Blue Hyssop

Blue Hyssop

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis ssp. aristadus) is fragrant herb traditionally used for brewing tea and as a medicinal plant. Hyssop is right at home in the ornamental garden. Its deep green foliage and dark-blue flower spikes are a delight in mid-summer, when many other plants are looking beat from the heat. Extremely attractive to bees and butterflies, it is a wonderful companion plant to pink and orange Agastache. This is a wonderful lavender substitute for colder climates. Cut back to green foliage in early to mid-spring. 18-24" tall x 12-15" wide. (Seed propagated.) Anise hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, is a short-lived herbaceous perennial with blue flowers and fragrant foliage that can be used as an ornamental or in the herb garden. Native to prairies, dry upland forested areas, plains and fields in the upper Midwest and Great Plains into Canada (from northern Colorado to Wisconsin and in Canada from Ontario west to British Columbia), this plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae) is hardy in zones 3 to 8Hyssop has a long history of use in foods and remedies. A strong tea made of the leaves and sweetened with honey is a traditional remedy for nose, throat, and lung afflictions and is sometimes applied externally to bruises. In the Middle Ages, hyssop was a stewing herb. Its modern uses are for flavouring meats, fish, vegetables, salads, sweets, and such liqueurs as absinthe. Honey made from hyssop pollen is considered especially fine.

The leaves contain oil of hyssop, a^ Based on the Judeo-Arabic translation of the word in the works of Rabbi Saadia Gaon (in his Tafsir, a translation of the Pentateuch, Exo. 12:22), David ben Abraham al-Fasi (in his Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, known as `Kitāb JāmiÊ¿ al-Alfāẓ`, vol. 1, s.v. אזוב), Rabbi Jonah ibn Janah (Sefer HaShorashim - Book of the Roots, s.v. אזב - aleph, zayn, bet), Maimonides (in his Mishnah Commentary, Nega'im 14:6) and Nathan ben Abraham I in Mishnah Uktzin 2:2. The problems with identification arise from Jewish oral tradition where it expressly prohibits Greek hyssop, and where the biblical plant is said to have been identical to the Arabic word, zaatar (Origanum syriacum), and which word is not to be associated with other ezobs that often bear an additional epithet, such as zaatar farsi = Persian-hyssop (Thymbra capitata) and zaatar rumi = Roman-hyssop (Satureja thymbra). See: The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1977, s.v. Negai'im 14:6 (p. 696); Parah 11:7 [10:7] (p. 711). Sow indoors or in a greenhouse from March-May. Sow seed in pots or trays on the surface of barely moist seed compost in a propagator at a temperature of 15-20°C (59-68°F). Do not cover the seed or exclude light as this will aid germination. Germination up to 21 days. When seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant into 7.5cm (3") pots and grow on in cooler conditions. When all risk of frost has passed, plant outside in the ground or containers at a distance of 60cm (24"). Hyssop thrives in drier soils. (Source: www.suttons.co.uk)