McLaurins had fun crafting this how-to
book on herbs for Southern
gardens. Among the practical tips is a section on 10
starter herbs almost anybody can
grow.

“My starter hint for mint is to give it to a neighbor
four
houses down,” he laughs. “Mint takes over everything. It
will be a weed in no
time. It’s very aggressive.”

More experienced gardeners, he said, can truly enrich
their lives with herbs. “The
variety of herbs home gardeners have today would once have
been unimaginable,” he
said.

The book focuses on herbs Southern gardeners can
grow. “These herbs can be grown
from the Carolinas into Louisiana and Texas,” McLaurin
said. “It isn’t meant to
be an end-all kind of book. It’s a handy, fun, quality
reference on herbs for Southern
gardeners.”