Levisticum officinalis (br)
Lovage; European Angelica

Levisticum officinalis (br)

Description:
This ancient European culinary herbaceous perennial looks like celery on steroids but with a more intense, complex and satisfying flavor. Though it is mentioned extensively in Roman & Greek literature, this higly aromatic herb is still used extensively on the Contient, but is almost unknown in msg riddled North America. This bold multistemmed plant can reach 2-2.5 metres in height with equal spread so is best planted where it can get the room to grow. Early riser in the spring (with the daffidils) and early sleeper (goes dormant when you pick the Italian Prune plums).

Notes:
Nice root. Fall shipping only to Canadian customers. This plant can reach massive proportions over the years so its best to seat in its final position once as in a couple of years digging up the roots (always in late autumn) to transplant can be a half a day excercise in expanding one's vocabulary! What we provide are fist sized root 'buds'. A friend of mine who recieved a plant some years ago says that its one of the healthiest things in the garden! Its deep tap roots were onced used as a medicinal and tonic. Great butterfly plant as our local swallowtails use it as a nursery for their larvae so becareful when you harvest stems for cooking or drying for the winter months.

Cultivation:
How I seat plants that will reach this size: dig a deep hole and sift the soil using a coarse heavy duty metal hardware screen into a wheel barrow. Amend the soil with compost, greensand, alfalfa, and some bone meal (no lime!). Mix well. Dump and pack of the amended soil back in the hole but leave enough room for the root system. Seat your plant, pack more soil around the roots until its properly seated with the crown just under the soil. Mulch well and water. Provide water until the plant is established in a few years and do not pick any leaves from the new plant until its second year. It needs these leaves to gather the sun's energy to grow.