Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
It can edge your herb garden, ease your cough and feed the butterflies.
Hyssopus officinalis is a small bushy evergreen plant. It grows to about two feet high and a little more across. Hyssop produces spikes of flowers in early summer; a second flush will be produced if the plants are cut back after flowering. Usually the flowers are deep blue, but pink and white forms are also available. These are visited by butterflies and bees.
The plant is best pruned hard after flowering, otherwise it quickly becomes straggly. It can be kept trimmed to make a neat edging or for use in a knot garden. Where box blight is a problem, this plant would make a good alternative.
The leaves have a strong savoury, slightly bitter flavour. They are good in winter soups and stews as well as other cooked dishes. The flowers make a pretty addition to salads.
Medicinally it has many uses, including restoring appetite, easing intestinal pain particularly that associated with gas or colic and is said to be beneficial to the liver. Personally I’ve only used it to help treat a cough. I found it does help when made into a tea and sipped frequently.
Hyssop is easy to grow in a sunny position and is drought tolerant. It can be bought as a young plant, or raised from seed or cuttings.
