Planning My Lemon Verbena Paradise

I found this photo online and it really inspired me. I got excited about building something like this inside the above-ground swimming pool enclosure taking up space in the our yard now.

We drained the water and removed the plastic liner this year, so I'm planning to use the space for propagating Lemon Verbena from cuttings.

The rigid 4' walls will serve as a wind break for the wild Texas wind blowing over little plants living inside it, and also hide them from prying eyes and stray dogs around here. 

It's a good sized oval - 18' X 36', so there's plenty of space to experiment with Lemon Verbena loveliness inside. This set-up might work with my curved hoop house fantasy instead of the PVC structure shown in the first photo above. Gotta love that hoop house!

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Lemon Verbena Vinaigrette

Combine olive oil and good-quality vinegar in a 3:1 ratio, add 1 TBS fresh or 1 tsp dried Lemon Verbena leaves, and let stand in a glass jar for 24 hours.

Enjoy on salads and fish. 

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Our pool enclosure has sand on the bottom now, so it's perfect to use as-is, or cover with greenhouse fabric someday. It looks like this photo, and the 4' high walls are quite stable.

We are demolishing an old building on the edge of our acre of land, so there are TONS (that's a bad pun, but it's true) of concrete blocks available to build the raised beds shown in the first photo above. Those concrete blocks will make a sturdy foundation for plants in pots of any size, which is a good thing because Lemon Verbena plants can get HEAVY.

Searching online today for sources of Lemon Verbena leaves in bulk, I discovered most sources were Out Of Stock. I'm not ashamed to admit I felt a bit smug, sitting here with bags of dried leaves and little growing plants galore. 

Lemon Verbena, the star of the show in my herbal life...