Are you frustrated with only ever seeing the very inferior Russian Tarragon available locally? Have you ever wondered why it seems you can't find French Tarragon anywhere?
Well, I think I found out why. It requires special knowledge to propagate. It isn't hard once you know how but without knowing the secret you are going to be doomed to forever waiting for it to flower (which almost never happens), or taking soft cuttings that just rot in the ground.
The secret is although it actually looks like a similar to a small standard bush French Tarragon is a running plant. Similar to things like mint it sends roots under the ground that break the surface. When it reaches the surface it shoots and makes a potential new plant. If left long enough for the new arm to create a few roots they can be divided off and potted up giving you a whole new plant.
Armed with this knowledge a couple of things become obvious, at least to me.
Firstly as a runner I won't put it straight in the garden. I have had too many experiences with mint or nettle trying to take over the world to trust any running plant in a garden bed.
Secondly keeping it in a pot will actually help me be able to propagate this plant. One of the side advantages of having these types of plants in pots is that the plant is almost assured to send up new "baby" shoots when it hits the side of the pot, if not before. This makes it really easy to see when you should be dividing your plants and potting on.
You may have a challenge finding it but at least if you do now you can make sure you can enjoy its wonderful flavour forever.
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3 comments:
Thank you for this hint. I tend to overpick & not give this a chance, but I shall give it a try now.
For anyone near Sydney, Honeysuckle Cottage Nursery in Bowan Mountain sells French Tarragon (noy connected with them, just live nearby).
Welcome Toria,
It certainly is tempting to pick it regularly. French Tarragon is such a useful herb in the kitchen.
Thanks for the referral for my Sydney readers. Just from the name that sounds like a wonderful nursery.
Kind Regards
Belinda
I've had my French tarragon come back bigger the second year around but mine never take over. My mom manages to grow enormous tarragon every single time. She has the magic touch.
The propagation technique you just described is called "layering".
I was sad that my tarragon didn't do well at all this year. There's always next year!
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