Hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis
Bee-loved blue-flowered herb — a classic guard against the cabbage moth.
Light Full sun
Water Low
USDA zones 4a–9b
Height 45–60 cm
Spread 15.7 in
Spacing 30 cm
Sow depth Medium
Per square 1 / sq ft
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 11.8 in
- In-row spacing
- 11.8 in
- Between rows
- 15.7 in
- Square-foot density
- 1 per square
Calendar (from your frost dates)
- Sow indoors
- 42 days before the last spring frost
- Sow direct
- at the last spring frost
- Plant out
- at the last spring frost
- First harvest
- 60 days after the last spring frost
- Harvest ends
- at the first fall frost
Growing
- Type
- Herb · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Watering
- Low
- Soil
- Light, free-draining
- Feeding
- Leave it hungry; it does better on lean soil than on a fed one.
- USDA zones
- 4a–9b
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- June
- Pruning
- Trim it after flowering, then prune hard in spring.
Through the year
- Mar–Apr Bud Break
- Apr–May Spring Growth
- May–Jun Harvest
- Jun–Sep Flowering
- Sep–Nov Growing
- Nov–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Mar Leaf Fall
Harvest
- When
- Pick leafy tips from late spring, with the main harvest just as flowering begins in mid-summer, when the aromatic oils in both leaf and flower peak. Cut mid-morning on a dry day once dew has gone.
- What to look for
- Semi-evergreen stems dense with narrow dark leaves, strongly camphor-minty when crushed, and spikes of deep-blue (or pink/white) flowers just opening — flowers and leaves are both used.
- How to harvest
- Snip the top 10cm of flowering shoots with scissors or shears, cutting above leafy growth and never into the bare woody base. A general shear of the top third at flowering doubles as the annual tidy the shrub needs anyway.
- How often
- Light continual picking through summer plus one main flowering-time cut; a second, smaller flush often follows. Stop cutting by early autumn so growth hardens before winter; replace woody plants every 4–5 years.
- Storing the crop
- Fresh sprigs keep about a week in the fridge. Hyssop dries well — hang bunches in a dark, airy place and strip leaves and flowers into airtight jars, where the pungency keeps for around a year for teas and (sparing) culinary use.
Companions
Lavender, Sage, Cabbage, Grapevines
Pests & problems
- Generally trouble-free No notable pest or disease problems when grown in the right conditions — one of the easy ones.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Keep apart
Did you know?
Its blue flower spikes are so rich in nectar that beekeepers prize hyssop honey.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com