George Shirley wrote:
>
> I've never been able to keep thyme over a season, generally our very hot
> summers knocks it down. Same with tarragon.

In Chicago metro when we still had a house with a back yard each fall
we'd transfer the herbs from the pots on the deck to the garden in the
back to see what would survive. The lemon thyme did great until a
couple of years later the tarragon did so well it kudzu'd over the thyme
and a few of the decoratives in its vicinity. Then it stabilized
maxxing out at 4-5 foot diameter before the winter trimmed it back. If
it's still there under the new owners I bet it will be gigantic this
year.

> I also grow New Zealand spinach, seeds easily found on the net. Not an
> herb or a spice but a vegetable. Reseeds readily and heavily. First
> green plant of the year to bear in early spring. Leaves are fleshy and
> fairly tasty as a cooked green. I dehydrate a lot of the stuff and keep
> it handy to thicken stews and soups. Dump in a handful and it also adds
> flavor and some vegetable taste to soups and stews.

Now that we only have a few pots on a deck I'm interested in perennial
veggies. Not easy to find. Scratch rhubarb as my wife's allergic.
Scratch asparagus as it takes too much dirt to fit in a pot. That
leaves very obscure ones like "sea kale" that I can't find in shops.

> We also have problems with rosemary, the dratted bush will grow four
> feet high and around in one season. Who needs that much rosemary?

We used to live in Los Angeles metro. There they plant rosemary along
the freeways. They don't water or food it. Every so often a car goes
off the road and the rosemerry forrest absorbs and eats the minerals
from the car. Semi-arid kudzu.

> Lost
> my leaf celery to drought last year. Waiting until we move to buy more
> seed. One of the handiest plants we've ever grown. Don't have to buy a
> stalk of celery that will go bad before we can use it up. The leaf
> celery can be cut fresh and added to salads and whatever is cooking and
> gives it a good flavor. Sometimes known as "cutting celery."

Gloria P mentioned lovage as an herb that tastes like celery. It grows
well in Chicago's climate. The year we grew it it produced many times
the amount of celery flavor we could handle.