Growing Guides

Cayenne is the classic pepper for serious, lasting heat. Its long, thin, wrinkled pods ripen to a brilliant glossy red and pack a sharp punch of roughly 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units. Best known dried and ground into cayenne powder...

The Habanero is one of the most famous hot peppers in the world, prized for its intense heat and unmistakable fruity, citrusy aroma. Its small, wrinkled, lantern-shaped pods ripen from green to a vivid bright orange and pack a fierce...

The jalapeno is the most popular hot pepper in America, and for good reason. Its plump, 3-inch pods start glossy dark green and ripen to bright red, delivering a medium heat of roughly 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units with a...

The Anaheim is a long, slender chile that grows 6 to 8 inches and ripens from glossy green to red. It is a mild chile, running about 500 to 2,500 Scoville, so it delivers gentle, warm flavor rather than real...

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a hardy perennial with soft, lemon-scented leaves and a long, gentle place in the tea garden. It is easy to grow and quick to become a favorite, though the seeds ask for a little patience...

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) is a hardy North American native perennial with a cool, spearmint-like scent and frosty, silver-white summer blooms. Few plants pull in as many bees, wasps, and butterflies, yet it stays in a tidy clump instead of...

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is one of the easiest herbs to grow from seed and one of the most forgiving once it is established. This hardy Mediterranean perennial wants sun and lean soil, comes back year after year in most of...

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a fragrant, evergreen Mediterranean shrub that flavors roasts, breads, and potatoes and stays handsome year-round. Be warned that it is slow and uneven from seed, so this is a project for patient gardeners, not a quick...

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is a low, hardy perennial that carpets an herb bed in fragrant, tiny leaves and returns year after year, flavoring soups, roasts, and slow braises. Its seed is nearly as fine as dust, so sowing it takes...