By planting herbs in your garden, you can accomplish several things. Repel pests, use it in cooking or help make those medicines taste and smell better. Most herbs have a wonderful scent and can be used in potpourris.

With so many uses, no wonder they have been around for centuries.

Lavender

The most famous of the sweet smelling herbs is Lavender. This herb is used to repel mosquitoes, flies, moths and many other flying insects. Lavender is used to make perfume and potpourris. When Lavender is used medicinally it can reduce acne and puffiness of the skin. It has been used for sore throats, nerve disorders, toothaches and sore joints.

Oregano

Oregano is wonderful to plant alongside cucumbers and melons. This herb is planted to repel cabbage butterflies. In the kitchen it is used in tomato sauces for pizza and spaghetti.

Parsley

Parsley is that little sprig of green that is often put on your plate at dinner. Most of the time, it is put there to make the food look prettier. But, Parsley has other, more practical uses. It repels asparagus beetles. This herb contains a lot of essential vitamins such as A, B, C, calcium and iron. It is used fresh, frozen or dried in many kitchen dishes.

Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal is basically used to repel fleas and other insects. It is used as a topic aid to stop itching, burning skin.

Peppermint

This next herb will remind you of candy canes at Christmas, or for the older generation, the alcoholic drink of schnapps. Peppermint repels ants, and most other crawling insects. Medicinally it is used to relieve an upset stomach and as a flavoring for candy, and frosting.

Rosemary

Rosemary is used to keep bean beetles, carrot flies and cabbage pests away. In the kitchen it is used in meat and vegetable dishes. A little known fact is that Rosemary is also used in many cosmetics.

Rye

Rye keeps Japanese beetles away. Medicinally it has been used to treat gas pains, colic and helps aid digestion.

Savory

Plant some Savory to keep bean beetles and other pests away. When planted beside beans, it helps improve the bean's flavor and growth. In the kitchen, Savory makes a strong cabbage or turnip flavor more mellow.

Spearmint

Spearmint repels flies, rats and cabbage pests. It is used as a stimulant and flavoring for candy and gum.

Tansy

People plant Tansy to keep Japanese beetles, squash bugs, striped cucumber beetles and ants away. We have tansy planted by our trash barrel. Even during the hot summer days, insects rarely bother.

Thyme

Thyme repels cabbage worms, and white flies. It is used in cooking meats and casseroles. When Thyme is planted with eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes, it helps them to grow better.

Woodruff

Woodruff repels insects from cloths and linens when used indoors. Medicinally it can calm a person down, relieve migraine headaches and help with insomnia.

Wormwood

Wormwood repels fleas, moths from wool and other insects. It is used for indigestion and gastric pain.

My sources for this information is from my great grandmother's little garden book and what I have learned through the years.