Uncommon Herbs to Grow at Home

Lemon verbena is fairly easy to find as a garden plant. Its leaves bring a lemony flavor to desserts and teas.

Add these uncommon herbs to your garden

For many gardeners, culinary herbs are synonymous with Mediterranean plants: basil, mint, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, dill and chives. I grow all of these, which are great, even essential, for use in the kitchen.

However, as I’ve explored the world’s cuisines, I’ve discovered a broader range of herbs. Many tropical herbs can be grown in my USDA Zone 7 Virginia garden. They may not overwinter, and some are only available as seeds. But they thrive in the warm summers. This year, try growing these plants, and discover their fantastic flavors.

Uncommon herbs from South America

Originally from South America, lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora) is hardy to Zone 8, and it can be grown as a perennial in the South. I grow it as an annual because it is relatively easy to find now. Each spring, I purchase a small plant, which I can expect to grow to about two feet tall and wide by the growing season’s end. I use the leaves in the kitchen, mincing tender young foliage to add to dishes, baked goods and beverages for an intense lemon flavor. Adding fresh leaves to whipping cream creates a lemon-infused cream for berries. Dried leaves retain the flavor, making them perfect for hot tea.

Stevia has an intense sweetness. It has similar growing requirements as basil.

Another South American herb is stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). This I purchase in the spring, instead of starting from seed, because of its low germination rates. But otherwise, stevia is a lot like basil: It needs full sun, moist but well-drained soil and frequent pinching to encourage branching and delay flowering, which would reduce the quality of the foliage. Known for their intense sweetness, stevia leaves can be used fresh or dried for baking or flavoring fruit and beverages. Because it is hardy only to Zone 10, I grow stevia as an annual and harvest all the leaves before fall’s frost.

Roselle is the hibiscus plant used in teas. It blooms with typical hibiscus flowers, but the red seedpods that follow are most commonly harvested.

Try an uncommon herb from Africa

Africa is home to roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), although it’s now commonly associated with the Caribbean Islands. This is the “hibiscus” in herbal teas. Easy to grow from seed, roselle grows to about four feet tall and two to three feet wide, with large, serrated leaves. Hardy to Zone 9 and a lover of the sun, it can be grown in 12- to 24-inch containers or in the ground. I start seeds indoors in March, under lights, partly because the plant is not available here and partly because its growing season is longer than my summer. The plants bloom when days get shorter, nights get longer and frost is just around the corner.

Roselle’s okra-like flowers last one day. As the blossoms shrivel, the calyxes (modified leaf bracts) swell to enclose the seeds. I only harvest the red, swollen calyxes, but other parts are edible: Seeds can be roasted; young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The lemon/rhubarb-flavored calyxes are high in pectin, perfect for making jams and jellies. Fresh or dried calyxes are used in teas, cordials, juices, syrups and baked goods. They can be cooked like cranberries or used as a red colorant.

Turmeric is grown for its rhizomes. As with ginger, turmeric rhizomes bought in the produce department can give rise to plants, though it takes patience.

Uncommon Asian herbs

Traveling to India and China, we find both ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa). Like roselle, these are long-season plants that take at least eight months to produce harvestable rhizomes. Both these plants can be purchased as rhizomes from seed companies. I’ve also grown them from organic rhizomes bought at an Asian supermarket.

Ginger can be sprouted from rhizomes purchased at the grocery store.

Tips for growing ginger and turmeric rhizomes

In March, I plant the rhizomes two inches deep, one per six-inch plastic container, water them and place the pots in a warm, brightly lit room. (Grow lights are not necessary.) They are slow to sprout, but by May I can transfer them into either garden beds or 24-inch containers.

Grown in part shade, ginger reaches about four feet tall, with bamboo-like foliage. Turmeric stays about a foot shorter, with broad foliage. Before the frost, I dig up the plants to harvest the rhizomes, which I can use fresh in dishes or freeze for future use. Both ginger and turmeric have medicinal qualities, but I use mine for cooking—especially minced fresh ginger in gingerbread! Turmeric is hardy to Zone 8; ginger, to Zone 9—so Southern gardeners can let the plants continue to grow until they die back naturally.

Related: How to Grow Turmeric Indoors

Southeast Asia is home to lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), a true grass in the Poaceae family. A trip to the Asian supermarket will result in a few foot-long stalks, or culms, for about a dollar. I have rooted these in water but find it more reliable to use potting mix.

Lemongrass is a quick-growing, hefty plant that easily fills a pot in one growing season.

Try easy-care lemongrass

Lemongrass does not require a long season; gardeners can start it outside after frost has passed. I grow mine in 12-inch containers, which makes it easy to completely harvest it in fall. The plants can be grown in the ground, but give them a wide berth. By summer’s end, they can be four feet tall and wide with sharp green blades.

In the summer, when the plant has produced culms about a half an inch wide at the base, cut off at the bottom the number that you need. Cut the stalk again to peel away the fibrous sheaths at the bottom five inches, revealing an inner soft pith. Mince the pith to add lemon flavor to batter, dough or dishes. For soups and stews, or even beverages, bruise part of the stalk with a hammer to release the flavor. As with bay leaves, remove it before you serve the dish or drink. Likewise, the foliage, although sharp, can be wrapped into bundles, added to dishes and then removed before serving.

Because lemongrass is hardy to Zone 10, I dump the plant out of the container before frost and cut all the stalks to six inches to freeze in plastic bags (the minced part can be frozen as well).

Of course, there are other herbs to discover, but these are a good start for gardeners in the United States, who should be able to grow them over a summer.

Photo credits:
Lemon verbena by Plenuska - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46975192

Stevia by Mokkie - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32204493

Roselle by Mokkie - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33943996

Ginger by Reza Mustafa/Unsplash

Turmeric by Govind Bhalerao, CC0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=165999412

Lemongrass by David J. Stang, BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61021797