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Herb of the Week for Herb of the week
for 19th October
Sweetness of Angelica
Springtime in the herb garden is always
full of surprises and one of these is
the speed of which the sweet angelica
grows when it is in its second year.
When I left for my month away there were
soft green leaves on the angelica plants
and they were about knee height. Now,
a mere four or five weeks later, they
are head height with their striking flower
heads held tall on red stems.
The nectar on the flowers attracts the
bees but it does seem to be attractive
to the flies as well. For this reason
and for the height it gets to, it is a
good plant to establish at the back of
a border or against a fence at the back
of the garden.
There are two main angelicas, both of
which grow vigorously and easily. The
other one is the shiny dark green leaved
variety which is popular for floral arrangements
and even though it is not edible it does
turn up frequently as a garnish in restaurants.
This is not the one to crystallise the
stems of.
The pictured angelica is the culinary
one which can be used to make candied
angelica using the stems. These are the
little green pieces found in packets of
dried mixed fruit.
Sweet angelica can be grown easily by
seed and in fact the plant will happily
self seed as its next stage of its life
cycle.
With the cool snap of weather that has
been with us this week it is a good time
to do any shifting of herbs which you
feel are in the wrong spot.
The plants are responding to the rhythms
of spring but there is still time to move
things around this long weekend if you
feel your herbs are not happy where they
are at the moment. Shift them with as
much soil attached to the roots as possible
and water them in well.
So enjoy some time in the garden this
weekend and let us hope the sunshine will
be around a bit more than last weekend.
Thanks lynn another great
read.
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