Uncommon Herbs to Grow at Home

Add these uncommon herbs to your garden

Most of us, when we think of culinary herbs, automatically picture the Mediterranean staples: basil, mint, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, dill, and chives. I grow every one of those—they're terrific, and honestly, I'd be lost in the kitchen without them.

But as I've branched out into the world's cuisines, I've stumbled onto a whole wider universe of herbs. Plenty of tropical herbs do just fine in my USDA Zone 7 Virginia garden. They may not survive the winter, and you might only find them as seeds, but they absolutely thrive during our hot summers. This year, why not try growing some of these less-familiar herbs and discover the incredible flavors they bring to the table?

Uncommon herbs from South America

Hailing from South America, lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora) is hardy to Zone 8, so gardeners in the South can grow it as a perennial. Up here, I treat it as an annual—but the good news is it's gotten pretty easy to find at garden centers. Each spring I pick up a small plant, and by season's end it's typically about two feet tall and wide. In the kitchen, I mince the tender young leaves into dishes, baked goods, and drinks for a lemon punch that'll make you forget about lemon extract. Toss fresh leaves into whipping cream and you've got a lemon-infused cream that's heaven over fresh berries. Dried leaves hold their flavor beautifully, making them perfect for a cozy cup of hot tea.

Another South American native worth trying is stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). I buy this as a plant in spring rather than starting from seed—the germination rate is just too fussy. Otherwise, stevia is a lot like basil: it wants full sun, moist but well-drained soil, and frequent pinching to keep it branching and delay flowering, which would drag down the leaf quality. Those leaves are famous for their intense sweetness, and you can use them fresh or dried for baking, flavoring fruit, or stirring into beverages. Since it's hardy only to Zone 10, I grow stevia as an annual and strip every last leaf off before fall frost arrives.

Try an uncommon herb from Africa

Africa is home to roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), though these days most people associate it with the Caribbean. This is the "hibiscus" in those herbal teas you see everywhere. It's easy to grow from seed, reaching about four feet tall and two to three feet wide, with big, serrated leaves. Hardy to Zone 9 and a sun-lover, it does well in 12- to 24-inch containers or in the ground. I start my seeds indoors in March under lights—partly because I can't find the plants locally, and partly because it needs a longer growing season than my summer allows. The plants bloom when the days start getting shorter, nights lengthen, and frost is right around the corner.

Roselle's okra-like flowers last just a single day. As each blossom fades, the calyxes (modified leaf bracts) swell up around the seeds. I only harvest those red, swollen calyxes, though other parts are edible too: you can roast the seeds, and the young leaves are good raw or cooked. The calyxes have this wonderful lemon-rhubarb flavor and are packed with pectin, making them ideal for jams and jellies. Fresh or dried, they go into teas, cordials, juices, syrups, and baked goods. You can even cook them like cranberries or use them as a natural red colorant.

Uncommon Asian herbs

Heading to India and China, we find both ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa). Like roselle, these are long-season plants that need at least eight months to produce harvestable rhizomes. You can buy rhizomes from seed companies, but I've also had good luck sprouting organic ones from an Asian supermarket.

Tips for growing ginger and turmeric rhizomes

In March, I plant the rhizomes about two inches deep, one per six-inch plastic pot, give them a good watering, and set them in a warm, bright room. (Grow lights aren't necessary.) They're slow to wake up, but by May I can move them out to garden beds or 24-inch containers.

Grown in part shade, ginger reaches about four feet tall with bamboo-like foliage. Turmeric stays roughly a foot shorter, with broader leaves. Before frost hits, I dig up the whole plant to harvest the rhizomes—some I use fresh in cooking, the rest I freeze for later. Both have well-known medicinal properties, but I'm in it for the flavor—especially minced fresh ginger folded into gingerbread! Turmeric is hardy to Zone 8; ginger to Zone 9—so if you garden in the South, you can let them keep growing until they die back on their own.

Southeast Asia gives us lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), a true grass in the Poaceae family. A quick trip to the Asian supermarket nets you a few foot-long stalks, or culms, for about a dollar. I've rooted them in water, but honestly, potting mix works more reliably.

Try easy-care lemongrass

Lemongrass doesn't need a long season at all—you can start it outside once frost has passed. I grow mine in 12-inch containers, which makes it a cinch to do a complete harvest come fall. You can certainly grow it in the ground, but give it room. By summer's end, a single plant can be four feet tall and wide, with sharp green blades that mean business.

When the plant has put out culms about a half-inch wide at the base, cut off however many you need at the bottom. Slice the stalk again to peel away the fibrous outer sheaths at the bottom five inches, revealing the soft inner pith. Mince that pith for a bright lemon kick in batter, dough, or stir-fries. For soups, stews, or even drinks, just bruise part of the stalk with a hammer to release the flavor—then fish it out before serving, just like you would a bay leaf. The foliage, though sharp-edged, can also be bundled, tossed into dishes, and removed before eating.

Since lemongrass is hardy only to Zone 10, I dump the plant from its container before frost, cut all the stalks down to six inches, and freeze them in plastic bags. The minced inner pith freezes well too.

Of course, there are plenty more uncommon herbs out there to discover, but these are a solid starting point for gardeners in the United States who can grow them over a single summer.

Photo credits:Lemon verbena by Plenuska - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46975192Stevia by Mokkie - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32204493Roselle by Mokkie - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33943996Ginger by Reza Mustafa/UnsplashTurmeric by Govind Bhalerao, CC0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=165999412Lemongrass by David J. Stang, BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61021797