Columnist Muriel Stevens: Seeds of spring -- herb shopping

The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la." OK, so it's not yet spring, but the short spell of unseasonably warm weather got my palms itching to replenish my assortment of culinary herbs.

The annuals have to be replaced every year; the perennials -- chives, parsley and such -- just keep growing year-round. I dump the annuals when they're past their prime.

The seasons don't count for much around my house since I live in an apartment and do most of my gardening indoors. My "crop" consists of anything that can be grown in a pot that is placed near a reasonably sunny window.

This is the time of year when potted herbs start appearing in the nurseries. The selection of herbs isn't great yet; it's still early. But I'm not complaining.

Long before our local nurseries carried herb plants, I would bring them back from my travels. This led to many adventures because flight attendants aren't always tuned in to the needs of cooking zanies carrying bags of delicate plants that can't be stored overhead.

Somehow the plants and I survived. Still, I'm happy not to have those kinds of adventures anymore.

If you've never tried growing herbs indoors, you'll be surprised at how easy it is. I immodestly admit to having a green thumb. My apartment is filled with house plants that all came from one cutting given to me by a friend 15 years ago.

These plants continue to bloom twice a year and are in their glory right now. My dining room and living room are ablaze with pink and red blooms.

Herbs are not quite as obliging, but with a little care and just a small amount of know-how, growing them is easy.

The first thing is to find some healthy plants, so off I went to Plant World on Tropicana Avenue, near Maryland Parkway. After checking the meager stock, there was little I wanted. In fact, it was downright discouraging.

The "live" herb supply was dismal. The few herbs available were more dead than alive, not worth the trouble of planting. Only the catnip, which I didn't want, looked healthy.

It'll have more herbs, I was told, in about three weeks, but what it was showing should have been dumped.

I settled for some Burpee seed packs ($1.79 each) and a package of small peat pots ($4.99) that could be planted along with the seedlings.

But that didn't satisfy my itch for herbs. It takes time to sprout seeds. I wanted live plants and I wanted them now!

At my next stop, the Star Nursery at 5700 Spring Mountain Road, I hit the jackpot. I had called first to make certain it had some herbs. It didn't sound too promising, but I was determined.

What a delight it was to find more than I hoped for. What's more, there was actually someone to answer my questions. Later, I would learn that the obliging person, Ed Bakker, was the nursery manager.

My first question: Why do we have so few herbs? "It's still a little early for the plants," Bakker said, "so I only choose those that can withstand some cold." Made sense.

He also told me that more herbs will be coming. Meanwhile, I bought pineapple sage, Italian flat-leaf parsley, an upright form of rosemary (it doesn't hang like the needle type), Chinese sugar peas and "wooly" thyme. All picture perfect.

I won't let the peas fruit; I'll just eat the sprouts. These robust plants need space to climb.

I couldn't resist the thyme. The tightly bunched, curly plant is used as ground cover, as well as for culinary purposes. It made me smile just looking at it.

The small, individual herb pots were 98 cents; the larger snap peas and thyme pots were $1.98. The aroma was wonderful. Don't buy any that aren't fragrant.

I couldn't find any French tarragon. This basic culinary herb cannot be grown from seed, so I'll wait until I can buy some locally, or order it by mail. (Some of my favorite mail-order sources are listed at the end of this column.)

I also found a wonderful bargain -- a 72-hole seed starter tray, sort of like a mini-greenhouse. For $4.99, I got the greenhouse and a bonus bag of seed-starting soil.

The tray includes a clear plastic lid, so it really is like a petite greenhouse. I'll punch holes in the lid with an ice pick. It's better to have a little air circulating so that the soil doesn't develop mold.

The trick is to squeeze the soil almost dry before putting in the seeds. Don't put the tray in direct sunlight until the sprouts appear. After the seedlings take hold, I'll transfer them to their permanent pots.

At Star, I also found seed packs of chervil (French parsley) and other hard-to-find herbs ($1.49) -- the kind I usually mail order.

This Star nursery is really impressive. There's an orderliness and neatness to the gardens that is beautiful to behold. All of the plants looked so healthy. The flowers were gorgeous. I was happy to have discovered this place.

Still, there are limitations to what a local nursery can carry, so here are my favorite mail sources:

My longtime favorite, Shepherd's Garden Seeds, offers a full complement of culinary seeds from around the world. The first chervil I started came from here. For a free catalog, call (800) 475-0148.

It coasts $1 to get a catalog from the venerable Le Jardin du Gourmet in St. Johnsbury Center, Vt. (Box 75F and the ZIP code is 05863, or [email protected]), but you'll receive the catalog, instructions, recipes and five sample packets of herb seeds. These smaller packets are ideally sized for indoor or container gardening.

The Flowery Branch Seed Co. (P.O. Box 1330, Flowery Branch, Ga. 30542) sells edible flowers along with a fine selection of herbs. It costs $4 for a catalog, but it's refundable with an order. Access it by mail or the web -- flowerybranchseeds.com.

I won't have time to plant the herbs I bought until the weekend, but I'll water them when they feel dry and make sure when I plant them that the pot has space enough for them to grow.

Few other forms of shopping give so much for so little, and keep on giving each time the herbs are snipped to be added to a dish.

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