Mulberry Creek Herb Farm

Sage, Garden Golden Variegated

Salvia officinalis 'Icterina'
Our stock plants survived -18 F degrees last winter, from which we took your cuttings. Leaves have brilliant yellow margins around green centers. These obedient golden mounds create a 7-8 month show, here, in front of ""Bronze Fennel"", ""Purple Ruffles Basil"" or, like one of our favorite beds, in the midst of other sages.

Sage, Garden Purple

Salvia officinalis 'Purpurea'


Purple colored new leaves turn green as they mature, giving plant a bi-colored look. ""Purple Sage"" offers great color contrast and flavor. Hardy in northern Ohio in all but the coldest winters.

Sage, Garden Tricolor

Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor'


Deep pink, white and green stroked leaves make a display in the garden or on the dinner table.

Sage, Newe Ya’ar’

Salvia X New'e Yare
Finally, a garden sage for the deep South! This is an Israeli variety bred to mimic the humidity tolerance of the tropical Sage, but the flavor of Salvia officinalis. Long, ""Garden Sage-"" like leaves provide plenty of harvest for your next meal.

Samphire \ Sea Fennel

Crithmum maritimum


Rare plant to find & even more difficult to research. Native to British cliffs where it has long been used as a salt substitute and an essential ingredient for pickles. Blue-green, highly dissected fleshy succulent looks really.... WEIRD! Our Jamaica Bay, NY customer told us her sea fennel came back year after year until high tide came in and took it out to sea.

Sedum, Golden Angeline

Sedum ruprestes 'Angelina' PPAF
Bright yellow, 1/2"" long, soft needles contrast well with Sedum 'Voodoo', 'Love's Triangle' or 'Frosted Blue'.

Sedum, Japanese Golden

Sedum makinoi 'Ogon'
Sedum ""Voodoo"" and this rare cultivar inspired our Jar Gem series, that is, plants perfectly suited to the cramped quarters and dry, severe conditions of strawberry jars. You can't find this brilliant, yellow creeper from Japan in many catalogs. Lastly leaves are tasty as a ""micro-green"" salad addition

Soapwort, Double Pink

Saponaria officinalis 'Flora Plena'


In Ohio and many other places, the regular species is an invasive weed,(which we no longer offer in good conscience) but not this one! Full double clusters of bright pink flowers bloom all summer yet they'll not reseed. Still has humble lathering action. A gift from Elaine Kudela, a friend in herb heaven.

Soapwort, Mulberry Creek Variegated

Saponaria officinalis 'Variegata' MCF Form
We’ve worked on this Mulberry Creek introduction for 4 years to develop a stable, variegated pattern. Finally, yellow and striped leaves update this old fashion, pink flowering cottage garden essential. Comparatively, it is less aggressive in spreading, re-seeding and flowering, but wow does it brighten up the garden! I don’t mind its mild demeanor. Demi Bown, author of New Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses, upon visiting us, said we had choosen very well, but that this is still only the 'Variegata' form.

Solidago, Tiny Goldenrod

Solidago coulteri


A miniature version of north America's favorite and most beautiful hayfever / allergy trouble-maker. But at only 2 to 3 inches tall the cute golden-yellow flowers really can't cause any problems.

Sweet Violet, Purple

Viola odorata 'Koenigin Charlotte'
Queen Charlotte is far more heat tolerant than our previously offered ""Linane"", which it now replaces. You can nibble on and crystallize the dark purple, incredibly fragrant flowers blooming all year although they only open up in cool weather. Five inch tall rosettes of heart shaped foliage hold flowers, for picking, in very early spring and then again in early fall until a hard freeze.! These plants will not re-seed themselves to annoyance. Easy to grow and enjoy! Divide in fall.

Sweet Violet, Sky Blue

Viola odorata 'Lavender'


A gift from the Wee-folk in our gardens. We didn't plant it. Lovely sky blue, fragrant flowers prevail whenever cool weather reigns. However as the temperature increases, the flowers open up pure white! We had to watch this several seasons to make sure it wasn't a mistake. Just as the skies are blue, sometimes they turn white too.

Sweet Violet, White

Viola odorata 'Alba'


Sweet and as white as a late spring snow you'll find its fragrance nudges your thoughts to celestial songs. As well suited in the ""White Garden,"" as on a woodland path and, yes of course, a shady faery garden.

Tarragon, Mexican

Tagetes lucida
Talk about an identity crisis. Flowers like a marigolds (no coincidence, it is one) with narrow dark green leaves like penstemon and smells ;amp; tastes like French Tarragon. Overwintered indoors, it is a good substitute for tarragon.Outdoors, it's easier to grow, harvest and use. Forms an upright bright green bush which makes a fine small hedge in southern climates. It drinks up the water especially in containers!!!

Thrift, Red Faerie

Armeria caespitosa 'Bevan's'
Actually it is more of a dark pine heading toward red, but, trust me, the flowers' hue is intense. In all other respects, it is very similar to ""Faerie"".

Thyme, Lavender

Thymus thracicus (mastichina)


Crush it. You'll smell a floral fragrance & what a grower! Looks good for months in pots. Pink flowers seldomly pop up on this narrow-leaved upright thyme. Use your imagination in pot roasts, mixed vegetables, pizza dough, rice, beans, and in or on bagels. Mark likes an occasional grilled lavender thyme steak. Brown meat on grill, then add handfuls of thyme & finish grilling. Great mustard enhancer.

Thyme, Pink Chintz

Thymus praecox 'Pink Chintz'
Not quite as fuzy as ""Woolly Thyme"" but not as fussy, this hardworking goundcover puts on a dotted display of steady pink, beginning late spring and handles steady foot traffic.

Thyme, Red Mother-of-

Thymus pulegiodes


Like the mother of a toddler, it hugs (the ground) and moves briskly to fill an herb lawn, pathway or rock garden niche with glossy green leaves and dark pink, spring flowers within a couple of years. Mother of prostrate thymes, maybe, but red, definitely not!

Valerian, Garden Pink

Valerian officinalis 'BLBP19'
Pinkish-white umbels tower over fern-like foliage flagging down some resident butterflies and moths. The particularly high essential oil, valeric acid and extract make the roots appealing to humans to normally be used as a nerve tonic and relaxer. It is best to allow the plant at least two years of growth before harvesting some of its roots.

Valerian, Miniature

Valerian supina
For those of you fond of the delicate, fragrant flowers of ""Garden Heliotrope"" a.k.a. ""Valerian"" but not the four to five feet stalks, well how about this proud, 2 inch small cousin that flowers pink most of the summer? Forms a neat, 1 foot in diameter, tight mat of 1/2"" leaves. Native to high European Alps meadows.

Verbena, Butterfly

Verbena bonariensis


Pinkish purple blossoms sway on top 3 foot slender stems, attracting the eye and horn of many drivers. It's a natural cut flower which also lures every butterfly in the neighborhood. Warning: it's a self-sowing annual which happens to be O.K. for us. Use bark or other mulch where you don't want it to self-sow.

Verbena, Homestead Purple

Verbena canadensis `Homestead Purple'


A hardy perennial that flowers like an annual, if you live in Zones 6/7 - 10. For us northern folk, it is an annual with outstanding bright purple blossoms that show off vibrantly from hundreds of feet away. Will form a 5 foot mat that trails over rocks ;amp; walls in one season which is why it graced the cover of our 1st catalog. Not all of our herbs have to be used from flower to roots. This one is for sheer enjoyment. Flowers from around June, continuously, through fall even after autumn frosts. Introduced to the nursery trade (along with ornamental Sweet Potatoes) by Dr. Allen Armitage, University of Georgia, who told me he wished he had a penny for everyone of these that have been sold. He would be retired. We're glad he's not!

Veronica, M & Mini Blue Carpet

Veronica spicata nana 'M & M Blue Carpet'
M & M Blue Carpet is a very sweet Mulberry Creek introduction selected from a seed grown variety that has extra small leaves, but all the same flower power as other veronicas. Bright blue buds pop up through the carpet of green leaves each summer. Slowly spreads to form a thick carpet. Plant about 6-12 inches apart for an eventually solid groundcover.

Veronica, Sunshine

Veronica repens 'Sunshine'


Tiny, pinkish spikes in June add another 75 watts to this already fluorescent gold leaved ground-cover. Needs full, hot sun for best color. Will also brighten any partially shaded pocket where thymes won't grow. Here the leaf color fades to lime green only to start over gold each spring.

Willow, Arctic Creeping

Salix arctica 'Petraea'
This slightly larger leaved willow was found grwing around Santa's workshop and was dropped off here last Christmas. This is a true Zone 1, Arctic, tundra plant that seems just as happy as a snowbird in the lower 48. What a great miniature ""Pussy Willow"".