WNC: Greenhouse

by Jim Long
photos by T. Togasaki

There’s an old tradition in the Ozarks, where I live, that likely arrived with the early immigrants from England and Scotland. The practice calls for leaving one corner of the garden untilled, so that fairies might have a place to hide. Everyone knows that fairies come out at night and straighten out the flower petals left amiss by the bees’ daytime cavorting. And it’s the fairies who sprinkle dew on the sweet woodruff leaves and put a single silvery dew drop on the center of every lady’s mantle leaf to reflect the first rays of early morning sunlight.

The practical side to this fairy corner lore is that certain plants thrive in areas left untilled. Herbs traditionally found in these corners include hollyhocks, which fairies are said to love. (I use the darker red hollyhock petals to give a nice color to my herb teas.) Larkspur, too, likes the fairy corner, as does the whole collection of plants that do best when left alone to bloom and reseed themselves.

These are the cool-season herbs- ones that sprout up in the late winter before you even notice them, then burst into vibrant blooms or tasty leafiness around March or April. Dill, poppy, perennial garlic, Egyptian walking onions, cilantro (also known as coriander when it goes to seed), and any of the nigellas make the list of early spring herbs. Bachelor’s buttons, too, which are edible and used for garnish but can’t really be considered an herb, thrive in the untilled environment. (Over the years, many gardeners have told me that parsley, left to reseed itself, will do just as well as dill and cilantro. But the herb never seems do well in my garden.)

If you plant dill, cilantro, poppies, or other cool-season herbs in the fall, even as late as Thanksgiving, they’ll pop out of the ground at a time that suits them best-February in Zone 6, for example. Just make sure you choose a bed where they won’t be disturbed. None of these plants does very well when transplanted, and most won’t grow well in pots either. Or, if they do grow, they’re stunted to a mere shadow of their normal selves. (The fairies don’t seem as interested in hiding out in pots in the patio as they do in a garden corner.) As an added bonus, some of these herbs-cilantro and dill, specifically-will arise again in the fall and you’ll have a second crop to enjoy.

If you want an early-spring bounty, establish your fairy corner where the plants will not be disturbed. Give the seeds a light mulching of straw-not deep, just enough to cover the soil-and by spring the little plants will be sprouting up, ready for a rousing display of flavor and color. Remove any pesky weeds to give the desirable seedlings plenty of room. Who knows? The fairies may just use their magic to grow enough cilantro, dill, poppies, and larkspur to make you the envy of your neighborhood.

Jim Long writes and lectures about herb gardening and history from his Long Creek Herb Farm in Blue Eye, Missouri. Send questions and comments to him at www.longcreekherbs.com.

The preceding article was reprinted with permission from www.herbquarterly.com.

The Greenhouse offers a variety of fairy figurines and other fairy related items. Small-scale Fairy gardens are also for sale and can be made to order.