I had planned a post for today about ironic animal statuary. Alas, that post will have to wait for another day. Yesterday I saw a great idea for a garden mentioned on Twitter, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it. @FromFarmToTable tweeted that she’s reinstating cocktail hour come spring and invited people to share what they’d plant in a “cocktail garden.” To me, a cocktail garden should be two fold: contain plants to be used in cocktails, and be pleasant to spend time in during cocktail drinking hours.
Luckily pretty much all of the plants commonly called for in cocktail recipes are easy to grow in pots. Just like all other edible gardens, you should grow the plants you love, so I’ve organized the plants below according to the cocktail that calls for them. Just find the drinks you enjoy and plant those fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Margaritas
- Recipe – Perfect Margarita
- What to Plant – Lime tree
Hard Lemonade
- Recipe – Sunny’s Hard Lemonade
- What to Plant – Lemon tree
- Variations – Add strawberries, watermelon, or lavender
Bloody Mary
- Recipe – Upgraded Traditional Bloody Mary or try this Bloody Mary Swizzlers recipe
- What to Plant – Lemons, celery, and if you’re really hard core, cherry tomatoes to make your own tomato juice. Or if you’re into a more adventurous bloody mary, plant garlic, horseradish, and/or basil.
Mojito
- Recipe – Stephen’s Famous Mojitos
- What to Plant – Mint, but feel free to experiment with different types of mint!
Strawberry Daiquiris
- Recipe – Strawberry Daiquiris
- What to Plant – Strawberries and limes
Screwdriver
- Recipe – Classic Screwdriver
- What to Plant – Oranges, though why not spice things up and plant blood oranges instead?
Pina Colada
- Recipe – Ultimate Pina Colada
- What to Plant – Pineapples (just save the top from a pineapple and plant it) and strawberries.
Oh, and about making a garden that is enjoyable at night? Check out these ideas for creating a moon garden on your balcony.
What’s your favorite cocktail?
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Nice post. I’m a bit of a cocktail and booze person plus my every growing green streak means that this is a combo I have to try.
I have a lemonbalm bush that is growing rampantly in my garden and I’ve found that if you muddle it with some lemon verbena and add gin, lemon juice and ice it makes one great little drink. But I’m sure you’ve already tried that.
Now that I have a few chilli plants going I’m wondering if there are chilli cocktails. A fire and ice sort of thing.
Great post – thanks for a fabulous idea! I wish my climate allowed for some citrus.
G-Man, you can use the chilis to make a spicy vodka for Bloody Marys. I used some cherry peppers and jalapenos last year; just stick some in a pint jar with vodka and let sit for a couple of weeks. The heat is determined by the heat of the peppers, how many you use, if you leave the seeds in, and how long you let it sit. I would also love to hear any other chile cocktail recipes people have.
If you grow lemons, you can also make your own limoncello. Oh, and basil makes a great vodka gimlet.
G-Man–Actually, I don’t like the scent of lemon-scented herbs, like lemon balm or lemon verbena, so I almost never grow them.
Great ideas Tiffany!
what a fun post!
i do use my lemon balm in cocktails, and i’ve used various basils too.
http://cocktails.about.com/od/mixology/ig/Herbs-and-Spices-in-Mixology/ has some great ideas about herbs and cocktails.
oh, and Fern… how can you preach to us to plant lemon balm if you don’t? http://lifeonthebalcony.com/plants-that-every-balcony-gardener-needs/
Bob–I said I don’t “usually” plant it. But you’ve caught me red handed. I try and plant it because it’s good for beneficials and keeps mosquitos away, but the smell drives me nuts! I need to find a place where I’ll never brush against it…
Thanks for the yummy post! I have an herbal tea garden but this is way more fun. I wonder if you can muddle stevia in with your herbs to sweeten a cocktail. Anyone tried it?
Wow, thanks for the ideas Tiffany. I had a sneaky suspicion bloody Mary’s would be mentioned. I feel a fool for not thinking of it sooner. I have never really gone beyond cooking and making chilli vinegar with my peppers. As for Limoncello I have made a bit of a side project out of making it. I’m a sucker for things that are tasty and cheap and making your sure beats buying the rip-off store varieties. Any tips on making it. I only have the one recipe, off a tea-towel no less and advice is always appreciated.
And Fern, each to their own with the flavours, I have always loved lemon flavour things so they always end up in some part of my garden or allotment and therefore on my plate or in my glass. So what flavours do it for you then?
Great ideas, I’m sure I learn more every time I come to this site and I am now looking into extending my herb patch a bit. Wonder if theres a way to make Tunel at home?
That’s pretty brilliant. My all purpose garden has strawberries, lemons, lime, mint and basil. I do drink a lot of cocktails.
You could include peppers if you were into drinking jalapeno margaritas. They’re really good.
What, no olives for my Martini?
Fern- I’m just razzing you! People should never feel obligated to grow something -that just takes the fun out of it. Personally, I LOVE citrus and citrus scents, but my partner can’t stand them. This means I can’t cook using lemon, lime, or other citrus… So instead, i just go out and nibble on my lemon-scented herbs!
What climate is needed to grow citrus? Could it be grown indoors in climates that are not ideal? I am very new to gardening of any kind and did not know you could grow citrus in a container. But the cocktail garden is really interesting to me. I have a yard in northern Nevada, but at this time this is only a rental (with hope to buy someday). Containers are something that I could take with if we have to move……. he he he I can see my husband’s face when it takes a separate truck to move my plants!
Michelle–Citrus grow best with warm summers and mild winters. If your area freezes during the winter, you can bring your tree before your first frost, but you shouldn’t leave it inside year round. It is nearly impossible to provide enough light indoors and to get fruit you would have to hand pollinate the flowers at just the right time.
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