On 06 Sep 2003 05:54:40 GMT, (Thalocean2) wrote:

Is it too late to harvest and dry oregano and basil that's flowered?

There's nothing toxic about the leaves of herb plants after they've
flowered. Basil, an annual, tends to put out few if any leaves once
it's begun flowering and on my plants, at least, the leaves begin to
yellow and decline. But they're still basil leaves and fragrant and
useful. Dried basil is a poor substitute for fresh, so I have no
experience with the difference between the dried version of pre-bloom
lushness and post-bloom decline. Oregano is a perennial, so you don't
want to "harvest" to the extent of digging up and drying the whole
plant, or even clipping *all* the leaf stems. In moderate climates,
you may have fresh oregano available through the winter.