Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

3 ft 11 in

In-row spacing

3 ft 11 in

Between rows

4 ft 11 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Herb · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Full sun

Feeding

Gentle all-organic

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

June

Through the year

• Apr–Apr Bud Break
• Apr–Jun Harvest
• Jun–Oct Flowering
• Oct–Oct Growing
• Oct–Dec Leaf Fall
• Jan–Apr Leaf Fall

Companions

Lavender, Rosemary, Sage

Pests & problems

• Whitefly Whitefly building up fast under cover, where the air stays warm and still
• Spider mites Red spider mite once the weather turns hot and dry
• Frost damage Frost damage to the new growth after a late cold snap

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Big-eyed bug Geocoris spp.
  Hunts Spider mitesWhitefly

  A stubby 3 mm bug with enormous wrap-around eyes, working the soil surface and the low foliage for aphids, mites, thrips and insect eggs. It is the main natural check on chinch bugs in a lawn and it is killed outright by insecticide.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCloverCosmosGoldenrodSweet alyssum
• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts WhiteflySpider mites

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts WhiteflySpider mites

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
• Minute pirate bug Orius spp.
  Hunts Spider mitesWhitefly

  A pinhead-sized true bug that is the best natural check on thrips, and happily spears aphids, mites, and insect eggs too. It needs pollen when prey is scarce, so keep something flowering nearby.

  Plant nearby CosmosFennelFrench marigoldSweet alyssum
• Dragonflies & damselflies Odonata
  Hunts Whitefly

  Aerial hunters that take mosquitoes, midges and small flies on the wing all day, and whose larvae spend a year or more clearing the same insects from the water. A pond with planted margins and no fish is the way to have them.

  Plant nearby BulrushIrisNymphaeaPickerel Weed
• Parasitic wasps Braconidae & Trichogramma
  Hunts Whitefly

  Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.

  Plant nearby CilantroDillFennelLovageParsleySweet alyssumYarrow
• Predatory mites Phytoseiulus & Amblyseius
  Hunts Spider mites

  Fast orange mites that hunt spider mites egg-by-egg, and cousins that clear thrips and fungus-gnat larvae. Sold as a biological control for greenhouses; outdoors they follow humidity — mist and mulch, don’t dust with sulfur.

• Rove beetle Staphylinidae
  Hunts Spider mites

  Slim, quick beetles with short wing cases that hunt in soil and litter, taking root-fly eggs and larvae, fungus-gnat larvae, and mites. Mulch and undisturbed ground keep them resident year-round.

  Plant nearby MintThyme
• Spiders Araneae
  Hunts Whitefly

  Webs, ambushes, and night patrols make spiders the garden’s steadiest generalist predators, taking whatever flies or crawls past. Mulch, ground cover, and undisturbed corners keep the population dense.

  Plant nearby LavenderThyme