Growing Sweet Cicely in Scotland: The Complete Guide

Myrrhis odorata

Sweet cicely is a tall, hardy perennial with fern-like leaves that taste of aniseed, grown to sweeten tart fruit like rhubarb and gooseberries. It came from continental Europe but has made itself at home here. It's established in the wild across Scotland, with over 12,000 Scottish records, and it has a Gaelic name, Mirr.

It dies back to the ground each winter and comes up again in spring, with flat heads of small white flowers in early summer followed by long, spindle-shaped seeds. Rated H5The RHS's H1a–H7 scale for how much cold a plant can survive outdoors, H1a being tender indoor-only and H7 hardy anywhere in the UK. Full definition → (hardy to about -10 to -15°C), it needs no winter protection in most gardens. It's easy to grow. The one thing that needs care is telling it apart from hemlock, which looks similar and is deadly.

Sowing and planting

To raise it from seed, sow in early autumn, in pots or trays covered with glass, and leave them outside until spring. You can also sow outdoors in late spring, straight into damp soil, and thin the seedlings to 60cm apart. Either way, germinationA seed sprouting: breaking dormancy and putting out its first root and shoot, given the right warmth and moisture. Full definition → is erratic, so buying a plant, or dividingPropagating a clump-forming perennial by digging it up and splitting it into several smaller pieces, each with roots and shoots attached. Full definition → an established clump in spring or autumn, is the quicker start.

It wants moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil, and it does well in partial shade, though it also copes with full sun. That makes it a good choice for a corner that doesn't get sun all day. It prefers damp soil, so it's happiest where the ground doesn't dry out in summer. Soil pH doesn't matter: it grows in acid, neutral or alkaline soil. Give it room. A mature clump is usually 1–1.5m tall and 0.5–1m across, and can reach 2m by 1.5m, though it takes 2 to 5 years to get there, so a young plant looks small for its space at first. It's a long-lived plant that isn't suited to a container, so choose a spot in the ground where it can stay.

Care

Once established it needs little attention, and it's generally free of pests and diseases. Cut off the flower stalks as they appear. The leaves stay better for cooking, and the plant seeds itself around the garden much less. If you'd rather let it flower for the look of it, or to collect the seeds, cut the plant back once flowering is over.

Harvesting and using it

Pick the leaves through spring and summer. Added to rhubarb or gooseberries, they sweeten the fruit. They're also good in salads, with fish and to flavour drinks, and they're high in vitamin C. In summer, once the flowers have set, you can gather the seeds, which have a stronger aniseed flavour than the leaves.

Telling it apart from hemlock

Sweet cicely looks like several other members of the carrot family, including hemlock, which is deadly poisonous and can grow nearby. Leaf shape alone isn't a reliable guide, even for experienced foragers. Crush a leaf: sweet cicely smells strongly of aniseed. Check the stem too, because hemlock's has purple blotches. If you're not sure, don't pick it. A plant you've grown yourself from bought seed or a known plant doesn't carry this risk.

Common questions

Sources