Anise Hyssop is an attractive little perennial herb indigenous to the center of North America. It belongs to the same herb family as anise, but it isn’t a cross between anise and hyssop. Its flowers have a lemony flavor like that of anise, but its green foliage and grayish purple flowers are distinct. Anise hyssop is often planted in herb gardens for their tasty and colorful blooms, which grow in clumps. They’re also popular as a crop for herb gardening – a low growing perennial that prefers a cool climate.
Because of it’s popularity as a kitchen herb, many cooks have developed their own hybrids with Anise Hyssop flowerheads. The hybrid plants are called anise hyssop classic. hybrids also may be called anise hyssop-classic or classic. Hybrids may also be called anise hyssop-garden hybrid. When cooking, anise hyssop adds spice to a salad, a spice in the soup, or a flavoring for breads, rice, beans and nuts.
Anise Hymes is used as a sweetener in tea, a drink for heat, as a digestive aid in digestion, as an expectorant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, anti-spasmodic, tonic, stimulant and stomach cleanser. They are also used to aid digestion, as an anti-inflammatory, an expectorant, as an aid to strong bones and cartilage. In the medicine, licorice is used to treat sinusitis, bronchitis, colds, influenza, tuberculosis, influenza, pneumonia, nervous exhaustion, rheumatism, tremors, oral infections, kidney disease and acne. It is also used to treat arthritis, problems of the stomach, dropsy, neuralgia and neuralgic pains, as well as to increase appetite and bodily energy. As an ornamental plant, the flowers attract bees and butterflies.
If you live in an area that doesn’t get full sun or is shaded by trees, full sun or partial shade is more likely to produce good quality growing anise hyssop. Full sunlight is preferred because it encourages the development of vigorous new shoots, while shade can inhibit germination and development of the herb. Growing anise hyssop in partial shade will also produce flowers, which is desirable because it adds color to your garden. It also allows you to harvest and eat the herb before it matures.
The Anise grows quickly and produces a large cluster of flowers. This flower cluster blooms for two to four weeks during the spring before flowering stops. It prefers full sun, with the flowers beginning to bloom in early summer. Because it grows quickly, anise hyssop does well in container gardening.
Planting: Plant seeds in well-drained, well-oxygenated soil. Native to the Australian continent, it originally grew in clay soils before becoming a popular ornamental plant. In semi-arid conditions it prefers full sun along with a well-oxygenated soil. It is a slow growing plant, which prefers the nutrients found in rich soil with lots of microorganisms. It is happiest in full sun but will do well in partial shade or in shaded areas where the soil is slightly less fertile.
Planting depth: Landscape plants should be planted at least three to four inches deeper than they are tall. If possible, keep planting to a width of four to six inches, which will allow for more root space. Pruning should be avoided during the first year, as it will stunt new growth and cause the plant to lose its leaves. Wait until after the plants have flowered to prune.
Planting schedule: Landscape shrubs and herbs should be planted about two to three weeks apart. They will both start growing again in late winter. In addition to planting in the spring, seeds should be sown in the fall and late winter. Most herb gardeners like to plant their seeds in the fall. They tend to germinate best in cool weather and complete their growing phase in early Spring.