Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus)

Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus): also called Serpentaria, Dragon Grass, Dragon, Stregon, Stragonsel is a perennial aromatic of erect bearing, the leaves have bitter taste and a sweet tip reminiscent of licorice; in Italy it is mainly used in Tuscany where it appears in numerous recipes; it is highly appreciated in French cuisine where it is an ingredient of béarnaise sauce, in the Baltic Republics it is used to add flavour to butter and salmon. The edible flowers are small in size and display an intense yellow colour, their taste is more neutral (late spring autumn).
The sowing takes place from March in seedbed, the harvest begins the following year, when the plant is well developed. It doesn't suffer low temperatures but the average life does not exceed five years.
The plant is rustic and has no special needs, so it is very easy to grow; the only difficulty consists in sowing because the seeds are particularly minute, it is appropriate to use a sifted soil, more information will soon be available in our new free guide.