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Promising Plants

Explore Promising Plants

Promising Plants

The Promising Plant Program features selected herbs that are either newly introduced or are plants that are currently under-used in gardens today. Generally, these plants have interesting qualities that are not found in more common plants and are selected to further explore their potential. Nominated plants are then voted on by the committee and presented at the Annual Meeting and Educational Conference.  Read short profiles on plants recently selected here. The committee welcomes those interested in trialing these plants! 

To participate, individuals may obtain one or more of the current year's plants independently or by signing up with the promising plants committee to trial the plants each year. Evaluators fill out an evaluation form and send it to the committee. For more details, contact herbs@herbsociety.org.  

From humble beginnings.......

At some of the earliest Herb Society of America meetings, when members got together, they brought slips, plants, and seeds for one another as offerings. Those would always be precious in some way — they had the best taste, perhaps, or stirred up sentiments. Some were uncommonly beautiful, or had great herbal value. Maybe they were simply exotic. Our Society members have not only sustained this grand tradition through the sharing of cuttings and plants from their own gardens, but also through the dispersal of knowledge — and excitement — that make our Promising Plants program such an evolving treasure. What began at the Annual Meeting and Educational Conference as simple announcements of little-known or under-used herbs, soon gained an avid audience.


Herb gardeners, being curious by disposition, have a natural taste for the new and under-represented, and the announcements became a regular program at the conference, with attendant slides, documentation, plant distributions, and source lists so that people could spread the word. Now, with the new technology, profiles of these promising plants are available on our website, including images and the text that was presented at the meeting.
                                        — Janet Walker, HSA Botany and Horticulture Committee Chair, 2002-2003

List of Promising Plants

Would you like to propose a promising plant for evaluation?

  1. Download form
  2. Save file with a new name (i.e. Promising Plant Nomination Form_Louis Lane 2016.pdf)
  3. Fill out form on your computer
  4. Save file, and e-mail to educator@herbsociety.org

Would you like to evaluate a promising plant?

  1. Download form
  2. Save file with a new name (i.e. Promising Plant Evaluation Form_Lois Lane 2016.pdf)
  3. Fill out form on your computer
  4. Save file, and e-mail to educator@herbsociety.org

REFERENCES:
Profiles were compiled based on information provided by members of the Promising Plants Committee and resources in the list of References.

Disclaimer: Information is provided as an educational service. HSA can not guarantee availability of seeds/plants, and inclusion of vendor information in the source list or profile does not indicate an endorsement by The Herb Society of America. The Herb Society of America can not advise, recommend, or prescribe herbs for medicinal use. Please consult a health care provider before pursuing any herbal treatments.

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