Lovage

22 years ago

Has anyone every grown lovage? It may technically be an herb, but it tastes, smells, and looks like a giant head of celery.

I planted it at a corner of my garden last year from seed and never saw a thing come up. But either some little sprout did come up or the seeds can lay dormant for a year, because this year I have a lovage growing almost in the middle of my garden. (I plowed the garden well last year and must have moved the seed/root about 15 feet away from where I had planted it.)

So far, mine is about 3 feet tall, but I understand that it can get to be 5-6 feet tall. The smaller branches at the top coming out of the main stalks are used just as you would celery. It is supposed to come back from the root each spring and reseed heavily. If you love the smell and taste of celery as much as I do, give this one a try! Carmellia

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Comments (3)

joe_m_pei
22 years ago
Hello, my lovage this year is 61/2 to 7 feet tall! I'm loving it. When it does get this tall, however, the weaker stems start to break if the wind picks up. The weather has been cool then hot and muggy. I've never had such lush lovage in my herb patch, perhaps this is the ideal weather for lovage. It's also spreading, which is welcome
carmellia
Original Author
22 years ago
Does your lovage spread by division? The impression I got from the seed catalog description was that it spread by re-seeding.

I suspect my lovage may be planted too deeply. From the haphazard way it was planted, I have no way of knowing how deep it might be. Does yours have a visible crown at the base or do the stalks all spring directly out of the ground?
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gkadams69
21 years ago
I started lovage from seed two years ago. It's about four feet tall, but is growing where it doesn't get much water. The stems come right from the ground, no bulb at the base. I use it quite a bit in cooking, especially chopped up in stews and soups. A little bit goes a long way because the flavor is quite strong. Kids love the hollow stems to use as straws or pea shooters.