One of the least conspicuous parts of each garden is, at the same time, the most interesting, the most varied, the most valuable and the most delicious at the same time. Herb gardens cannot offer the same colourful beauty as pure flowerbeds, but they do enchant our olfactory cells and taste buds. Take a velvety leaf of apple mint in your hand, rub it and breathe in the delicate, sharp aroma, and then enjoy the refreshing minty flavour. Herb gardens are a real school of the senses, a culinary jewel, and a mosaic of aromas.

The best time to visit herb garden is between May and July, because this is the season awash with heady aromas and herbs such as oregano, lavender, tropaeolum and sage, which turn the garden into gently blooming potpourri. It is an absolute must to mark the date of August 15th in one’s diary. On the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary there are great herb festivals, for example, in the garden Sonnentor Erlebnis in Sprögnitz, in the Thayatal National Park (Podyjí) and in the Kittenberger Adventure Gardens (Kittenberger Erlebnisgärten).

A Diversity of herbs

In addition to old and well-known classics such as parsley, chives and dill, there is also an incomparable wealth of other herbs in the show gardens in Lower Austria, the South Moravia Region and the Highlands Region. Many herbs may have already fallen into disuse (for example, borage, salad burnet, hyssop), others are not considered kitchen herbs (such as ground elder or nettles) and another group is very exotic not only for our kitchens but also for our gardens (e.g. aloysia citrodora or asafoetida).

The Diversity of gardens

Diversity presents itself in very different ways. The garden theme is everywhere different and interesting in its own way. Historical herb gardens can be found in the Geras Monastery, an ideal typical farm garden in Museumsdorf Niedersulz or the South Moravian Museum of the Villages of South-East Moravia in Strážnice, in the garden of St. Hildegard at Zwettl Abbey and at Sonnentor Čejkovice. Specially arranged gardens of the senses, where one can get to know herbs by smelling and touching, can be found in the Garden of the Senses at the Cave of the Knights of Blanik. The real place of discovery for kitchen and herb gardens of your own is the many other show gardens, providing varied inspiration such as herbal spirals, terraces or herb paths.

Herb tasting

In many places, a varied mix of herbs can be examined and tasted on the spot, such as in the garden kitchen of the Arche Noah Garden in Schiltern, the herb bio-restaurant Bio-Kräuterlandgasthaus ‘anno 1920’ in Etsdorf, or the bio-inn Leibspeis' at the herb specialists Sonnentor in Sprögnitz. At the herb hotel Wildkräuterhotel Steinschalerhof in Rabenstein, a team of cooks can clearly demonstrate that ‘weeds’ can also be very tasty. Likewise in the natural show garden Kamenná, visitors can hardly conceal their surprise at the ‘edible weeds’. Arche Noah, Wildkräuterhotel Steinschalerhof and Sonnentor also offer guided tours, cooking classes and workshops that provide more information on how to use herbs.