5 Essential Herbs Martha Stewart Grows In Her Garden (And What To Plant With Them)

Everyone knows that Martha Stewart loves her culinary garden, which covers around half an acre, and one of her favorite types of edible plants to grow is herbs. She does grow quite a few different varieties, either together or scattered among other edibles. If you want to follow her example and venture into growing your own delicious herbs, we'll take a look at five of the most essential ones you can add to your garden — sage, oregano, parsley, thyme, and rosemary.

You'll find that these aromatic plants are amazingly easy to grow and will provide you with all the culinary goodness you need to turn your kitchen creations into mouth-watering morsels your family and friends will love. For gardeners in warmer regions, many of these can be grown as perennials, which means you can enjoy them year-round without really fussing over them too much. But, for growers further north, you might like to plant them in your garden as annuals or grow them in pots and bring them indoors over winter. To add even more interest to your yard, you'll also want to know what companions to plant with each herb and why.

If you like to make your own stuffing for Thanksgiving or Christmas feasts, you'll know that sage is the ideal herb to add for that rich and aromatic musky flavor. It also adds some interest to the garden with its soft, velvety leaves and gorgeous flower spikes in summer which are a magnet for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Hailing from a Mediterranean climate, sage grows well in hardiness zones 4 through 8 and prefers a sunny spot in the yard, and well-drained soil is essential.

As sage is a drought-tolerant plant, it will pair well with other species that like similar conditions, such as lavender and yarrow. The softer gray foliage of lavender blends beautifully with the larger aromatic leaves of sage, while both plants have stunning purple flowers. Yarrow is a perennial in USDA zones 3 through 9 and has soft leaves and pretty blooms in shades of white, yellow, orange, pink, and red. These make excellent cut flowers and attract pollinators. It's also said that sage will repel the cabbage white butterfly, so it can be useful as a companion for brassicas like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. In addition, sage pairs perfectly with carrots since the herb is believed to repel carrot flies. Planting these two together in an edible garden means you're using the growing space both above and below ground level to its maximum.

If you love pizza and Italian food, you'll be familiar with the spicy taste of oregano. It adds a delectable flavor to tomato-based dishes, omelets, and other eggy creations. Oregano also originates from Mediterranean climates and is a perennial in zones 3 through 10. There are different forms, with some growing as small upright shrubs while others tend to sprawl along the ground. This tasty herb prefers full sun and perfectly-drained soil. It will produce tiny flowers in summer in shades of purple, white, and pink.

This popular herb pairs well with brassicas like cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli because its pungent aroma is believed to repel the white cabbage moth. Another delicious edible to plant with oregano is cucumber, as the herb is said to repel cucumber beetles. Plus, the flavor match of these two is quite outstanding. Try making your own salad dressing by steeping some oregano in vinegar and drizzling this over freshly sliced cucumber to give your taste buds a zing. Of course, considering how well they go together in cooking, tomatoes can also grow admirably with oregano. This means you can pick all your favorite ingredients from the same spot in your garden the next time you want to make a batch of tomato sauce to pour over pasta.

There are two distinct types of parsley you can cultivate in your yard: the flat leaf and the curly leaf. Both make excellent additions to your culinary adventures and are popular as garnishes. In fact, almost every savory dish you want to create will benefit from parsley's unique but subtle flavor. Most U.S. gardeners will grow this as an annual, even though it's botanically a biennial because it completes its life cycle over two years. Although parsley hails from Mediterranean countries, too, it does prefer moist, well-drained soils. This herb can also be grown in part shade, especially during the hotter months.

When parsley blooms in its second year in summer, the flowers can attract hoverflies and parasitic wasps to your yard, so this herb would make a good companion in your flower garden. Other things you can grow with parsley include asparagus and tomatoes. It's said that parsley can help to improve the flavor of these edibles. You could also plant some parsley around your roses because this herb grows excellently next to roses. As a bonus, the larvae of the hoverflies will eat those pesky aphids that so love to destroy the young growth on the rose bushes.

Fresh thyme is a wonderful addition to your cooking. It helps to add a distinctive flavor to your fish dishes and is delicious when used on baked salmon. It also goes well with roasted potatoes; the aroma is divine. This versatile herb grows best in a sunny spot in effectively-drained soil. It can be grown as a perennial in zones 5 through 9. When it flowers, it will attract hoards of bees to your yard. It makes a lovely border plant around your flower garden as long as you trim it regularly. You'll also find that thyme is a popular herb that will keep ants from invading your garden.

An excellent companion plant to grow with your thyme is chamomile, which enjoys similar conditions and will attract pollinators when in bloom. You can also plant blueberries and strawberries with your thyme, as the flowering herb will attract plenty of pollinators for a bountiful berry crop. Consider a large mixed container garden with a blueberry bush in the middle, surrounded by a few thyme plants and strawberries around the very edges of the container. Thyme also pairs sublimely with tomatoes both in the garden and in the kitchen. The sweet scent of the herb will keep pests away from the luscious red fruits.

Is there anything more delicious than roast lamb infused with a few fragrant rosemary sprigs straight from the garden? Or how about buttery potatoes enriched with freshly chopped rosemary leaves? Best of all, this herb is so easy to cultivate in the garden, and you only need one plant to provide your kitchen with more than you can use. This is another Mediterranean herb that enjoys a sunny place in your yard with well-drained soil. But give it plenty of space because the shrub can grow up to 5 feet tall with an impressive spread of up to 4 feet. It will happily thrive as a perennial in zones 8 through 10. To keep this fast-growing plant under control, you'll want to know how and when to prune a rosemary bush.

As a highly fragrant plant, rosemary is quite good at deterring pests such as beetles, cabbage moths, and carrot flies. So, consider planting vegetables such as beans, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli with your rosemary. Marigolds also grow well with rosemary because they enjoy fairly identical conditions and look beautiful when grown together. If you have a large pot, you might like to plant a rosemary bush in the center and surround it with a few little marigold plants for a stunning visual display.