Levisticum Species, Garden Lovage, Maggi Herb

I like this plant, but my experience with it wasn't happy.

I planted it in rich well-drained soil in partial shade---ther...Read Moree was still enough sun to ripen tomatoes next to it. Every time I visited the garden, the lovage had a few mature leaves turning an unsightly yellow and dying off conspicuously.

I wanted to like this plant, because of the big, bold, almost tropical-looking foliage, but after a year I got tired of the deadleafing and got rid of it.

I wanted to post about what an amazingly delicious herb this is. I was reading reviews below, and I would recommend NOT drying it. Please...Read More, eat this plant fresh. It is so delightful, you won't regret it. I planted lovage by seed last summer, by May the following year (this year of 2014), it has already doubled in size and is a small bush. Last summer, I would take stalks/leaves/stems of this plant, and use cooking twine to wrap around seafood/meats to grill out over the fire. Lovage is literally one of the most tastiest herbs out there! I can't say enough good things about it.. It tastes like cucumbers and nuts combined.. You can add it to raw to salads, mince it for sautes, or just wrap it around your veggies/meats when cooking out as stated before. Again, do use fresh. I would imagine drying it would take a lot of the wonderful flavor right ouf of it. Chop it up like dill, or any other fresh herb, and add it to everything! TRY THIS HERB!

I really like this plant. It grows well, it does not need any care at all and it gives always nice tasty leaves that are mainly used to g...Read Moreive flavour to food. Why buying flavouring, this is just it and it costs nothing and it is more healthy.

It grows sun or shade, does not need much watering, divides well, and it never spread here, but we are in Iceland and soil is also poor. It flowers every year but it is a perennial. It stands very well strong cold but dislikes hot weather.

Lovage is a perennial that will add a stately and aromatic presence to any garden. It is often grown in Europe as a culinary herb. What m...Read Moreakes it attractive? First, it is easily grown from division and has few, if any, pests. Importantly, its flowers are an intoxicating plant to bees and hoverflies. As a food for humans, it has very aromatic leaves that enhance most cuisines, especially Indian, Mediterranean, and Italian. The leaves can be eaten alone when young or added to cooked greens, beans, chili, salsa, curry, and almost any soup or stew. In growing lovage

Some here have indicated invasiveness, but I have not found this so; but the plant will certainly dominate space if not managed wisely.

What is my experience? The first year, I obtained a lovage plant from a vendor and planted it in autumn. By July of the next season, it had completely overwhelmed the surrounding plants. A little research informed me that lovage likes to be cut back to ground level during the heat of summer. Older greens can be bitter anyway, so all the better to send them to the compost bin. However, since I liked its attraction to solitary bees and hoverflies, I left some flowering stalks for the wildlife and cut the remainder to the ground and was rewarded with a growth of tender young leaves for autumn stews.

Also, in my research, I learned that lovage not only prefers direct sun, but a moist, well-drained soil as well, a combination not always easy to maintain in a bio-diverse bed for busy gardeners. So, in the fall, I transplanted the Valerian and pyrethrum growing next to the lovage to another insectary bed, giving the lovage more room. To promote moisture retention in the bed, I elevated it with a 2x8 surround and replanted most plants in the bed, but let the lovage remain in its current position in a kind of trench, surrounded by a border of paver stones before I filled the bed with new growing media. Fortunately, at its initial planting, I had located the lovage at the west front side of the bed so the soil level tapers down in a kind of spiral to that corner of the bed and was not forced to alter a long taproot. After the first hard frost had knocked it down, I added about 3 inches of soil and some straw for the winter. This spring, I planted fava beans throughout the bed to help with soil enrichment. The beans will be dried and most will used for green manuring other beds next season and the rest for seeding new plants.

Lovage can be a positive garden addition, just follow these simple steps:

1. Locate the plant in a permanent position at initial planting or grow it in a deep container until you decide where it works best for you. Maybe, the container works best; just wrap it up to overwinter.

2. In the permanent location, plant deep, surrounding the planting hole at rootball level with stones or pavers.

3. After the plant reaches a height of about 2-3 feet during the season and before it begins to flower in late spring, cut it to the ground leaving at least 5 flowering stalks on one side for bees and hoverflies. FYI: The flowering stalks will need to be supported as these can reach a height of 5+ feet. The leaves can be harvested either by cutting them off their stems and drying them on racks or wrapping bunches of stems together with string and hanging them in a location with low humidity. I boil the young stems and stalks together with bay leaves and store the liquid in the refrigerator and freezer for later use in soups, cooked greens, and stews. The residue goes to the compost bin. I like the idea also of using the stalks as straws in appropriate summer drinks, something I plan to do this summer with vegetable juices.

4. Divide the plant every 3-5 years depending upon expansion of the rootball and make another gardener happy with a division.