Most of the time I write about what you should plant. For a change this month, I thought you would enjoy what is happening in my garden this time of year. I hope this will encourage you in your gardening pursuits and help you learn you can indeed garden year-round.

Ever meandered through the pharmacy aisles of Whole Foods, Sprouts, or even Trader Joe’s and wished you knew more about the various supplements and which ones could possibly benefit you? Herbal/dietary supplements (also called botanicals) are plants used for their therapeutic properties, and the roots of herbalism go back to the beginning of humanity. The following list contains some of the more popular herbs that are generally accepted to have psychoactive and/or medicinal properties with positive effects in humans:

SW Herb will host free "Get Healthy Seminars" this month and next with nationally recognized herbalist Kathleen Gould. Seminars will be 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 and Tuesday, Feb. 7; and 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29 at the SW Herb Shop and Gathering Place, 148 N. Center St. in downtown Mesa.

I now know you can't judge a book by its cover. I almost managed to overlook my review copy of "Backyard Medicine" by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009); however, one evening I sat down to give it a look and was pleasantly surprised to discover a first-class read.

You would think an herb used by Moses to bless the vessels of the Tabernacle, given a place of honor next to Tut in his tomb and toted around by the Romans as they expanded their empire would have a bit more notoriety.

The plant: Like lamb’s ear, the large, velvety leaves of mullein invite you to give them a rub. Because of its textured leaves, mullein is also called old man’s flannel, velvet dock, bunny’s ears and feltwort.

Take an interactive tour of the Herb Garden Exhibit with Catherine Crowley, “The Herb Lady,” and then learn how to grow herbs during a class

Did you know we have the same average number of sunny days as Provence, France? 300 on average. That’s just one of the similarities between the Mediterranean climate and our Southwest desert: Hot, dry, sunny ... add superior drainage and that most anything that will grow in the Mediterranean will grow here.

The plant: Ancient Greeks covered their eyes with dill fronds to induce sleep. To ward off witches, people in medieval England wore pouches of dill above their hearts as sacred protectors. For the Egyptians, the Chinese, and British physician and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, dill also came to the rescue as “a gallant expeller of wind.”