This is a pretty little flower. Looks too tall to be thyme but the flower is similar. One of two plants I may have planted but do not now recognize. Seems to be spreading happily. Looks more medicinal than culinary. Shade all morning, sun all afternoon.
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7 thoughts on “Brightly Settling In My Herb Garden, NH”
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That’s dame’s rocket, Hesperis matronalis. An old-fashioned garden flower. Not native. In the mustard family. Easily mistaken for phlox, but its flowers have only four petals (phlox has five). It comes in about the same colors as phlox – white, pink, and a kind of pale blue. Has a tendency to become invasive, but it’s not nearly as bad as some other plants. Doesn’t seem too particular about where it grows – I see it in floodplain forests and also along rather dry roadsides.
Karl A.
New Hampshire you are lucky. invasive plant here. have a recipe on our website and in the cookbook for it!!!
I just ordered the book on Sunday. Can’t wait to get it!
Dame’s Rocket! I was leaning toward thinking this might be what I see described as small flowered willow herb based on pictures I see online. My plants are not aromatic, and the flower custers are elegant but sparse. The most mature plants are about two feet tall.
Thanks again.
Yes Karl…what do you think. When I look at dames rocket the flowers dont have that cut/separation on the petal.
Whoops – you are correct. That’s a willow-herb, Epilobium sp., not dame’s rocket. I had overlooked the notched petals. I don’t know which species, though – E. parviflorum is possible but I’m not familiar with that species (had never heard of it in fact). It’s not native and we don’t have it in New Jersey where I live. My first thought is fringed willow-herb, Epilobium ciliatum. What’s needed here, to pin down the identification, is a good sharp very close-up picture looking into a flower. If the stigma is four-cleft, it’s probably E. parviflorum. If not, probably E. ciliatum.
Karl A.
Thank you. I don’t know if it’s native here, and it doesn’t show up anywhere else nearby that I can see, but it’s sure settling in nicely. I tried to take a good, sharp closeup, but it was harder than I expected! They move slightly, constantly. I cut one and brought it inside and have decided it’s my inferior photography skills.
Anyway, interesting side note is that I was trying to pin down a type of warbler that is nesting in my yard and on one of the sites I visited it says they like reedy areas where meadowsweet and willowherb grow. Well, I do have some meadowsweet that I planted for it’s great scent and looks like I have some willowherb, too! And a warbler makes it a wonderful trifecta.
Best I could manage even after having to wait til noon for the sleepy heads to even open. I cannot make out the detail of the stigma.