Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata)

My herb reference book actually describes sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) as being difficult to propagate and warns that its seeds are finicky about germinating. I wish! This is a beautiful plant with a wonderful licorice fragrance, but I’m constantly fighting a battle to keep it under control.

Sweet cicely is a hardy perennial herb that blooms in spring (usually in May here). Supposedly it prefers moist, well-drained soil that is full of humus and thrives in partial shade, but I have found that here it will grow anywhere and everywhere. After a couple of years sweet cicely can reach a height of three feet, and individual plants grow closely together to form a dense clump of fern-like leaves and small white flowers. The flowers only last for probably a couple of weeks, then groups of deeply-ridged green seeds appear. At this point in self-defense I get in there with scissors and cut all the seed stalks off. If the seeds are left to ripen, they will turn a deep brown. Although some people believe that the seeds need to freeze and thaw in order to germinate, I have found that seeds collected during warm weather will show an astonishingly high germination rate when they are planted the following spring. Sweet cicely plants can also be divided, but will wilt to the ground and look absolutely hopeless no matter how carefully you make the division. They do recover quickly however, and in a few days will look as perky as ever.

Filed Under Plants in my Gardens