5 exotic spices you can grow in your Tucson garden

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa): These great spices are actually rhizomes, or fleshy underground stems. They are native to the tropics of Southeast Asia, so they love our sunlight. They do need extra moisture, however, and don’t like cold winters. Both also require rich, well-draining soil and part shade during our intense summers. It’s best to provide shade cloths during the summer heat; afternoon shade is a must.

The great thing about both of these is that they are easy to procure — just get some from your favorite grocery store; note, however, that it needs to be organic because non-organic rhizomes are treated with chemicals to prevent sprouting.

Once you get it home, cut the rhizome into pieces about 2 inches thick; make sure you see some nodules on the pieces as this is where the growth will occur. Dry them overnight to allow a seal to form on the cut edges and stick them in the soil with the nodules pointing upward. You can usually do this in March or April in our climate; wait until the soil is warm. It will take the whole summer and fall to grow and mature. You can harvest just as the leaves are starting to turn yellow, which should be just about the time our frosts come.

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus): This herb not only looks pretty, it’s used in a variety of dishes in Asian cuisine to add a lemony flavor. It can be used fresh or dried. It’s native to India and Sri Lanka, so it prefers more humid locations, but it loves the heat and sun. It can actually be quite drought-tolerant when established. It won’t survive frost, but if you plant it in a container you can bring it indoors for the winter or overwinter it in a greenhouse. Or just leave it outside and mulch well. It will die back to the ground outside and probably come back the next spring.

To make it happy, plant it around the time our monsoons start — it will like the humidity and you will need to water it less. Mulch the soil around it heavily with organic mulch — 3 inches or so — to keep moisture in the soil. It is easily grown from seed, and I have also seen it as transplants at Spadefoot Nursery.

Sesame (Sesamum orientale): This plant originated in sub-Saharan Africa but was first cultivated in India. The plant is a perennial, and the seeds grow in capsules which are easily broken apart once ripe. It can be grown from seed or transplants. It likes warm soil, so late March or early April is a good time to sow. It needs about three to four months for the seed pods to grow and mature. Each pod yields about 80 seeds, and they can be harvested continuously as the plant blooms through the summer and fall.

The plants like sun and heat, and will require well-draining soil and afternoon shade. They have similar planting requirements to tomatoes in our climate. Do not overwater them; once the plants are established, they are quite drought-tolerant.

Anise (Pimpinella anisum): This licorice-flavored plant originates from the Mediterranean region as well as southwest Asia, but will grow well from seed here. You can sow directly into the soil starting in mid-March through mid-May. It will germinate within two to three weeks and in another three to four months it will mature. This plant is an annual, and you harvest the seeds by cutting off the flowering heads and drying them. Once dry, the seeds will shake off the flower.