🌿 Lovage

Lovage is a tall, majestic perennial with glossy, celery-like leaves and a strong, savoury flavour, like a concentrated celery with hints of curry. It is a traditional kitchen garden herb that reaches 2 m, and a single plant is plenty for the average household.

It is hardy, long-lived and very easy, thriving in sun or part shade and rich, moist soil. Its umbels of yellow-green flowers attract hoverflies and ladybirds. It dies back in winter and returns each spring, getting bigger every year.

Varieties to try

Common lovage (the only widely available form)

Sow fresh seed in late summer (August), or in March to April, on the surface of seed compost or in pots at 15°C; germination is slow and patchy, 2–4 weeks. Plant seedlings out at 60–90 cm apart once they are large enough. Fresh seed germinates best.

Alternatively, buy a plant or divide an established clump in spring or autumn, lifting and splitting the crown with a spade into sections with buds. Choose a rich, moist, well-drained soil in a sunny or lightly shaded position, and allow plenty of room.

Top tips

• Use fresh seed.
• One plant is enough.
• Allow space: it grows 2 m tall.
• Divide in spring or autumn.

Water in dry spells and mulch each spring with compost. Feed once in spring with a general fertiliser. Cut back the flowering stems in summer to encourage more leaves, unless you want seeds. In late autumn, cut the dead stems down to the ground.

Divide the crowns every 3–4 years. Lovage is rarely troubled, though leaf miner and slugs may nibble leaves, and aphids may colonise the flower heads. It can be grown in a large pot (at least 40 cm), but it will need regular watering.

Top tips

• Mulch in spring.
• Cut flower stems for more leaves.
• Divide every 3–4 years.
• Water in drought.

Watch out for

Celery leaf minerSlugsAphidsRust

Pick young leaves from spring, from the second year, and the stems and leaves through summer. Cut individual stems at the base or pick leaves; young leaves are the tenderest and most flavoursome. Cut back the whole plant to the ground in midsummer for a fresh flush of growth.

Collect the seeds in late summer when they turn brown, and dry them in a paper bag. The hollow stems can be blanched and used like celery, or candied like angelica. Harvest in the morning.

Top tips

• Use young leaves.
• Cut back in midsummer for fresh growth.
• Collect seed heads in late summer.
• Use stems as celery.

Use lovage sparingly, as a little goes a long way. Chop leaves into soups, stews, stocks, potato salad, tomato juice, Bloody Marys and egg dishes as a substitute for celery. The hollow stems can be used as a straw in a Bloody Mary. The seeds can season bread, cheese and pickles.

Fresh leaves keep for a few days in the fridge, and freeze very well chopped in ice-cube trays. Dry leaves quickly in a warm place, and store in an airtight jar; they keep much of their flavour. The seeds keep for a year.

Top tips

• Use sparingly: it’s potent.
• Freeze chopped leaves in ice cubes.
• Use in place of celery.
• Try a stem as a Bloody Mary straw.